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The Horse's Mouth (film)
Encyclopedia
The Horse's Mouth is a 1958 film
directed by Ronald Neame
and filmed in Technicolor
. Alec Guinness
wrote the screenplay from the 1944 novel
The Horse's Mouth
by Joyce Cary
, and also played the lead role of Gulley Jimson, a London
artist.
) from a one-month jail sentence for telephone harassment of his sponsor, Mr Hickson (Ernest Thesiger
). Nosey Barbon (Mike Morgan
), who wants to be a protégé of Jimson, greets Jimson at Wormwood Scrubs
, but Jimson tries to discourage Nosey from pursuing painting for a living. Jimson makes off with Nosey's bike to make his way back to his houseboat, which Coker, an older lady friend, has been attending in Jimson's absence.
Jimson tries to borrow money from Hickson and Coker (Kay Walsh
), but Hickson sets the police to trace the phone call back to Jimson. Jimson and Coker later visit Hickson to try to secure advance payment for the early Jimson works. However, after Jimson has tried to steal works from Hickson's place and Coker has stopped him, Hickson and his secretary have called the police to have them ejected. Jimson breaks a window, and he and Coker escape via the servant's entrance.
Jimson follows up on a note from A. W. Alabaster (Arthur Macrae), secretary to Sir William (Robert Coote
) and Lady Beeder (Veronica Turleigh), who are interested in acquiring early Jimson works. One of the early works is in the possession of Jimson's ex-wife, Sara Monday (Renee Houston
). Jimson and Coker try to secure an agreement with Sara Monday to obtain that early painting, but are unsuccessful.
When Jimson visits the Beeders, he sees a blank wall in their residence, and is immediately inspired to paint "The Raising of Lazarus". He learns that the Beeders are leaving for 6 weeks, and takes advantage of their absence to execute the painting. An old artistic rival, Abel, a sculptor, intrudes on Jimson to bring in a large block of concrete to fulfill a sculpture commission for British Rail. In the process, Jimson pawns the Beeder's valuables, and Abel (Michael Gough
) and Jimson inadvertently destroy part of the Beeder's floor when the concrete is accidentally dropped whilst suspended. After Jimson has completed the painting, the Beeders return, and after their shock at seeing the painting, they walk towards it and fall through the hole on a carpet that had covered the hole.
When Jimson returns to his houseboat, he sees Coker there. She was fired from her barmaid job after her name got into the papers following the incident at Hickson's residence, and has nowhere else to live. Later that evening, she tells him that Hickson is dead, which surprises Jimson. She also says that Hickson has bequeathed his collection of Jimson's works "to the nation". Those works are displayed at the Tate
Gallery, which Jimson himself visits. In the long line to the exhibit, Jimson sees Sara Monday. He then maneuvers to try to recover that one early work still in her possession. She seems to agree, and gives Jimson a roll tube. When he arrives back at the houseboat, however, Coker and Nosey see that the roll contains only toilet paper, without the painting there. Jimson quickly returns to Sara's house, with Nosey following. Jimson and Sara struggle for the painting, and in the struggle, Sara falls backwards and knocks herself out. Jimson and Nosey escape the scene.
Afterwards, Jimson and Nosey seek shelter in an abandoned church. Nosey then sees the side of the building, a totally blank wall, and points it out to Jimson. Jimson is immediately inspired to execute his largest work, "The Last Judgement". Finding out that the church is condemned to be torn down within a fortnight, Jimson, Nosey and Coker recruit local youngsters to help with completing the painting, to the objections of the local council official who is to oversee the building's demolition. Jimson even recruits Lady Beeder to participate, in spite of the injuries caused to her after Jimson's and Abel's actions in their residence. The painting is completed on the scheduled day of demolition. After the demolition crew warns everyone to stand back, a bulldozer comes crashing through the wall and destroys the painting. Jimson himself drove the bulldozer, feeling it necessary to destroy the work before anyone else does. As Jimson's admirers pelt the council official and demolition crew in protest, Jimson runs back to his boat and sets sail down the Thames, before Nosey and Coker can stop him.
