Green Grow the Rushes (film)
Encyclopedia
Green Grow the Rushes is a British comedy film
from the production company A.C.T. Films.
", in which each of the 12 verses after the first has the penultimate line, “Two, two, the lily-white boys, clothed all in green O.” The song is not heard in the movie, nor is there any hint as to how the Lily White people Biddle talks about are different from anyone else.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
from the production company A.C.T. Films.
Plot
Three British government bureaucrats arrive in Kent to inquire as to why the costal marsh is not being cultivated. The reason is that most of the local people know about or are involved in the liquor smuggling scheme operated by Captain Biddle and his accomplice Robert (Richard Burton), who is posing as a fisherman when he is seen by the newspaper editor and his journalist daughter Meg. Robert persuades them not to report it in the newspaper, and tells Biddle about his encounter with them. Biddle does not like the idea of any local “Lily White” knowing about their illegal activity; he was once married to a Lily White. The smugglers’ next cargo gets caught in a violent storm, and their boat washes inland, settling in the meadow of a farmer whose wife Polly happens to be Biddle’s ex-wife.Background
Based on the 1949 novel Green Grow the Rushes by Howard Clewes. The title, at least, is inspired by the 18th-century folk song "Green Grow the Rushes, OGreen Grow the Rushes, O
Green Grow The Rushes, Ho , is a folk song popular across the English-speaking world. It is sometimes sung as a Christmas carol...
", in which each of the 12 verses after the first has the penultimate line, “Two, two, the lily-white boys, clothed all in green O.” The song is not heard in the movie, nor is there any hint as to how the Lily White people Biddle talks about are different from anyone else.
Cast
- Richard BurtonRichard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
- Robert Hammond - Honor BlackmanHonor BlackmanHonor Blackman is an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers and Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger .-Early life:...
- Meg Cuffley - Roger LiveseyRoger LiveseyRoger Livesey was a British stage and film actor. He is most often remembered for the three Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, I Know Where I'm Going! and A Matter of Life and Death...
- Captain Cedric Biddle - Frederick LeisterFrederick Leister-Filmography:* The Glorious Adventure * The Message * Bracelets * Dreyfus * Down River * The World, the Flesh, the Devil * Evensong * The Iron Duke...
- Colonel Gill - Arnold Ridley Arnold RidleyMajor William Arnold Ridley, OBE was an English playwright and actor, first notable as the author of the play The Ghost Train and later in life for portraying the elderly Private Charles Godfrey in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army .-Early life:Ridley was born in Walcot, Bath, England where...
- Tom Cuffley - John SalewJohn Salew-Selected filmography:* The Silent Battle * Sailors Don't Care * Once a Crook * One of Our Aircraft Is Missing * The Day Will Dawn * Secret Mission * It Always Rains on Sunday...
- Herbert Finch - Colin GordonColin GordonColin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon .He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory...
- Roderick Fisherwish - Geoffrey KeenGeoffrey KeenGeoffrey Keen was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many famous films.-Early life:Keen was born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom...
- Spencer Prudhow - Russell WatersRussell WatersRussell Waters was a Scottish film actor.Waters was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow and the University of Glasgow. He began acting with the Old English Comedy and Shakespeare Company then appeared in repertory theatre, at the Old Vic and in the West End. On screen Waters generally...
- Joseph Bainbridge - Vida HopeVida Hope-Selected filmography:* Champagne Charlie * English Without Tears * Hue and Cry * Nicholas Nickleby * It Always Rains on Sunday * Woman Hater * For Them That Trespass...
- Polly - Cyril SmithCyril Smith (actor)Cyril Bruce Smith was a Scottish actor who began his career as a child in the 1900s and went on to appear in over 100 films between 1914 and his death almost 50 years later.-Career:...
- Constable Hewitt - Jack McNaughton - Sgt. Edgar Rigby
- Eliot MakehamEliot MakehamEliot Makeham , sometimes credited as Eliott Makeham or Elliot Makeham, was an English film and television actor.-Early life and education:He was born Harold Elliott Makeham in 1882, in London, England....
- James Urquhart (Coast Guard) - Gilbert Davis - Whitley
- Harcourt WilliamsHarcourt WilliamsHarcourt Williams was an English character actor.-Selected filmography:* Henry V * Brighton Rock * Hamlet * No Room at the Inn * The Lost People...
- Chairman of the Bench - Archie DuncanArchie Duncan (actor)Archie Duncan was a Scottish actor born in Glasgow.Duncan's father was a Regimental Sergeant Major in the army and his mother a postmistress...
- Constable Pettigrew - Bryan ForbesBryan ForbesBryan Forbes, CBE is an English film director, actor and writer.-Career:Bryan Forbes was born John Theobald Clarke on 22 July 1926 in Queen Mary's Hospital, Stratford, West Ham, Essex , and grew up at 43 Cranmer Road, Forest Gate, West Ham, Essex .Forbes trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of...
- Fred Starling (Biddle’s crewman)