A.J. Cronin Movies
A doctor still dealing with the aftermath of war discovers the toll the war has taken at home in this miniseries based on the novel by A.J. Cronin. Dr. John Finlay (David Rintoul) is a physician who returns to the small Scottish town of Tannochbrae after serving in the Army as a medical officer during World War II. Finlay is still attempting to readjust to civilian life after witnessing the horrors of war as he goes back to his medical practice with his elderly colleague Dr. Alexander Cameron (Ian Bannen). While the irascible Cameron is the same as he's always been, Finlay soon discovers Tannochbrae is a very different place, as poverty and the hardships of the war have left their mark, and his fiancée opted to break off their engagement while he was away. As Finlay attempts to put his life back together, he also struggles to help rebuild his hometown while he treats the physical end emotional maladies of the people of Tannochbrae. Originally produced for British television, Dr. Finlay was first seen in America as part of the acclaimed PBS anthology series Masterpiece Theatre; Cronin's novel was also the basis of a British television series in the mid-'60s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Previously filmed by director Carol Reed in 1939, A.J. Cronin's Depression-era novel The Stars Look Down served as the basis for this 13-part, 13-hour British miniseries. The story took place in a poverty-stricken village in the North East, which relied upon the local coal mines and fisheries for its meager income. Ian Hastings headed the cast as David Fenwick, the son of a mining family, whose chances to escape his grimy surroundings were compromised by a number of highly dramatic complications -- and, ultimately, by his own conscience and sense of duty. Also in the cast was Alun Armstrong, making a meal of his role as all-purpose villain Joe Gowan. The Stars Look Down was broadcast by Granada Television from September 4 to November 27, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
This presentation of The DuPont Show of the Month represented the first time that a novel by A.J. Cronin had been adapted for American television. In the early part of the 20th century, Canadian youth Paul Burgess (Farley Granger) discovers that his father, long believed dead, is languishing in a British prison, serving a life sentence for murder. Heading to England to get the full story, Paul is disheartened when everybody whom he meets assures him that his father was convicted fairly and squarely. On the verge of returning home, Paul comes into possession of an unexpected piece of evidence, sending him off to a new direction, with the hopeful end result of clearing his dad's name--much to the dismay of the other people involved in the case. "Beyond This Place" was originally telecast live. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Farley Granger, Shelley Winters, (more)
- 1939
A. J. Cronin's novel was brought to the screen by director Carol Reed. The film is set in a northern England mining town (far more realistically depicted than the back-lot Welsh village in John Ford's How Green Was My Valley. The parents of Michael Redgrave have labored long and hard so that their son can escape his grimy environs and make something of himself. While away at school, Redgrave is trapped into marriage by Margaret Lockwood, previously the lady friend of ill-tempered Emlyn Williams (the actor was himself a product of the Welsh mining community). When Lockwood and Williams resume their romance, the disillusioned Redgrave returns home, where he becomes deeply involved in a labor dispute. He ultimately decides that it is best for all if he remains in the village of his birth, working tirelessly on behalf of his friends, relatives and neighbors. Denied the larger budgets indigenous to Hollywood films, Carol Reed invested a gritty documentary "feel" into The Stars Look Down; the film brought him international acclaim, serving as a stepping stone for even greater cinematic accomplishments. Curiously, Reed himself didn't subscribe to A. J. Cronin's opinions vis-a-vis the nationalization of the coal mines; he was simply attracted to the dramatic possibilities of the tale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
