Watch Encore (1951)

 

Encore (1951)
UK Film, Comedy, Drama, Anthology

Official Selection

Encore is a 1951 anthology film composed of adaptations of three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham:

• "The Ant and the Grasshopper", directed by Pat Jackson and adapted by T. E. B. Clarke;
• "Winter Cruise" (from the 1947 collection of Maugham stories Creatures of Circumstance), directed by Anthony Pelissier, screenplay by Arthur Macrae;
• "Gigolo and Gigolette" (from the 1940 collection of Maugham stories The Mixture as Before), directed by Harold French, written by Eric Ambler.

Maugham introduces each part of the film with a piece to camera from his garden on the French Riviera. Encore was the final film in a Maugham trilogy, preceded by Quartet and Trio. The film was entered into the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The Ant and the Grasshopper" is weakened by direction that is only competent when it should be sparkling, and by a charmless performance from Nigel Patrick. "Winter Cruise", however, is most enjoyable, well scripted by Arthur Macrae, with some lively handling by Pelissier and a brilliant performance by Kay Walsh. ... "Gigolo and Gigolette" survives the miscasting of Glynis Johns and Harold French's uninspired treatment through the well-constructed script of Eric Ambler and some good acting by minor players ... While one's fundamental objection to Encore is the same as to the previous Maugham films – that all the stories are just literally transplanted to the cinema and are not given the equivalent there of Maugham's tellingly concise, dry style – the film is entertaining because it contains above-average material, preserved with reasonable fidelity

The film is made from three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham. More on Wikipedia or Mubi 

Cannes Film Festival- Official Selection