Kurt at 04:13, 26 December 2022

2022-12-26T04:13:58Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:13, 25 December 2022
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	~~{{EngvarB\|date=September 2013}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=September 2013}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Prudence and the Pill		\| name = Prudence and the Pill
	\| image = ~~Prudance~~ and the ~~pill~~.~~jpeg~~		\| image = Prudence and the Pill.jpg
	\| image_size =		\| image_size =
	\| caption = Film poster		\| caption = Film poster
	\| director = [[Fielder Cook]]<br>[[Ronald Neame]] (uncredited)		\| director = [[w:Fielder Cook\|Fielder Cook]]<br>[[w:Ronald Neame\|Ronald Neame]] (uncredited)
	\| producer = Kenneth Harper<br>Ronald J. Kahn		\| producer = Kenneth Harper<br>Ronald J. Kahn
	\| writer = Hugh Mills		\| writer = Hugh Mills
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	\| starring = [[Deborah Kerr]]<br>[[David Niven]]		\| starring = [[Deborah Kerr]]<br>[[David Niven]]
	\| music = Bernard Ebbinghouse		\| music = Bernard Ebbinghouse
	\| cinematography = [[Ted Moore]]		\| cinematography = [[w:Ted Moore\|Ted Moore]]
	\| editing = [[Norman Savage]]		\| editing = [[w:Norman Savage\|Norman Savage]]
	\| distributor = [[Twentieth Century-Fox]]		\| distributor = [[w:Twentieth Century Fox\|Twentieth Century Fox]]
	\| released = {{Film date\|df=yes\|1968\|5\|23}}		\| released = {{Film date\|df=yes\|1968\|5\|23}}
	\| runtime = 92 minutes		\| runtime = 92 minutes
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	* {{Amg movie\|106834\|Prudence and the Pill}}		* {{Amg movie\|106834\|Prudence and the Pill}}
	* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}		* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}

	~~{{Fielder Cook}}~~
	~~{{Ronald Neame}}~~

	[[Category:1968 films]]		[[Category:1968 films]]
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	[[Category:Films set in London]]		[[Category:Films set in London]]
	[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]		[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
	~~[[Category:British pregnancy films]]~~
	~~[[Category:1960s pregnancy films]]~~
	[[Category:1960s British films]]		[[Category:1960s British films]]
			[[Category:British comedy films]]

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2022-12-23T19:22:44Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 14:22, 23 December 2022
(No difference)

en>SamhainStrode: Correct info.

2022-11-23T05:09:10Z

Correct info.

New page

{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Prudence and the Pill
| image = Prudance and the pill.jpeg
| image_size =
| caption = Film poster
| director = [[Fielder Cook]]<br>[[Ronald Neame]] (uncredited)
| producer = Kenneth Harper<br>Ronald J. Kahn
| writer = Hugh Mills
| narrator =
| starring = [[Deborah Kerr]]<br>[[David Niven]]
| music = Bernard Ebbinghouse
| cinematography = [[Ted Moore]]
| editing = [[Norman Savage]]
| distributor = [[Twentieth Century-Fox]]
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1968|5|23}}
| runtime = 92 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget = $3,570,000<ref>Solomon, Aubrey. ''Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-4244-1}}. p255</ref>
| gross = $4,500,000 (US/ Canada)<ref>"Big Rental Films of 1968", ''Variety'', 8 January 1969 p 15. This figure is a rental accruing to distributors.</ref>
}}

'''''Prudence and the Pill''''' is a 1968 British [[comedy film]] made by [[Twentieth Century-Fox]]. It was directed by [[Fielder Cook]] and [[Ronald Neame]] and produced by Kenneth Harper and Ronald J. Kahn from a screenplay by Hugh Mills, based on his 1965 novel. The music score was by Bernard Ebbinghouse and the cinematography by [[Ted Moore]].

The film stars [[Deborah Kerr]] and [[David Niven]] with [[Robert Coote]], [[Irina Demick]], [[Joyce Redman]], [[Judy Geeson]], [[Keith Michell]], [[Michael Hordern]] and [[Edith Evans]].

[[Hayley Mills]] was originally announced for the part eventually filled by Geeson. Mills had previously co-starred with Kerr and Evans in ''[[The Chalk Garden (film)|The Chalk Garden]]'' (1964), which was also directed by Neame.

== Plot ==
The film portrays the conflicting and comical attempts by five couples to avoid [[pregnancy]] by using contraceptive pills. All of their efforts are ultimately unsuccessful, with the result that all five of the women give birth the following year.

The story revolves around a wealthy London banker named Gerald Hardcastle ([[David Niven|Niven]]) and his wife Prudence ([[Deborah Kerr|Kerr]]), who live together unhappily, sleeping in separate bedrooms and speaking to each other only when necessary. The five couples in the film are (1) Gerald and his French mistress Elizabeth, or "Liz" ([[Irina Demick|Demick]]), (2) Prudence and her doctor, Dr. Alan Huart ([[Keith Michell|Michell]]), (3) the Hardcastles's maid Rose ([[Vickery Turner|Turner]]) and their chauffeur Ted ([[Hugh Armstrong (actor)|Armstrong]]), (4) Gerald's brother Henry ([[Robert Coote|Coote]]) and his wife Grace ([[Joyce Redman|Redman]]), and (5) Henry and Grace's daughter Geraldine ([[Judy Geeson|Geeson]]) and her beau Tony Bates ([[Lord David Dundas|Dundas]]).

