Hidden Movie Gem: “The Missionary”
October is Hidden Movie Gem month at Go Into The Story. Why? Because we all need to — say it together with me…
WATCH MOVIES!!!
I have asked members of the GITS community to write guest posts about their favorite Hidden Movie Gems and many of you have responded. Today’s guest post is courtesy of Barbara Thomas.
Movie Title: The Missionary
Year: 1982
Writer: Michael Palin
Lead Actors: Michael Palin, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliot, Trevor Howard
Director: Richard Loncraine
Plot Summary: In 1905, after 10 years of missionary work in Africa, the Rev. Charles Fortesque is recalled to England, where his bishop gives him his new assignment — to minister to London’s prostitutes. Charles hopes Deborah, his fiancee, will object and give him an excuse to say no to the bishop. But she is so imperturbably innocent that she totally fails to understand what he is being asked to do, and urges him to do his best. Wealthy Lady Ames is expected to fund the work, but once she makes it clear to Charles that there will be no contribution unless he shares her bed…
Why I Think This Movie Is A Hidden Gem: A comedy about sex that is neither silly nor crude, a comedy about religion that isn’t strident or pushing an agenda, The Missionary was Michael Palin’s first solo project post-Monty Python. His script is smartly funny, reminiscent of Ealing comedies. If you expect Python levels of silliness, you won’t get it. If you want to see Palin proving he’s an actor, not just a comedian, you will.
My Favorite Moment In The Movie: The final scenes, in which secrets are revealed and nefarious plots foiled with surprising results.
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: Lord and Lady Ames discuss their hopelessly confused butler, Slatterthwaite:
Lord Ames: He really is the most disastrous butler. Can’t we get rid of him?
Lady Isabel: Of course we can’t. He’s been here for 25 years.
Lord Ames: I don’t know why we ever got rid of Marcheson.
Lady Isabel Ames: You know perfectly well why we got rid of Marcheson.
Lord Ames: That was only a bit of harmless fun.
Lady Isabel Ames: Not for the parents.
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: Michael Hordern’s absentminded butler, the emotionally tortured maid who lingers in the background of several scenes, a young Timothy Spall and the end credit sequence.
Movie Trailer:
Thanks, Barbara! To show our gratitude, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
Tomorrow: Another Hidden Movie Gem!
Note: At this point, we have 15 guest posts. We are shooting for 31. If you’d like to submit a post for one of your favorite Hidden Movie Gems, please use the above template and email to me.
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