The Rebel (1961 film)

The Rebel

Trade ad poster by Tom Chantrell
Directed by Robert Day
Produced by W.A. Whittaker
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
Tony Hancock
Starring Tony Hancock
George Sanders
Paul Massie
Margit Saad
Music by Frank Cordell
Cinematography Gilbert Taylor
Edited by Richard Best
Production
company
Distributed by Warner-Pathé Distributors
Release dates
 2 March 1961, World Premiere London (UK)
Running time
 105 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

The Rebel (1961) (US title: Call Me Genius) is a satirical comedy film. Starring the British comedian Tony Hancock, it was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The film was made by Associated British Picture Corporation and distributed by Warner-Pathé (ABPC's distribution arm).

Plot

Hancock plays a downtrodden London office clerk who gives up his office job to pursue full-time his vocation as an artist. Single mindedly, and with an enthusiasm far exceeding any artistic talent (his 'art' has a 'childlike' quality - to put it mildly), he sets to work on his masterpiece Aphrodite at the Waterhole, moving to Paris where he expects his genius will be appreciated. While his 'ideas' and persona gain acceptance (indeed plaudits) among the "beat" set, legitimate art critics, like Sir Charles Broward (George Sanders), scoff at his work. He manages to achieve success, however, when the work of his former roommate, a genuinely talented painter, becomes confused with his own. The confusion is eventually resolved after a series of art exhibitions, and he returns, down but not out, to London, where he pursues his 'art' in defiance of whatever others may think of it.

Other information of note

The Rebel attempts to transfer Hancock's TV comedy persona to the big screen, and several of his regular supporting cast also appeared, including John Le Mesurier, Liz Fraser and Mario Fabrizi. Although the film was the sixth most popular movie at the British box office for 1961, it was not well received in the USA, where audiences possibly did not understand the highly anglocentric humour.[1] Hancock though was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award in 1962 as Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles:

The film explores existentialist themes by mocking Parisian intellectual society and portraying the pretensions of the English middle class. Galton and Simpson had previously satirised pseudo-intellectuals in the Hancock's Half Hour radio episode "The Poetry Society", in which Hancock attempts to imitate the style of the pretentious poets and fails, and is infuriated when his idiot friend Bill does the same and wins their untrammeled approval.

The film also includes scenes parodying modern art. The scene showing Hancock splashing paint onto a canvas and riding a bike over it is a lampoon of the work of Action Painter, William Green while the childlike paintings of Hancock, referred to as the 'infantile school' or the 'shapeist school' parody the naive style.

The railway station used at the beginning of the film named Fortune Green South, was actually Bingham Road in the Croydon suburb of Addiscombe. The station has now been demolished.

In 2002, the London Institute of 'Pataphysics organised an exhibition consisting of recreations of all the art works seen in the film and presented the exhibition as if it were a retrospective of a real unknown artist called Anthony Hancock.

Cast

Reception

The film had its World Premiere at the Plaza Cinema in London's West End on 2 March 1961. According to the Motion Picture Herald, the film was the 6th most popular movie at the UK box office in 1961.

Quotes

On Mrs. Crevatte seeing one of Hancock's pictures on the wall:

On Mrs. Crevatte first encountering Hancock's Aphrodite at the Waterhole

The abstract expressionist painting scene:

As he takes his leave of the Paris Art World at his final exhibition:

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Crowther, Bosley (1961-10-17). "Movie Review - The Rebel - Screen: A British Comic:Tony Hancock Stars in 'Call Me Genius'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
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