Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:31, 2 December 2024

Latest revision as of 19:27, 14 July 2025

(3 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)

Line 19:

| studio = Ivan Foxwell Productions

| distributor = [[Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation]]

| released = {{Film date|1968|909|25|df=y}} (London)<br>{{Film date|1969|101|26|United States|df=y}} (United States)

| runtime = 113 minutes

| country = UK

Line 79:

=== Critical ===

''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote: "John Krish has directed a fast-moving and funny ''Decline and Fall'' with enough familiar faces to ensure its commercial success. But unfortunately, in adapting Waugh's novel, Ivan Foxwell has taken too literally the author's claim that it belongs to no particular period, and has set Waugh's sharply observed comedy of manners in the present day. Though the scenes in the Dickensian school and in the futuristic King's Thursday retain – thanks to Jonathan Barry's inventive sets – most of their outrageous charm, the characters fare less happily: abstracted into the 1960s and uprooted from any recognisable social setting, they are relegated from the realms of satire into those of farce.&nbsp;...The answer is perhaps to forget about the novel and simply enjoy the acting.&nbsp;... ''Carry On Countess'' might have been a better title, but on its own level the film is enough of a success to make it worth seeing."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1968 |title=Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305839174 |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=35 |issue=408 |pages=168 |id={{ProQuest|1305839174}} |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

''The [[Radio Times]] Guide to Films'' gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Ex-documentary director John Krish has a stab at Evelyn Waugh's partly autobiographical 1928 work, ''Decline and Fall''. It was a vainglorious attempt, as the joys of this hilarious comedy of upper-class manners lie solely on the page; neither Krish nor his trio of scriptwriters have the satirical wit or irreverent verve to translate them to the screen. They are not helped by Robin Phillips's ghastly performance."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=[[Immediate Media Company]] |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |___location=London |pages=239}}</ref>

Line 90:

==External links==

* {{IMDb title|0062872}}

* {{allMovie title|89061}}

* {{TCMDb title|id=72704}}

* {{AFI film|id=23680|title=Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher}}

Line 98 ⟶ 97:

[[Category:1968 films]]

[[Category:British musical comedy films]]

[[Category:1960s1968 musical comedy films]]

[[Category:Films directed by John Krish]]

[[Category:Films based on British novels]]

[[Category:Films based on works by Evelyn Waugh]]

[[Category:Films scored by Ron Goodwin]]

[[Category:1969 comedy films]]

[[Category:1969 films]]

[[Category:1968 comedy films]]

[[Category:1960s English-language films]]

[[Category:1960s British films]]

[[Category:English-language musical comedy films]]

[[Category:1969 musical films]]