Another Shore

Another Shore is a 1948 Ealing Studios comedy film directed by Charles Crichton.[1] It stars Robert Beatty as Gulliver Shields, an Irish customs official who dreams of living on a South Sea island; particularly Rarotonga.[2] It is based on the 1947 novel by Kenneth Sheils Reddin, an Irish judge.[3]

Another Shore
Film poster
Directed byCharles Crichton
Produced byMichael Balcon
Ivor Montagu
Written byKenneth Reddin (story)
Walter Meade (screenplay)
StarringRobert Beatty
Moira Lister
Stanley Holloway
Music byGeorges Auric
CinematographyDouglas Slocombe
Edited byBernard Gribble
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • 20 December 1948 (1948-12-20) (UK)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The opening credits initially say "a comedy" but this is changed to "a tragedy". The orchestra plays Molly Malone as credits roll on a background of shamrocks telling the viewer that the setting is Ireland.

Gulliver Sheils has left his career with the Revenue Commissioners in Dublin due to receiving a small pension. He spends every day but Sunday sitting at a park bench in St Stephen's Green hoping to help a fallen wealthy elderly person who will reward him with enough money to finance his one way trip to Rarotonga where he will spend the remainder of his days lolling about in the South Seas. On Sunday he loafs on an Irish beach fantasising about living in Rarotonga. There he meets an attractive Anglo-Irish woman named Jennifer (Moira Lister). She becomes intrigued that Gulliver is the first man to ignore her.

The next week, a refined Scottish gentleman, Alastair McNeil (Stanley Holloway) sits next to him for some minutes before going to a bar. Gulliver goes to a different bar. A very quiet one. He reads a newspaper article about a car crash on Grafton Street; he realises that that location would give him a better opportunity for his scheme. He then goes to the street and waits for the next accident, but when two women crash he declines to be a witness. He waits a week on the courtroom steps .. the woman eventually sees him .. they had met before on a beach. He goes to meet her later in a bar with her friends.

He resumes his stance on the steps of the bank on Grafton Street but is harassed due to his continual presence. Acquiring a small performing dog from an ill street busker partly resolves this. He is happy when the next accident happens: an old lady is hit by a car while crossing. He helps her hoping for a reward but is only given a luncheon voucher.

The girl Jennifer passes somewhat tipsy and asks him to call a taxi. He joins her and they go to her palatial home. Over dinner he at last explains his plan. In his mind, he will rescue and they will reward him with an amount of money to get him to the South Seas. She clearly likes him but he runs off.

He returns to his position on Grafton Street. The next accident is a Rolls Royce hitting a boy on a bicycle. The man (the same man who earlier sat by him in the park) in the car claims the greater injury. They go to a bar together. They appear to have parallel dreams except Gulliver seeks Rarotonga and the man wishes Tahiti. They meet a third time in a lawyers office when the man goes to bewail the loss of his wife: running away with his chauffeur. A plan to go together to the South Seas is formulated to the dismay of Jennifer.

On the way to the boat their car crashes on Grafton Street. Gulliver breaks his arm. Jennifer arrives and her friend Yellow takes Gulliver's place on the trip. Gulliver stays with Jennifer who he marries with Gulliver returning to his job.

Main cast

Production

Another Shore was filmed on location in Dublin in Ireland.[4]

References
  1. "Another Shore (1948)". BFI.
  2. "Another Shore (1948) - Charles Crichton | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
  3. Dawe, Gerald (8 June 2018). The Wrong Country: Essays on Modern Irish Writing. Irish Academic Press. ISBN 9781788550284 – via Google Books.
  4. Rockett, Kevin; Gibbons, Luke; Hill, John (21 January 2014). Cinema and Ireland. Routledge. ISBN 9781317928584 – via Google Books.


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