THE SPANISH GARDENER
(Rank) G Cert. THE SPANISH GARDENER is a film of promise not quite fulfilled: a story with a worthwhile subject-the relationship between father and sonwhich goes so far, then is marred by plot and melodrama. Even so, it’s an attractive piece. The father, played with considerable insight by Michael Hordern, is an embittered British consular Official in Spain. Not good enough for a top job and deserted by his wife, he smothers his son with too devoted care, imagining him a delicate child who must be protected from the world. When the boy starts to develop robustly under the influence of the young gardener at the consulate, the father jealously forbids their friendship. Still, the outcome should please everyone. Jon Whiteley, best remembered as the elder boy in The Little Kidnappers, an earlier Philip Leacock film, gives a good performance as the boy, and Dirk Bogarde is a likeable gardener. He’s no Spaniard, though, nor is the villain, Garcia, as played by Cyril Cusack, which is another weakness of the film. However, the relationship between the boy and his father is sensitively portrayed, and the script (from an A. J. Cronin novel) is intelligent. The film, which has used some fine Spanish locations, is beautifully photographed in very good colour (and VistaVision) by Christopher Challis.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19570621.2.26.1.4
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 932, 21 June 1957, Page 16
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218THE SPANISH GARDENER New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 932, 21 June 1957, Page 16
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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