PASSPORT TO PIMLICO [1949 / 2012] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] The Ealing Studios Classic British Film Has Now Been Digitally Restored!
Ealing Studios' output from the 1940s and 1950s helped define what was arguably the golden age for British cinema. Written by Ealing regular T.E.B. Clarke, Passport to Pimlico was nominated by BAFTA in the Best British Film category and stars Stanley Holloway, Hermione Baddeley, Margaret Rutherford and Paul Dupuis. When an unexploded WWII bomb is unexpectedly detonated in Pimlico, it reveals a buried cellar full of treasures; including an ancient document proving that the area is in fact part of Burgundy, France and thus foreign territory. In an attempt to regain control, the British Government set up borders and cut off all services to the area, but the “Burgundians” are determined to fight back!
PRESS: "Loveably dotty, while still smartly caustic... the Ealing ethos at its very best" **** Empire
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1950 Academy Awards®: Nominated: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay for T.E.B. Clarke. 1950 BAFTA Awards: Nominated: BAFTA Film Award for ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ Best British Film.
FILM FACT No.2: The film's opening credits end with the words "dedicated to the memory of" with an image of Second World War British food and clothing ration coupons. ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ contains numerous references to the Second World War to accentuate the spirit within the small Burgundian enclave. The film studies scholar Charles Barr, in his examination of the Ealing films, observes that in opposing the British government, the Burgundians "recover the spirit, the resilience and local autonomy and unity of wartime London." Charles Barr suggests the actions "re-enact in miniature, the war experience of Britain itself." The film historian Mark Duguid, writing for the British Film Institute, considers that the film is a "yearning nostalgia for the social unity of the war years." The film historians Anthony Aldgate and Jeffrey Richards describe ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ as a progressive comedy because it upsets the established social order to promote the well-being of a community. The view of the community put forward in the film has been criticised as being anachronistic, as the wartime unity had already passed by 1949. According to Anthony Aldgate and Jeffrey Richards, the welcome return to the ration books at the end of the film signifies an acceptance that the measures of the British government are in the best interests of the people. According to the film historian Robert Sellers, ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ "captures the most quintessential English traits of individualism, tolerance and compromise;" BFI Curator Mark Duguid sees the examination of the English character as being "at the heart" of the film. This was one of the aspects that appealed to Margaret Rutherford, who liked the way the British were portrayed "accentuating their individuality and decency, while acknowledging some parochial idiosyncrasies."
Cast: Stanley Holloway, Betty Warren, Barbara Murray, Paul Dupuis, John Slater, Jane Hylton, Raymond Huntley, Philip Stainton, Roy Carr, Sydney Tafler, Nancy Gabrielle, Malcolm Knight, Hermione Baddeley, Roy Gladdish, Frederick Piper, Charles Hawtrey, Margaret Rutherford, Stuart Lindsell, Naunton Wayne, Basil Radford, Gilbert Davis, Michael Hordern, Arthur Howard, Bill Shine, Harry Locke, Sam Kydd, Joey Carr, Lloyd Pearson, Arthur Denton, Tommy Godfrey, James Hayter, Masoni, Fred Griffiths, Grace Arnold, Paul Demel, Clement Attlee (archive footage) (uncredited), Hyma Beckley (uncredited), Paul Beradi (uncredited), Ernest Bevin (archive footage) (uncredited), Eddie Boyce (uncredited), Michael Brailsford (uncredited), Jimmy Charters (uncredited), Winston Churchill (archive footage) (uncredited), Michael Corcoran (uncredited), Michael Craig (uncredited), E.V.H. Emmett (uncredited), Stanley Escane (uncredited), Roy Everson (uncredited), Bernard Farrel (uncredited), Fred Haggerty (uncredited), Richard Hearne (uncredited), Gordon Humphries (archive footage) Gerry Judge (uncredited), Arthur Lovegrove (uncredited), Jim O'Brady (uncredited), John Owers (uncredited), Frank Phillips [Radio Announcer voice] (uncredited), Geremy Phillips (uncredited) and Reg Thomason (uncredited)
Director: Henry Cornelius
Producers: E.V.H. Emmett and Michael Balcon
Screenplay: T.E.B. Clarke (original screenplay)
Composer: Georges Auric
Conductor: Ernest Irving
Costume Design: Anthony Mendleson
Cinematography: Lionel Banes, A.R.P.S. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 84 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: The J. Arthur Rank Organisation / An Ealing Studios Production / STUDIOCANAL
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ [1949] is a typically quaint and light-hearted comedy from the masterly Ealing Studios and ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ has endured as one of their best loved comedy capers.
