The Horse's Mouth (United Artists) (1958)

mame PUBLICITY : Guinness Success Didn't Come Easily (Biographical Feature) Ever since he played nine assorted roles in “Kind Hearts and Coronets” Alec Guinness has been an international star of the first magnitude. Money, honors and critical acclaim have been heaped upon him. As a result, everyone—except perhaps Guinness himself — has forgotten that, for a long time indeed, he could barely manage to get his career off the ground. At the moment, Guinness is to be seen in one of the most spectacularly colorful roles he has ever played, that of the genius tramp-artist, Gulley Jimson, in “The Horse’s Mouth,” a screen adaptation in Technicolor of the best-selling novel by Joyce Cary. Produced by John Bryan and directed by Ronald Neame, “The Horse’s Mouth” opens on .......... al thessae were. Theatre through United Artists release. For the first time, realizing a long-nourished ambition, Alec Guinness doubles in brass as author of the screenplay of “The Horse’s Mouth.” The supporting cast of top British players is headed by Kay Walsh, Renee Houston and Mike Morgan. The general early view of Alec Guinness’ talents was summed up by his headmaster at the Pembroke Lodge preparatory school, who said, “You will never make an actor.” Guinness, who was, however, too shy to say so, thought differently. In this opinion he was for a long time alone. His schooling finished he found a job in a London advertising firm, and spent his spare time seeing everything on the boards. Finally, at nineteen, he applied for a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He was turned down. He next went to the acting school run by Fay Compton, and at last had a measure of success. He won a full year’s scholarship that paid his tuition—but nothing for food and lodging. For the next year, Guinness lived on one meal a day in a tiny attic room. At the end of the year, he started making the rounds of the theatrical offices. He made his debut in a play called “Libel,” then in another called “Queer Cargo,” in which he played (not at the same time, however) a Chinese cook, a French pirate and a British sailor. When the run of this play ended, Guinness went back to his familiar state of starvation. With the help of John Gielgud he was tried out for several stage roles, but got none of them. Finally, Gielgud offered him a role in his own “Hamlet.” From that point on, Guinness’ worst trials were over—he had no further worries about starvation. Even so, it was another fourteen years (including five in the British navy im World War II) before recognition finally came to him on a scale commensurate with his enormous talent. “The Horse’s Mouth” is Guinness’ first movie since the Oscar-winning “Bridge on the River Kwai.” Such Sentiment There'll Always Be An England Department: The destruction of a wall, necessary for a key sequence in “The Horse’s Mouth,” opening on eo one at the .......... Theatre through United Artists release, was held up for three days because a thrush had made a nest in one of the cracks in the wall, and was sitting on her eggs! The wall was destroyed only after the eggs had been hatched and the nest safely removed. Alec Guinness stars in “The Horse’s Mouth,” adaptation of the best-selling novel by Joyce Cary, in the role of the turbulent, brawling, brilliant painter, Gulley Jimson. Still HM-98 Go ge ne Re epee eee Proud History The battered old houseboat used in a sequence on the Thames in “*The Horse’s Mouth,” has a proud history. It was one of that gallant armada of small boats that evacuated the defeated British army from the shores of Dunkirk in World War II. A screen adaptation of Joyce Cary’s best-selling novel, “The Horse’s Mouth” opens on ........ Pe NOG] (heap rears eae Theatre through United Artists release, with Alec Guinness starring as Gulley Jtmson, a brilliant, turbulent, brawling artist. ae th eee stare Controversial Artist John Bratby Paints ‘Horse's Mouth’ Pics (Art Page Feature) The problem facing the producers of “The Horse’s Mouth,” opening on .......... at the By eee ie Theatre through United Artists, release was as follows: How do you get pictures that represent the work of a wild, rakish but brilliant artist—in fact, a near-genius? The answer was simple: get a brilliant artist (preferably a near-genius) to paint them. The producers of the film faced squarely up to both the question and the answer by hiring John Bratby, one of the most brilliant and controversal of England’s artists, to paint the