The Good Die Young
Encyclopedia
The Good Die Young is a crime thriller made in the United Kingdom by Remus Productions, featuring a number of American characters. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert
. The screenplay was based on the book of the same name written by Richard Macaulay.
) is an ageing boxer who is injured and unable to find work. Joe (Richard Basehart
) is an out-of-work clerk who needs to fly to the United States with his young wife (Joan Collins
) to escape her clinging and unstable mother. Rave (Laurence Harvey
) is a 'gentleman' sponger and scoundrel with gambling debts, while Eddie (John Ireland
) is an airman with an unfaithful wife who has gone AWOL from the US Air Force.
and at Shepperton Studios
, there are also scenes of BOAC
Boeing Stratocruiser aircraft at Heathrow Airport. Laurence Harvey later married Margaret Leighton who played his wife in the film.
As Richard Macauley's original novel was set in America, the screenwriters had to do considerable modifications to it to make the situations credible in 1950s England. As a British bank was financing the film they insisted that the depiction of a bank robbery could be imitated so the robbery was changed to a post office.
Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert CBE is an English film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:He was the son of music hall performers, and spent his early years travelling with his parents, and watching the shows from the side of the stage. He first performed on-stage at the age of 5, when asked to drive a...
. The screenplay was based on the book of the same name written by Richard Macaulay.
Plot
Four men are seen in a car apparently about to commit a serious crime. How each of the previously law abiding men came to be in this position is then explored. Mike (Stanley BakerStanley Baker
Sir Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer.-Early career:William Stanley Baker was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, Wales. In the mid-1930s his parents moved to London, where Baker spent most of his formative years...
) is an ageing boxer who is injured and unable to find work. Joe (Richard Basehart
Richard Basehart
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
) is an out-of-work clerk who needs to fly to the United States with his young wife (Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
) to escape her clinging and unstable mother. Rave (Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
) is a 'gentleman' sponger and scoundrel with gambling debts, while Eddie (John Ireland
John Ireland (actor)
John Benjamin Ireland was an actor and film director.-Biography:Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was raised in New York City from the age of 18. He started out in minor stage roles on Broadway...
) is an airman with an unfaithful wife who has gone AWOL from the US Air Force.
Production
The film was shot on location in LondonLondon
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...
and at Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
, there are also scenes of BOAC
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
Boeing Stratocruiser aircraft at Heathrow Airport. Laurence Harvey later married Margaret Leighton who played his wife in the film.
As Richard Macauley's original novel was set in America, the screenwriters had to do considerable modifications to it to make the situations credible in 1950s England. As a British bank was financing the film they insisted that the depiction of a bank robbery could be imitated so the robbery was changed to a post office.
Principal cast
- Stanley BakerStanley BakerSir Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer.-Early career:William Stanley Baker was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, Wales. In the mid-1930s his parents moved to London, where Baker spent most of his formative years...
as Mike Morgan - Rene RayRené RayRené Ray, Countess of Midleton was a British film and stage actress of the 1930s and 1940s who appeared in over forty films....
as Angela Morgan - John IrelandJohn Ireland (actor)John Benjamin Ireland was an actor and film director.-Biography:Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was raised in New York City from the age of 18. He started out in minor stage roles on Broadway...
as Eddie Blaine - Gloria GrahameGloria GrahameGloria Grahame was an American Academy Award–winning actress.Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life , MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios...
as Denise Blaine - Richard BasehartRichard BasehartJohn Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
as Joe Halsey - Joan CollinsJoan CollinsJoan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
as Mary Halsey - Laurence HarveyLaurence HarveyLaurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
as 'Rafe' Ravenscroft - Margaret Leighton as Eve Ravenscroft
- Robert MorleyRobert MorleyRobert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
as Sir Francis Ravenscroft - Freda JacksonFreda JacksonFreda Maud Jackson was an English stage actress who also worked in film and TV. Born in Nottingham, she was famous for her stage role as the cruel landlady Mrs. Voray in the play No Room at the Inn in the mid-1940s; she appeared in the film adaptation of 1948...
as Mrs Freeman - James Kenney as Dave, Angela's brother
- Susan ShawSusan ShawSusan Shaw was an English actress.Shaw began her film career in 1946 when she was signed to a contract by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation...
as Doris, Girl in the Pub - Lee PattersonLee PattersonLee Patterson was a Canadian film and television actor.After attending Ontario College of Art, Patterson moved to England, where he specialized in playing virile American types in British films...
as Tod Maslin - Sandra DorneSandra DorneSandra Dorne in Keighley, Yorkshire, was a British actress.Also known as Sandra Holt, she was often known in the fifties as the B Movie Diana Dors...
as Pretty Girl - Leslie DwyerLeslie DwyerLeslie Dwyer was an English character actor of film and television. He was born in Catford, the son of the popular music hall comedian Johnny Dwyer and acted from the age of ten and appeared in his first film in 1921...
as Stookey - Patricia McCarron as Carole
- George RoseGeorge Rose (actor)\...
as Bunny - Joan Heal as Woman
- Walter HuddWalter HuddWalter Hudd was a British actor.According to the Filmgoer's Companion by Leslie Halliwell, in 1936 Hudd was cast as T.E...
as Dr. Reed
External links
- http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/488021/index.html