-nominated screenplay by actor Alec Guinness. Guinness' screenplay generally follows the book it was based on, but Guinness focused on Jimson's character and what it means to be an artist, rather than the social and political themes the book explored. He also deviates from the book's ending, where Jimson had suffered a stroke and was no longer able to paint.
The expressionistic "Jimson" paintings featured in the film were actually the work of John Bratby
, a member of the English provincial realists artist known as the Kitchen Sink
school.
Mike Morgan fell ill with meningitis
shortly before filming ended and died before its completion. As a result, another actor dubbed many of Morgan's lines.
1958 in film
The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946....
directed by Ronald Neame
Ronald Neame
Ronald Elwin Neame CBE, BSC was an English film cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and director.-Early career:...
and filmed in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
. Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
wrote the screenplay from the 1944 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Horse's Mouth
The Horse's Mouth
The Horse's Mouth is a 1944 novel by Joyce Cary, the third in his First Trilogy, whose first two books are Herself Surprised and To Be A Pilgrim...
by Joyce Cary
Joyce Cary
Joyce Cary was an Anglo-Irish novelist and artist.-Youth and education:...
, and also played the lead role of Gulley Jimson, a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
artist.
Synopsis
The film begins with the release of the eccentric painter Gulley Jimson (Alec GuinnessAlec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
) from a one-month jail sentence for telephone harassment of his sponsor, Mr Hickson (Ernest Thesiger
Ernest Thesiger
Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger CBE was an English stage and film actor. He is best known for his performance as Dr...
). Nosey Barbon (Mike Morgan
Mike Morgan (actor)
Mike Morgan was a British actor. His film acting debut was in the 1957 film comedy Barnacle Bill, which also starred Alec Guinness....
), who wants to be a protégé of Jimson, greets Jimson at Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's prison, located in the Wormwood Scrubs area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in inner west London, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service....
, but Jimson tries to discourage Nosey from pursuing painting for a living. Jimson makes off with Nosey's bike to make his way back to his houseboat, which Coker, an older lady friend, has been attending in Jimson's absence.
Jimson tries to borrow money from Hickson and Coker (Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh
Kay Walsh was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, raised by her grandmother....
), but Hickson sets the police to trace the phone call back to Jimson. Jimson and Coker later visit Hickson to try to secure advance payment for the early Jimson works. However, after Jimson has tried to steal works from Hickson's place and Coker has stopped him, Hickson and his secretary have called the police to have them ejected. Jimson breaks a window, and he and Coker escape via the servant's entrance.
Jimson follows up on a note from A. W. Alabaster (Arthur Macrae), secretary to Sir William (Robert Coote
Robert Coote
Robert Coote was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of My Fair Lady.-Biography:Coote was educated at Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex...
) and Lady Beeder (Veronica Turleigh), who are interested in acquiring early Jimson works. One of the early works is in the possession of Jimson's ex-wife, Sara Monday (Renee Houston
Renee Houston
Renée Houston was a Scottish comedy actor and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles.Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, as Katherina Houston Gibbin, she toured music halls and revue with her sister Billie Houston as the Houston Sisters.In 1926, the sisters made a short musical film,...
). Jimson and Coker try to secure an agreement with Sara Monday to obtain that early painting, but are unsuccessful.
When Jimson visits the Beeders, he sees a blank wall in their residence, and is immediately inspired to paint "The Raising of Lazarus". He learns that the Beeders are leaving for 6 weeks, and takes advantage of their absence to execute the painting. An old artistic rival, Abel, a sculptor, intrudes on Jimson to bring in a large block of concrete to fulfill a sculpture commission for British Rail. In the process, Jimson pawns the Beeder's valuables, and Abel (Michael Gough
Michael Gough
Michael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,...
) and Jimson inadvertently destroy part of the Beeder's floor when the concrete is accidentally dropped whilst suspended. After Jimson has completed the painting, the Beeders return, and after their shock at seeing the painting, they walk towards it and fall through the hole on a carpet that had covered the hole.