pictures represening the work of Gulley Jimson, the colorful artist-hero of ““The Horse’s Mouth.” An adaptation of the best-selling novel by Joyce Cary, “The Horse’s Mouth” stars Alec Guinness in the role of the picturesque Gulley Jimson. Also starring in the cast are such noted British actors as Kay Walsh, Renee Houston and Mike Morgan. Guinnes doubled in brass as author of the screenplay of “The Horse’s Mouth” a Technicolor film produced by John Bryan and directed by Ronald Neame. By the terms of the story, the paintings of Gulley Jimson were unique, turbulent, disturbing. A painter had to be found whose technique not only filled these requirements, but who was capable of working in sizes from a small portrait to a mural large enough to cover the whole side of a church! Artists and critics were consulted, and it soon became apparent that only one man could fill the specifications —John Bratby. Still in his middle thirties, Bratby painted in his early years only pictures of his wife and himself—because he couldn’t afford models. Later, he bacame identified as the leader of the “kitchen sink school,” so-called because its members used as subjects many of the familiar sights and objects of an ordinary household— “including the kitchen sink.” Although he can—and in several paintings for “The Horse’s Mouth” did—paint small, Bratby usually Jeans toward canvasses twentyfeet square, which he daubs furiously with inch-thick paint direetly from the tubs and without benfit of brush. One of the most exciting figures on the London art scene, Bratby has won such coveted prizes as the Young Artists Award and the Guggenheim National Award. His work hangs in the Tate Gallery, The Walker Arts Gallery, and in many museums and private collections. Mat 2C€ Alec Guinness, as an eccentric artist, thinks critically about a work he has just finished in “The Mouth,” a United Artists release in Technicolor. PAGE 6 Horse’s The Stormy Career Of Joyce Cary’s ‘The Horse’s Mouth’ (Book Page Feature) For a brilliantly successful book —both critically and financially— Joyce Cary’s best-selling novel, “The Horse’s Mouth” had its fair share of vicissitudes before reach. ing the screen. It has now, at long last, been made into a picture, starring Alec Guinness in the colorful role of Gulley Jimson, the turbulent, picturesque artist-hero. “The Horse’s Mouth,” filmed in Technicolor, OPCNSAON. oeciaces alethe scenes < Theatre through United Artists release. Guinness is also the author of the screenplay, a faithful adaptation of the Cary novel. The strong supporting cast is headed by such important British players as Kay Walsh, Renee Houston and Mike Morgan. “The Horse’s Mouth” was produced by John Bryan and directed by Ronald Neame. A best-seller all over the world, “The Horse’s Mouth” was eagerly read by movie companies — who promptly dropped it like a hot potato. Its complex shading of character, its defiant approach, its off-beat philosophy made it, as one movie executive put it, not without genuine regret, “too hot to handle.” The broad concensus was that “The Horse’s Mouth” would never be made into a film. But actor Alec Guinness and director Ronald Neame_ thought differently. They purchased the screen rights to the novel. That was five years ago. The reason for the lag between purchase and produc. tion was a very simple one. Both Guinness and Neame had so many individual film commitments that they simply could not find the free time. Recently, however, opportunity knocked. Director Neame and John Bryan, producer of “The Horse’s Mouth,” had, in those capacities, both just completed work on a film called “Windom’s Way.” They had a break in their schedules, but Guinness, alas, did not. Then, just as both were about to sign on for a new assignment, they received a hurry call from Guinness, who told them that “The Loved One,” in which he was scheduled to start work, had been cancelled, and he was at liberty. Quicker than you could say “Let’s go!” the three got together, hired a cast, a studio and technicians, and went to work on “The Horse’s Mouth.” Some Prediction! Department of Resounding Boners: While still in his late teens, Alec Guinness, Oscar-winning star of United Artists’ “The Horse’s Meouth;” now at the ......