St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold

St Trinian's 2:
The Legend of Fritton's Gold

British release poster
Directed by Oliver Parker
Barnaby Thompson
Produced by Oliver Parker
Barnaby Thompson
Screenplay by Piers Ashworth
Nick Moorcroft
Based on St Trinian's
by Ronald Searle
Starring Rupert Everett
Colin Firth
David Tennant
Talulah Riley
Sarah Harding
Tamsin Egerton
Music by Charlie Mole
Cinematography David Higgs
Edited by Emma E. Hickox
Production
company
Ealing Studios
Fragile Films
Distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors
Release dates
  • 18 December 2009 (2009-12-18)
Running time
 106 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Box office £7,088,097[1]

St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold is a 2009 British adventure comedy film directed by Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson, both of who directed the previous film in the series.[2] It is the seventh in a long-running series of films based on the works of cartoonist Ronald Searle, and the second film produced since the franchise was rebooted in 2007. A sequel, St Trinian's 3: Battle of the Sexes, has been in development since 2009.

Plot

One night, an unknown man telephones St. Trinian's and bribes a girl, Celia, to find an old ring in the school library. She is caught by the other girls, and forced to explain that the man offered her £20,000 for the ring. Annabelle, the new head girl of St. Trinian's, bartered for £100,000 from the man when he called back, but he refused and then proceeded to threaten them. Afterwards, the girls ask the headmistress, Camilla Fritton, about why the ring might be so valuable. She tells them a story about Pirate Fritton, her ancestor, who supposedly hid a great treasure somewhere in the world. He had two rings made, which when fitted together would reveal the location of the treasure.

The man on the telephone who wanted the ring is Sir Piers Pomfrey, a member of a secret society, and descendant of a man robbed by Pirate Fritton in 1589. Sir Piers manages to steal the ring from headmistress Camilla. The girls decide to search for the second ring, and find a clue left by another ancestor of the Frittons, who found the first ring (left in the library) and believed he knew where to look for the second. After a difficult deciphering of the clue, a midnight hunt in a graveyard, dealing with demonic possession, and disguising themselves as boys to infiltrate another school, the girls find the elusive second ring at last.

Now, all that is left is to steal back the ring that Sir Piers Pomphrey took.

They begin by researching Sir Piers Pomphrey (who runs a secret society known as AD1 who are a masculinist brotherhood), who has a seemingly flawless reputation, and discover that he knows Geoffrey Thwaites – an old flame of Camilla Fritton from the previous film. Camilla tracks him down to ask for help, and he informs her that Sir Piers is the head of a secret society known only as AD1. Geoffrey is persuaded to join forces with the girls of St. Trinian's against Piers.

They organize an undercover attempt to break into the headquarters of AD1, recruiting former head girl Kelly (now an M.I.7 agent). They attempt to retrieve the first ring, only to discover that it is not in the secret society's vault. Luckily, Geoffrey realises where the ring really is, on Pomfrey's finger, and manages to get it back to St. Trinian's.

At last the two rings are together, and they reveal the treasure's location; Shakespeare's Globe. After organising a flash mob to keep AD1 from following them, a small group of the girls, their headmistress, and Geoffrey head for their new destination. They reach a secret room, and open a chest, only to find that there are no golden riches waiting for them. But what they do find is another treasure entirely: two surprising secrets held by Pirate Fritton. First; that he wrote plays under the name William Shakespeare, and second; that he was in fact a she, a secret the AD1 could never let be revealed.

Sir Piers Pomfrey reaches the girls and takes the evidence they have found, threatening them with a gun. Just as he is about to make a getaway down the Thames aboard his private boat, destroying the evidence, Celia (played by Juno Temple) has an idea. The girls sail the reconstruction of the Golden Hind down the Thames, while shooting cannons at Pomfrey's boat. Then, Miss Fritton swings down and swipes the evidence from Pomfrey's hands. The end shows St Trinian's throwing a wild party.

Cast

Talulah Riley during filming in August 2009

Production

Principal photography started in July 2009, at Ealing Studios and on location in various places in London, including the Globe Theatre and on (and in) the River Thames. The 'Old Boys School' was filmed at Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey and the boys choir was the Guildford Cathedral Choir.[3] On 16 August 2009 hundreds of extras, along with the main characters, filmed a mass dance scene in the style of a flash mob at London's Liverpool Street Station.

The manor house used as the girls school is Knebworth House in Hertfordshire.

Release

It was announced at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival that St Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold was to be released on 18 December 2009.

Box office

It opened at #2 in the United Kingdom, just behind James Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic Avatar, with debut week end box office figures of £1,586,832.[4] As of 10 February 2010, the film has grossed a total of £7,019,714 in the United Kingdom, considerably lower than the first instalment's £12,280,529. It still turned out to be the fourth biggest hit of the 2009 Christmas season, beaten only by Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, and Avatar.

Critical reception

The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews, holding a 10% 'rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[5]

Home media

The region 2 DVD of the film was released on 24 May 2010.[6] A region 1 DVD release occurred on 23 March 2011.

Cancelled sequel

In December 2009, it was confirmed that there will be a St Trinian's 3: Battle of the Sexes.[7] There was also a competition held in 2010, for the chance for a girl to have a walk on role in the film. As of December 2015, no cast confirmation has been confirmed, for the third instalment. It has been assumed the film is cancelled.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "UK Box Office: 12 – 14 March 2010". UK Film Council. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  2. ↑ Balls, David (25 May 2009). "Harding 'to star in St Trinian's sequel'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  3. ↑ "Sarah Harding Addicts: Guildford Cathedral Choir performs in new St. Trinian's film". Sarahhardingaddicts.blogspot.com. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  4. ↑ "'Avatar' soars to UK box office top spot – Movies News". Digital Spy. 22 December 2009. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  5. ↑ St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold at Rotten Tomatoes
  6. ↑ http://www.sttriniansmovie.co.uk/
  7. ↑ Archived 16 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
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