The film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ is set in post-war London in 1949, an era of British history that arguably tends to be ignored slightly by the movies. Obviously the great triumphs and struggles of the war years are well known to modern day audiences, as of course are the swinging sixties a fair few years later. 1949 however is a relatively uncommon time period to set a film in. Life was still tough for your regular Brit as while the spectre of war may have dissipated there were still plenty of everyday reminders of its impact on the general public. Rationing was still in place; goods were in short supply and bombed out buildings still stood along the city streets. In ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO,’ scriptwriter T.E.D. Clarke and director Henry Cornelius wonderfully capture this bygone era with a story that packs a clear political subtext and looks at what it truly means to be British.
In the London district of Pimlico, the accidental exploding of a wartime bomb uncovers an underground treasure trove which includes, among all the gold and jewels, an ancient piece of parchment. A delightfully doddery old Professor Hatton-Jones [Margaret Rutherford] reveals to the gathered locals that the parchment is actually a royal charter which proves that thanks to a legal technicality, Pimlico actually still belongs to the Duke of Burgundy and as such, is not a part of Great Britain.
The delighted locals don’t take long to work out that this quirk of the law exempts them from rationing and also the country’s strict alcohol consumption laws. As any other right-minded cockney folks would do in this situation, they celebrate the occasion by having a right royal booze-up and singing “Knees Up Mother Brown” in the local. As the dust settles though, the downside of independence begins to emerge as spivs and undesirables from across the city descend on Pimlico to peddle their wares and Londoners flock to the area to pick up goods which would normally be strictly rationed.
Naturally the UK government takes exception to this situation and thus begins a slow burning war of typically British bureaucracy with the Burgundians. First off the British government erects a boarder and forces folks to present their passport to cross into Pimlico, in retaliation the Burgundians do likewise and stop all underground trains from passing through their nation without correct documentation. The British tighten the screw and cut off electricity and food and water supplies, actions which seem to only spur on the Burgundians to exercise their right to independence even more.
The performances are also of the highest calibre, featuring the magnificently eccentric Margaret Rutherford, who of course perhaps best known for her Miss Marple films of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Also we have comedy stalwarts featuring including Hermione Baddley as Edie Randall and an early performance from Charles Hawtrey as Bert Fitch before he joined ranks with Sid James and Kenneth Williams in the Carry On films.
It’s worth nothing that at the time of the film’s release, the Berlin blockade was at its height and so the presence of an isolated community being blocked off from the surrounding area would have really hit home with the viewing public and was intended to rally support behind the cause. Hence we have the telling scene were the regular people of London begin to throw food supplies over the barbed wire fence, mirroring the Berlin airlift which was then in operation.
As well as satirising the British penchant for bureaucracy and nationalism, ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ also sought to hark back to the recently passed era of national unity and rekindle a bit of the old Blitz spirit. The sight of salt of the earth English folks coming together to help the downtrodden Burgundians and stand up for what’s right in the face of adversity, was a clear reference to this kind of wartime mentality.
For the viewers at the time of its release, this was a film about escapism as much as anything else. The immense burden of rationing was a bane of the British people’s lives still and the idea of throwing off the bureaucratic shackles would have been extremely appealing. Tellingly though, despite the Burgundians battling the UK government, it’s clearly a film which seeks to exemplify the stiff-upper-lip indefatigable spirit of the English people. The plucky Burgundians never lose sight of their origins and seek to form their new society based on the very best of British traits. They very quickly set up a publicly elected government and seek to create a just and fair society. As one local says in typically witty Ealing fashion, “We’ve always been English and we’ll always be English; and it’s precisely because we are English that we’re sticking up for our right to be Burgundians!”
It’s a film very much of it’s time and that’s part of what makes it so interesting. ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ is a wonderful snapshot of post-war Britain and in typical Ealing fashion it tackles the issue of what it means to be British and the quirks of our national identity in a typically sharp and eccentric way. It is also a great film that’s still funny, sweet and charming, taking on timeless themes while giving us a sharp look at life just after the Second World War.
