Appendix 1: Synopses of films
Alastair Sim, George Cole; Joyce Grenfell; Hermione Baddely;
Irene Handl.
Alastair Sim (in drag) is the headmistress of a wickedly anarchic
girls' boarding school regarded with terror by both the Ministry
of Education and the local constabulary. This highly successful
farce was based on Ronald Searle's cartoons, and initiated a
series, the last of which was made in 1966.
The Bells of St. Mary's
Leo McCarey, RKO, US 1945.
Bing Crosby; Ingrid Bergman.
A Catholic school in a run down Irish neighbourhood of New York
is threatened with demolition to make way for the car park of a
new office block. Against this background the newly arrived
pastor (Crosby) and the headteacher (Bergman) negotiate their
differing methods of education.
Black Narcissus
Powell and Pressburger, Archers, UK 1946.
Deborah Kerr; David Farrar; Sabu; Jean Simmons; Kathleen Byron;
Flora Robson.
A nun in an Anglo-Catholic convent in the Himalayas is 'unhinged'
by the combination of the location, the climate and the
charismatic presence of a local expatriate (Farrar). In a
struggle with the mother superior (Kerr) she falls to her death
and the convent subsequently disbands.
Brief Encounter
David Lean, Cineguild, UK 1945.
Celia Johnson; Trevor Howard; Stanley Holloway; Joyce Carey;
Cyril Raymond.
Laura (Johnson) tells in flashback the story of her love affair
with Alec (Howard) whom she met by chance while on a routine
shopping trip. Both are happily married and decide to end the
affair almost before it has begun.
Caesar and Cleopatra
Gabriel Pascal, Rank, UK 1945.
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