Sadly Over-hyped

A Major Disappointment

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Based on a novel by Compton McKenzie, CARNIVAL is about Sally Gray, a girl from an unhappy home who joins the corps de ballet and entrances all the men: Michael Wilding, an artist, Michael Clarke, his best friend, and Bernard Miles, who marries her and takes her and her crippled sister, Hazel Court, to his dark Cornwall farm.The movie is full of actors giving fine performances, but it suffers from a problem frequent to the era, of being cut down, both in terms of what can be depicted in a movie, as opposed to a novel, and what would pass a censor. As a result, it becomes a movie of incidents, in which Miss Gray's character often seems to be uncertain as to what she actually wants -- which is, I believe a major point of the story -- and in seeming inconsistencies in Miss Gray's character. In the end, it all fits together, although the viewer may lack the patience to assemble the jigsaw offered.Even so, the production values, the location shooting and the performances offered will serve to make this worthwhile, particularly for those anxious to see what Miss Gray had to offer after an absence of five years from the screen.

Everything is perfect about this film, although it is a shocker. Naturally you get worried as you get involved in the fates and faulty characters of all these personages, where everyone has a crux of her own, while only Jennie Pearl seems to come clear of everything, and yet it is impossible to foresee how events will turn out, as unexpected things happen all the time, twisting their fates around and taking you unpleasantly for more than one surprise ride.The story is Compton Mackenzie's, who also gave us "Whisky Galore" among other priceless classics, a masterful story-teller and brilliant wit especially for dialogue, which permeates this whole film, while also the director worked on the script with even Peter Ustinov. Just for the dialogue, the film is worth watching at least twice.The actors are all brilliant, from the jovial and incorrigible Stanley Holloway as the father, Catherine Lacey as his self-torturing wife, Sally Gray herself as something between Glenda Jackson and Katharine Hepburn and a marvellous dancer as well, this film is mainly about ballet and art and the problems artists of these crafts are facing, and Michael Wilding is overwhelmingly charming as usual. To this comes the astonishing and towering character that Bernard Miles is creating, who almost takes over the entire film. The grand finale in Cornwall crowns the masterpiece.This was apparently Stanley Haynes' only film, while his main contributions was as a producer.It's very difficult to say what is best about this film, since everything is so perfect, especially the sparkling dialogue and brilliant interplay of the actors, there are many adorable scenes, and the music adds to it, actually composed (like the ballets) exclusively for this film, which therefore could be regarded as something of a foreplay to the emerging of the greatest of all ballet films, "The Red Shoes" two years later.

'Carnival' is a 1946 melodrama from Rank/Two Cities which is compelling and memorable in parts but, overall, does not quite manage to attain the status of a great movie. A solidly old-fashioned filming of Compton Mackenzie's 1912 best-seller of the same name, the movie details the life of the beautiful dancer Jenny Pearl (Sally Gray).Born into a relatively humble family, she strains against her less than opulent surroundings but also is aware of her responsibilities towards her sister and parents. The movie is quite successful in conveying the harsh and unforgiving nature of mundane existence in the poorer areas of London that frays lives and so tears at and conflicts Jenny's heart. Upon the death of her mother, she is ultimately trapped into a loveless marriage with a hardy, unsympathetic Cornish farmer named Trewhella (Bernard Miles). She relinquishes her burgeoning dancing success and the attentions of her male admirers in order to safeguard her sister's future well-being. Jenny and her sister, played by Hazel Court, then move to the Trewhella's coastal farm in Cornwall.This transplantation heralds the most inspired and evocative scenes in the movie. There are several breathtakingly striking scenes on the towering cliff faces overlooking the sea. A dark, menacingly unwelcome atmosphere is also effectively created at the remote farmhouse into which Jenny and her sister come. The visit of a friend of Jenny's and subsequent arrival of her erstwhile lover Maurice (Michael Wilding) sparks a culture clash as the unloved, hard-working and God-fearing Trewhella is spurred into dreadful and impassioned action against his unloving wife who is not at one with the country way of life.'Carnival' is a movie that will stick in my mind due to the starkly impressive coastal cinematography by Guy Green and the brooding performance of Bernard Miles as Trewhella. Watching him on screen evoked memories of the malevolent contribution turned in by Duncan Macrae in 1947's 'The Brothers'. 'Carnival' is certainly a well-detailed and occasionally gripping movie with many interesting facets to it.

Having just watched Carnival I was interested to see what other IMDb users thought about it. Astonishingly there was just one review! Extraordinary! Well - if you get the chance, do try to catch this excellent piece of British cinema history. As well as being an unusual, well acted and interesting drama, Carnival is crammed with wonderful English stars and character players ... in fact, there are so many that well-known faces such as Kathleen Harrison aren't even billed in the credits! The film marked Sally Gray's triumphant return to the screen following a five year absence, and although a good ten years too old for her role, she still gives a luminous performance, commanding all her scenes with a natural authority and star quality. There is one scene which made me smile, as the supposedly 19 year old Sally looks into a mirror and wistfully says "In eleven years I'll be 30. I wonder what I'll look like". Not much different, one imagines the audience thinking. The plot concerns a young dancer (Sally Gray) in turn of the century London. Her home life is not particularly harmonious, living with her mismatched parents (Stanley Holloway and Catherine Lacey) and her younger sister (Hazel Court). Courted by stage door johnnies along with her fellow dancers (Jean Kent, Brenda Bruce), she resists temptation but does fall in love with a temperamental artist (Michael Wilding). When he asks her to go away with him, she must choose whether to follow her heart or stay on the straight and narrow. At this point the film takes a most unexpected and fascinating turn, leading to a genuinely shocking conclusion, and I defy anyone to guess what will happen in the last three minutes!