-....Theatre, was turned down by director of a dramatic school in London to which he had applied for a scholarship, with the words, “You will never make an actor.” Writer, Too Not only is Alec Guinness the star of “The Horse’s Mouth,” openMME VON, etches = at the Theatre through United Artists release, but he is also its author. Guinness doubled in brass by writing the screen adaptation of the famed best-selling novel by Joyce Cary. Stili HM-18 Mat 2B Kay Walsh makes Alec Guinness return a jade ornament he lifted in the home of a rich person. Guinness plays the role of an eccentric artist in ““The Horse’s Mouth,” a United Artists release in Technicolor opening ......... at the Theatre. Oper 46) -0)6 ew ale British and Americans Both Acclaim Alec Guinness (Alec Guinness Feature) Alec Guinness has become such a huge favorite of American movie fans that the British are—almost —hbecoming jealous. He is, after all, they want it to be remembered, a British actor and every bit as popular on the other side of the big pond as he is on this. The occasion of this reminder is the appearance of a new Alec Guinness movie, “The Horse’s Mouth,” opening on .......... atcthesc. 5 ease Theatre through United Artists release. An adaptation (by Guinness himself, who authored the screenplay) of Joyce Cary’s best-selling novel, the Technicolor film stars Guinness in one of his most picturesque roles, as Gulley Jimson, the dedicated brawling artist who is half tramp and half genius. Supporting Guinness in the starring role is a cast of top British actors, headed by Kay Walsh, Renee Houston, and Mike Morgan. “The Horse’s Mouth” was produced by john Bryan and directed by Ronald Neame. Recently, a British consular official in Los Angeles delivered himself of the following statement: “Alec Guinness has made more friends for our country in America than any Englishman since Sir Winston Churchill.” And then he added: “But we like him too, you know. After all, he’s ours.” Alec Guinness first impressed himself on the consciousness of the American filmgoer through the release of that brilliant series of comedies including “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” “The Promoter,” “The Lavender Hill Mob,” “Lady Killer,” “The Man in the White Suit” and “The Captain’s Paradise.” Although, as each of these pictures appeared in movie theatres in the United States, Guinness’ legion of fans increased, it remained for television to bring his popularity to a peak of mass adulation. These same pictures were shown on television, and proved so enormously popular that they have since been run dozens of tinies. Finally, the climax was capped when, for his brilliant performance in “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” he was awarded the Oscar for best performance of the year. To a man, the American public applauded the choice. Although he is a British actor, and only one of his pictures has been made in Hollywood (“The Swan,” co-starring Grace Kelly), movie fans in this country, having discovered him, cherish him readily as one of their own. New York Crities Extol ‘The Horse’s Mouth’ (Special Feature) When “The Horse’s Mouth,” a fast-moving comedy about an eccentric artist, starring Alec Guinness, opened in New York it was greeted with enthusiastic acclaim. The United Artists release in Technicolor which will open .......... atthe isan ie Theatre received glowing praises for its zany comedy, high hilarity, and most of all, Guinness’ brilliant performance. Bosley Crowther, in The New York Times, described the picture as a personal triumph for Alec Guinness. “The picture is a_ triumph—and it’s all his. A truly incredible cast of flawless players assist Mr. Guinness in giving form to one of the most incisive pictures of an artist ever made.” Awarding the comedy a four-star rating, Daily News reviewer Kate Cameron said, “Alec Guinness is superb in the role of the eccentric artist and he is aided by a fine cast of supporting players. A de lightful and funny performance, Ronald Neame’s direction is excellent.” The Herald Tribune’s Paul V. Beckley called the picture “far and away the maddest comedy of the year. One exciting sequence follows another. Uproarious.” The Mirror’s Justin Gilbert states “Alec Guinness makes his poiat quite superbly in ‘The Horse’s Mouth.’ Shenanigans so wild and wooly that they will knock you for a loop with laughter.” Alton Cook of The World Telegram & Sun found that “all the outrageous humor of Joyce Cary’s preposperous novel has been caught in the movie version of ‘The Horse’s Mouth.’ Fun dominates.” Writing in the New York Post. critic Archer Winston called Guinness’ performance “brilliant.” He goes on to say, “the picture can be given the highest praise for what it attempts and succeeds in doing.”