Cold Comfort Farm (film)

Cold Comfort Farm
US theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Schlesinger
Produced by	Alison Gilby Richard Broke
Screenplay by	Malcolm Bradbury
Based on	Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Starring	Kate Beckinsale Joanna Lumley Ian McKellen Rufus Sewell
Music by	Robert Lockhart
Cinematography	Chris Seager
Editing by	Mark Day
Studio	Thames Television
Distributed by	BBC (UK) Gramercy Pictures (US)
Release date(s)	1 January 1995 (1995-01-01) (United Kingdom TV) 10 May 1996 (1996-05-10) (United States theatrical)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$5,682,429[1]

Cold Comfort Farm is a 1995 British romantic comedy film directed by John Schlesinger and produced by the BBC and Thames Television, an adaptation of Stella Gibbons' 1932 book of the same name, the film stars Kate Beckinsale, Joanna Lumley, Ian McKellen, and Rufus Sewell. Originally broadcast on 1 January 1995 on the BBC, it was Schlesinger's final film shot in his home country England, and was picked up for theatrical release in North America through Gramercy Pictures, where it was a small success.

Plot

1920s Sussex, England; after her parents die, a young orphan, Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale), seeks relatives with whom to live. She comes to the farm of a bizarre family, the Starkadders, who are cousins on her mother's side. The Starkadders live in a run-down farm off the beaten track in Sussex. Finding them very strange in their behavior, she decides to rehabilitate them to twentieth century values. During the course of the story, she gets rid of the father of the family, who regularly preaches to, and by doing so, berates a group of timid followers called the "Quiverers," by encouraging him to go on a preaching tour, leaving the farm to the far more capable hands of his elder son. She connects the very lusty and handsome younger son with an American film producer, and so gets rid of him as well. She marries off the wild (in the sense of roaming nature, not libertine) and poetry-addicted daughter of the family after coaching her in manners, deportment, fashion and other issues. She connects the chronically-depressed mother with a famed psychiatrist, who takes a great interest in her. The toughest nut to crack is her Aunt Ada Doom, who repeatedly uses "I saw something nasty in the woodshed!" [when young] as an excuse to control the family, but she eventually persuades Ada to go on a tour of Europe.

Cast

• Kate Beckinsale as Flora Poste
• Joanna Lumley as Mrs. Mary Smiling
• Ian McKellen as Amos Starkadder
• Rufus Sewell as Seth Starkadder
• Eileen Atkins as Judith Starkadder
• Sheila Burrell as Ada Doom
• Stephen Fry as Mybug
• Freddie Jones as Adam Lambsbreath
• Miriam Margolyes as Mrs. Beetle
• Ivan Kaye as Reuben Starkadder
• Jeremy Peters as Urk
• Maria Miles as Elfine Starkadder
• Christopher Bowen as Charles Fairford
• Louise Rea as Meriam Beetle
• Sophie Revell as Rennet

Reception

Cold Comfort Farm received generally positive reviews; it currently holds an 84% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[2] During its theatrical release in North America, the film grossed $5,682,429.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Cold Comfort Farm (film) at Box Office Mojo
2. ^ Cold Comfort Farm (film) at Rotten Tomatoes

External links

• Cold Comfort Farm (film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Cold Comfort Farm (film) at AllRovi
• Cold Comfort Farm (film) at Box Office Mojo
• Cold Comfort Farm (film) at Rotten Tomatoes