When Jimson returns to his houseboat, he sees Coker there. She was fired from her barmaid job after her name got into the papers following the incident at Hickson's residence, and has nowhere else to live. Later that evening, she tells him that Hickson is dead, which surprises Jimson. She also says that Hickson has bequeathed his collection of Jimson's works "to the nation". Those works are displayed at the Tate
Tate
-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
Gallery, which Jimson himself visits. In the long line to the exhibit, Jimson sees Sara Monday. He then maneuvers to try to recover that one early work still in her possession. She seems to agree, and gives Jimson a roll tube. When he arrives back at the houseboat, however, Coker and Nosey see that the roll contains only toilet paper, without the painting there. Jimson quickly returns to Sara's house, with Nosey following. Jimson and Sara struggle for the painting, and in the struggle, Sara falls backwards and knocks herself out. Jimson and Nosey escape the scene.
Afterwards, Jimson and Nosey seek shelter in an abandoned church. Nosey then sees the side of the building, a totally blank wall, and points it out to Jimson. Jimson is immediately inspired to execute his largest work, "The Last Judgement". Finding out that the church is condemned to be torn down within a fortnight, Jimson, Nosey and Coker recruit local youngsters to help with completing the painting, to the objections of the local council official who is to oversee the building's demolition. Jimson even recruits Lady Beeder to participate, in spite of the injuries caused to her after Jimson's and Abel's actions in their residence. The painting is completed on the scheduled day of demolition. After the demolition crew warns everyone to stand back, a bulldozer comes crashing through the wall and destroys the painting. Jimson himself drove the bulldozer, feeling it necessary to destroy the work before anyone else does. As Jimson's admirers pelt the council official and demolition crew in protest, Jimson runs back to his boat and sets sail down the Thames, before Nosey and Coker can stop him.
Production
The film featured an Academy AwardAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-nominated screenplay by actor Alec Guinness. Guinness' screenplay generally follows the book it was based on, but Guinness focused on Jimson's character and what it means to be an artist, rather than the social and political themes the book explored. He also deviates from the book's ending, where Jimson had suffered a stroke and was no longer able to paint.
The expressionistic "Jimson" paintings featured in the film were actually the work of John Bratby
John Bratby
John Randall Bratby was an English painter who founded the kitchen sink realism style of art that was influential in the late 1950s....
, a member of the English provincial realists artist known as the Kitchen Sink
Kitchen sink realism
Kitchen sink realism is a term coined to describe a British cultural movement which developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose 'heroes' usually could be described as angry young men...
school.
Mike Morgan fell ill with meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
shortly before filming ended and died before its completion. As a result, another actor dubbed many of Morgan's lines.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Alec Guinness Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai... |
Gulley Jimson |
| Kay Walsh Kay Walsh Kay Walsh was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, raised by her grandmother.... |
Miss D. Coker |
| Renee Houston Renee Houston Renée Houston was a Scottish comedy actor and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles.Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, as Katherina Houston Gibbin, she toured music halls and revue with her sister Billie Houston as the Houston Sisters.In 1926, the sisters made a short musical film,... |
Sara Monday |
| Mike Morgan Mike Morgan (actor) Mike Morgan was a British actor. His film acting debut was in the 1957 film comedy Barnacle Bill, which also starred Alec Guinness.... |
Nosey |
| Robert Coote Robert Coote Robert Coote was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of My Fair Lady.-Biography:Coote was educated at Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex... |
Sir William Beeder |
| Arthur Macrae | A.W. Alabaster |
| Veronica Turleigh | Lady Beeder |
| Michael Gough Michael Gough Michael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,... |
Abel |
| Reginald Beckwith Reginald Beckwith Reginald Beckwith was a British film and television actor, who made almost one hundred film and television appearances in his career.-Filmography:* Freedom Radio * Scott of the Antarctic... |
Capt. Jones |
| Ernest Thesiger Ernest Thesiger Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger CBE was an English stage and film actor. He is best known for his performance as Dr... |
Hickson |
| Gillian Vaughan | Lollie |