PASSPORT TO PIMLICO MUSIC TRACK LIST
LA GUAJIRA (uncredited)
I DON’T WANT TO SET THE WORLD ON FIRE (uncredited) (Written by Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus, Bennie Benjamin and Eddie Durham) [Sung in the pub by Molly “Jane Hylton”]
THE SUN IS SHINING (uncredited) (Music by Charles Hawtrey) [Played on the pub piano by Charles Hawtrey]
KNEES UP MOTHER BROWN (uncredited) (Written by Harris Weston and Bert Lee) [Sung in the pub by the people of Pimlico]
MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES (uncredited) (Music by Louis Levy) [Main and end titles of Gaumont-British Newsreel in cinema]
EXPLOSION (uncredited) (Music by Charles Williams) ["Siege of Burgundy" newsreel in cinema]
MULBERRY (uncredited) (Music by Kenneth Leslie-Smith) ["Siege of Burgundy" newsreel in cinema]
CHAOS (uncredited) (Music by Charles Williams) ["Siege of Burgundy" newsreel in cinema]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – The J. Arthur Rank Organisation, An Ealing Studios Production and STUDIOCANAL presents the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ with a wonderful black-and-white cinematography receives a film-like restoration with pleasing detail 1080p image definition and is shown in the standard 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The resolution includes a hint of sharpening with loads of texture and finer detail. The authentic grain structure has been left untouched, cleanly reproduced. Black levels are satisfactory. The film elements have seen some clean-up as witnessed by the included restoration featurette. Overall, the 1949 British film has consistent clarity and an even contrast that highlights the craftsmanship of Ealing Studios to great effect. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – The J. Arthur Rank Organisation, An Ealing Studios Production and STUDIOCANAL brings us the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ with once standard 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio experiences that delivers a serviceable presentation of the film’s original mono soundtrack. Dialogue is very intelligible without any real volume issues. So overall for a film released in 1949 gets a five star rating from me. So well done The J. Arthur Rank Organisation, An Ealing Studios Production and STUDIOCANAL.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Interview with British Film Institute Curator Mark Duguid [2012] [480i] [1.37:1] [7:09] Here we meet Mark Duguid in some private cinema, who is the Curator at the BFI National Archive & Programmer, and informs us the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ was released in April 1949 and was the first of three Ealing Studios comedy films and was followed a few weeks later by the films ‘Whiskey Galore’ and ‘Kind hearts and Coronets’ and of course were all massive box office hits, and came at a time a couple of years after the end of the Second World War at the same time Ealing Studios was still trying to find itself, in trying to define what the company stood for, and in the process it is trying to find its voice, and even before 1949, Ealing Studios produced a number of comedy films that were actually produced in the Second World War, which were in fact the Will Hayes comedy films, but those films were not thought of actual Ealing Comedy Films. With the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ it was tremendously received by the British public when released in the British cinemas and it was the rebirth of the Ealing Studio films, and then over the coming years Ealing Studios became very well known for its comedy films, but despite that, not all of the comedy films were a hit with the British cinema going public, but with the release of the film ‘Run For Your Money,’ that starred Sir Alec Guinness and was a modest hit, but from then on with the other Ealing Studio film releases they started to become comedy classics. With the Ealing Studio comedy film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO,’ it was born out of Post-war Austerity and ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ more than the other Ealing Studio comedy films really embraced this, especially with its storyline, and of course at the start of the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ does a fond memory to rationing that the British people had to endure well after the Second World War. Mark Duguid talks about the screenwriter T.E.B. Clarke, who was also known as “Tibby,” who was one of the most prolific screenwriter for the Ealing Studio films, especially fifteen of the comedy films and was originally a policeman and of course this shows up with some of the gags relating to policemen in the Ealing Comedy films he was involved with and was a screenwriter for the film ‘The Blue Lamp.’ T.E.B. Clarke was the essence of Ealing Comedy films, especially with films like ‘The Lavender Mob’ and ‘Hue and Cry’ and also did the screenplay for the film ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’ and T.E.B Clarke tried to bring the funny side of eccentric British attitude. Mark Duguid now talks about the British Character in the Ealing Comedy films, and Michael Balcon was the one who brought out the British characters in the Ealing Comedy Films he was involved with, and also brought in the wartime spirit that the people in the UK had to endure in the Second World War and to emphasise this, in the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO,’ there is a quote said by one of the actors, where they said, “We were always English and we will always be English, and just because we are English, that we are fighting for the rights of Burgundians,” and this really expresses the premise of the film and sets up what the British attitude means. Now Mark Duguid talks about the director Henry Cornelius, which was his first directorial film for Ealing Studios, but previously he was a producer in 1945, and originally Michael Balcon was not very impressed with Henry Cornelius, but despite this, decided to let him have a go, but to me it does not show in the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO,’ and feels it was a very well accomplished directed film, and after the release of the film, Henry Cornelius was said not very happy with the comments by Michael Balcon and decided to leave Ealing Studios. Mark Duguid now talks about the performances of some of the actors in the film, and feels it had a good mixture of old and new British actors in the film, and of course mentions Margaret Rutherford, who eventually went onto other great successful British films that was not related to Ealing Studios and was also a very well loved actress by the British public, especially in comedy films, and of course appearing as Miss Marple in the four classic Agatha Christie films. On top of all that, there were other stalwart British actors in the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO,’ and one of them was of course Stanley Holloway who was the leading character actor in the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO,’ and also appeared in other Ealing Comedy Films, but also mentions other well-known British actors that appeared in the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO.’ At this point the interviews abruptly without warning, which I find very unprofessional attitude, still despite this, Mark Duguid is quite interesting and very knowledgably about the history of Ealing Studio and imparts some fascinating information about the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO,’ and all who were involved with the film, despite the interview runs just over seven minutes.
