The King's Breakfast (film)

The King's Breakfast is a 1963 British family film directed by Wendy Toye and starring Maurice Denham, Mischa Auer and Reginald Beckwith. It was based on the poem The King's Breakfast by A.A. Milne.[1]

The king of an unnamed country is annoyed because butter wasn't available for spreading on his morning toast. His staff try to find him some and eventually they do.

After their chaotic and pointedly literal illustrating of the lyrics to the traditional Christmas carol "The Twelve Days" [1953][2] pioneering British female film director and choreographer Wendy Toye and satirical cartoonist turned set designer Ronald Searle[3] joined forces with composer Ron Grainer to transform a well known British children's poem by A A Milne[4] into a hyperactive 28 minute slapstick, ballet and mime featurette impressive enough to be invited for screening at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival[5] and for producer Jack Le Vien to offer Grainer the soundtrack for his prestigious Winston Churchill documentary The Finest Hours (1964).[6]

Colour photos taken on the set give a guide to the original appearance of the film.[7]

The list of characters for this mini musical show the poem was expanded to other ideas and story lines relating to interpersonal relations within a castle environment. There is no Master of the King's Music, Magician, Chamberlain, Gym Instructor, Serpent Player, Musician [several] or "Tweeney" in the original text but there is in this version.[8]

Cast

References

  1. http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/39091
  2. Russell Davies "Ronald Searle" Sinclair Stevenson Limited 1990 p109/110
  3. Russell Davies "Ronald Searle" Sinclair Stevenson Limited 1990 p140
  4. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241532
  5. http://www.festival-cannes.com/es/archives/1963/shortFilm.html
  6. "Move Over Rodgers", Australian Women's Weekly 5 August 1964 p9
  7. http://ronaldsearle.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/kings-breakfast.html
  8. http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/39091?view=cast

External links


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