The Prisoner of Corbal

The Prisoner of Corbal is a 1936 British historical drama film directed by Karl Grune and starring Nils Asther, Hugh Sinclair and Hazel Terry.[1] It is also known by the alternative title The Marriage of Corbal.[2] It is set against the backdrop of the French Revolution.

The Prisoner of Corbal
British poster
Directed byKarl Grune
Written byS. Fullman
Based onthe novel The Nuptials of Corbal by Rafael Sabatini
Produced byMax Schach
Starring
CinematographyOtto Kanturek
Edited byWalter Stokvis
Music byAllan Gray
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • 28 May 1936 (1936-05-28) (London)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The film was made at British and Dominions Elstree Studios as an independent production which was released by General Film Distributors. The film is based on the 1927 novel The Nuptials of Corbal by Rafael Sabatini.

Plot

The aristocrat Cleonie is the object of affection for both the Marquis of Corbal and Citizen-Deputy of the revolution, Varennes. The latter saves Cleonie from the guillotine by disguising her as his nephew and smuggling her out of France.

Cast

Critical reception

Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene described the film as "incredibly silly and incredibly badly written but [with] a kind of wide-eyed innocence [...] which is almost endearing". Greene characterized the dialogue as "the worst I have heard these twelve months", and criticized the scenario and acting (which he attributed to the direction). Acknowledging the praise for this film from other reviewers Greene expressed concerns that other reviews may have been tainted by the presence of money.[3]

TV Guide noted, "some racy bedroom scenes were clipped for the US release. The actors suffer from miscasting, but Asther gives an outstanding performance. Interesting use of camera angles stands out, as does the direction of the crowd scenes."[4]

References
  1. "The Marriage of Corbal (1936)". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
  2. "The Marriage of Corbal (1936) - Karl Grune - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. Greene, Graham (5 June 1936). "The Marriage of Corbal". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Greene, Graham (1980). Taylor, John Russell (ed.). The Pleasure-Dome: The Collected Film Criticism 1935–40. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 78–80. ISBN 978-0-19-281286-5.)
  4. "Prisoner Of Corbal". TVGuide.com.


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