Special Feature: Locations Featurette with Film Historian Richard Dacre [2012] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 1.37:1] [4:18] Here we get to meet Richard Dacre who is the British Historian and Author of Traditions of British Comedy and gives us a guided tour of the sights in London where the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ was filmed, and starts the tour in Lambeth Road, London SE1 and a short walk from there you come to the Lambeth Palace and is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. For nearly 800 years, Lambeth Palace has been the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose original residence was in Canterbury, Kent. Originally called the Manor of Lambeth or Lambeth House, the site was acquired by the archbishopric around AD 1200 and has the largest collection of records of the Church in its library. Not far from the Lambeth Palace is the Lambeth Bridge and few hundred yards in the opposite direction is the Imperial War Museum, where you get to view recreations of World War One trenches and the Blitz, many tanks and planes and revolving military exhibitions. Richard Dacre also informs us that the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ was set in the sultry summer heat of 1947, but in fact it was filmed in a very cold and wet winter in 1948, and because of the atrocious bad weather, the film went massively over budget and of course when the film was shot, Britain was scarred from all the bombs being dropped in the Second World War, especially in London and the block of flats we see behind Richard Dacre is where you see the scene in the film of the derelict bomb site. But the art director Roy Oxley decided to construct the buildings you see in the film, as a fully three dimensional set, and as you view the film you cannot help to be impressed by what you view in the film of these buildings. Also a few hundred yards behind Richard Dacre is speaking in the Lambeth Road, and was where and was where they found that World War 2 unexploded bomb. Next we see Richard Dacre standing opposite the Lambeth Bridge, where you saw people in the train who throw out of the windows the food for the people of Burgundy [Pimlico] and there you can still see the lamppost that was featured in the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ and the lamppost is listed by the British Heritage organisation because it appeared in the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO.’ Next, Richard Dacre is in another London location and is standing opposite the London Eye Hostel and dates back to the 18880’s and is a refuge for cash strapped backpackers and if you look carefully in the film you will see the building. Richard Dacre mentions other London landmarks seen in the film, like Piccadilly Circus, which is now completely different in the layout for the motor vehicles. At that point in this special feature it ends, and thanks are given to the Gunnersbury Park Museum, which is a park in the London Borough of Hounslow between Acton, Brentford, Chiswick and Ealing, West London, England.
Special Feature: Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery [1949] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:47] Here we get to view a plethora of rare stunning black-and-white images of behind-the-scene images related to the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ and while viewing this slide show, you get to hear in the background the wonderful composed film score by Georges Auric.
Special Feature: Restoration Comparison [1949] [480i / 1080p] [1.37:1] [6:55] Here using a split screen comparison, the unrestored transfer is compared to the new remastered image and it is amazing how STUDIOCANAL has worked their magic in bringing this film into the 21st century, but the whole viewing experience is completely silent.
Theatrical Trailer [1949] [1080i] [1.37:1] [2:24] Here we get to view the Original Theatrical Trailer of the film ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO.’
Finally, ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO’ offers some insight into what the city, its people, and their attitudes were like in the immediate post-war period. And while I don’t know Pimlico very well, I found a short sequence shot in Piccadilly Circus very interesting from a historical comparison point of view. I’m glad to say the new Blu-ray image is really excellent since there’s something special about watching old black and white films in top quality high definition. It was restored at Pinewood Studios using the best original prints available and then touched up digitally. The soundtrack seems to have received less attention though and while it’s perfectly fine, it would have been nice if they had upgraded the audio experience. I’m very glad I had the chance to catch up with ‘PASSPORT TO PIMLICO,’ it is a film that is very entertaining, funny, charming, and also historically satisfying and interesting. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