All of the couples want to use a [[combined oral contraceptive pill|birth control pill]] called "Thenol", but none of them wants to admit it. Prudence, Grace, and Ted manage to acquire supplies of pills, Grace through a prescription written by Huart, and Ted from the
local chemist, or pharmacist, who happens to be a friend of his. However, Grace soon becomes pregnant, because Geraldine has been stealing her pills and replacing them with [[aspirin]] tablets. After Geraldine admits her pill-switching scheme to Grace and Grace tells Gerald about it, Gerald uses the scheme on Prudence to generate incriminating evidence of her affair.

Meanwhile, believing that Rose is too conservative to accept contraception, Ted puts his tablets in a vitamin bottle and tells her she needs them for her health. However, Rose is worried about becoming pregnant, so she switches the pills in her vitamin bottle with the pills in Prudence's Thenol bottle, just moments after Gerald replaces Prudence's Thenol with aspirin. The result, then, is that Rose unwittingly trades Ted's Thenol for Gerald's aspirin. She soon becomes pregnant, and Ted tells Gerald about the pills he gave her, but says nothing about telling her they were vitamins. When Gerald asks her why her Thenol pills failed to work, she asks him how he knew about them, thinking that he has already found out about her taking Prudence's pills, at which point they both realise that she has revealed her guilt.

Now knowing why Prudence is still not pregnant, Gerald buys more aspirin, determined to expose her relationship with Huart. This eventually works, as do whatever measures Grace took to keep her pills away from Geraldine. By the end of the film, Geraldine and Prudence are both expecting.

Eventually, Gerald gets into trouble with both Liz and Prudence. Liz grows dissatisfied in her covert relationship with Gerald, who has been hiding her from his family, and decides to leave him. Prudence finds the letter that Liz wrote to Gerald about her decision, and Gerald finds Huart's Thenol prescription for Prudence. At first, neither Gerald nor Prudence is willing to grant the other a [[divorce]], but Prudence offers to take the blame after becoming pregnant, as long as Gerald will spare Huart's reputation. Gerald accepts this arrangement grudgingly, but before meeting with Huart, he happens to see Liz while driving through town, and she tells him she is going to have his baby. Now able to see her openly, and with a child on the way, Gerald quickly and enthusiastically agrees to an amicable divorce. A few months later, a total of six newborn babies arrive, Rose having had twins.

== Cast ==
{| class="wikitable" width="50%"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! Actor !! Role
|-
| [[Deborah Kerr]] || Prudence Hardcastle
|-
| [[David Niven]] || Gerald Hardcastle
|-
| [[Robert Coote]] || Henry Hardcastle
|-
| [[Irina Demick]] || Elizabeth Brett
|-
| [[Joyce Redman]] || Grace Hardcastle
|-
| [[Judy Geeson]] || Geraldine Hardcastle
|-
| [[Keith Michell]] || Dr. Alan Huart
|-
| [[Edith Evans]] || Lady Roberta Bates
|-
| [[Lord David Dundas|David Dundas]] || Tony Bates
|-
| [[Vickery Turner]] || Rose the maid
|-
| [[Hugh Armstrong (actor)|Hugh Armstrong]] || Ted the chauffeur
|-
| [[Peter Butterworth]] || Chemist
|-
| [[Moyra Fraser]] || Woman in Tea Shop
|-
| [[Annette Kerr]] || Gerald's Secretary
|-
| [[Harry Towb]] || Racetrack Official
|-
| [[Jonathan Lynn]] || Chemist's Assistant
|-
| [[Michael Hordern]] (uncredited)|| Dr. Morley
|}

==Reception==
According to Fox records the film required $6,425,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $7,175,000.<ref>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv/page/327 327]|title=The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox|url=https://archive.org/details/foxthatgotawayt00silv|url-access=registration|last=Silverman|first=Stephen M|year=1988|publisher=L. Stuart|isbn=9780818404856 }}</ref> In September 1970 Fox reported it had made a profit on the film of $513,000.<ref>Silverman p 260</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0063467|Prudence and the Pill}}
* {{tcmdb title|87314|Prudence and the Pill}}
* {{Amg movie|106834|Prudence and the Pill}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}

{{Fielder Cook}}
{{Ronald Neame}}

[[Category:1968 films]]
[[Category:1968 romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:20th Century Fox films]]
[[Category:Birth control]]
[[Category:British romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Fielder Cook]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ronald Neame]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:British pregnancy films]]
[[Category:1960s pregnancy films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

Prudence and the Pill - Revision history

Kurt at 04:13, 26 December 2022

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>SamhainStrode: Correct info.