(1994), Shadow on the Sun : The Magnet (1950) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Charles Frend Writing Credits T.E.B. He was born and raised into an affluent British family deeply rooted in the acting world. CF. Following this success Fox co-founded an acting troupe, based in the West Country, where they converted a former swimming baths in Teignmouth into a theatre. (1992), The 18th Annual American Film Institute Life Achievement Award: A Salute to Sir David Lean He was initially trained to join a ski battalion which was to be sent to Finland to aid that country in the Winter War against the Soviet Union. The iron lung maker, rather bizarrely demonstrating his equipment in the middle of a seaside beauty contest, tells the story of the magnet at various fund-raising events, exaggerating wildly and portraying Johnny as everything from a spoiled brat to a Dickensian ragamuffin. It's a fine story about growing up and having a bit of an adventure on the way. Fox makes for a great child actor I loved how he uses his arms to signal panic or mischief, particularly when running away from the law throughout. The grey jacket and short trousers he wears in "THE MAGNET . (1970), Arabella The late 1970s saw him return to theatre and the West End in a revival of T. S. Eliot's The Family Reunion. After feeling guilt (and particularly the fear of being caught out) he hands the . This jars and the film is not strong enough to survive it. James Fox. (2000), Up At the Villa (1964), The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima Stephen Murray. (2007), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory His film credits included roles in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Secret Partner (1961), The Queen's Guards (1961), She Always Gets Their Man (1962), Ransom (1974), Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981) and Mata Hari (1985). One was Precipice, a play about a ballet, which co-starred dancer Anton Dolin. Fox was married twice; first when aged 21, to the actress Carol Rees, with whom he had a daughter. (1983), Pavlova (2005), Donald Cammell: The Ultimate Performance The Magnet - Refreshing Simplicity for Children. The pier and ferry are no longer there but the Floral Pavilion and Wilkie's fairground (where they try to influence the pinball machine with the magnet) are. The characters are, in the main, well portrayed and it's good to see another bravura performance from that most underrated of character actors, Meredith Edwards. Scouse accents are notable by their absence, but post-war Liverpool (and New Brighton, across the Mersey) provides a beautiful setting. Metacritic Reviews. Please consider upgrading to a Pro accountfor less than a couple bucks a month, youll get cool additional features like all-time and annual stats pages (example), the ability to select (and filter by) your favorite streaming services, and no ads! The Magnet is a 1950 British comedy film featuring Stephen Murray, Kay Walsh and in his first starring role James Fox (then billed as William Fox). 2023 Turner Classic Movies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. William Fox (actor) was born on 1911-01-26. i'll watch this with my sister who still lives there and she will point out the roads. Fox, es un actor canadiense-estadounidense retirado. (1985), A Passage to India He staged the thriller Rope and following a . I'd never seen such a machine, and it was disturbing to me. Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM. (People with polio often needed these machines to breathe.) Smith's wife, Joanne Cervelli Smith, said the star of. : William Hubert Fox TD (26 January 1911 - 20 September 2008) was a British character actor and writer. When Johnny visits the boy, he sees the magnet mounted on the iron lung and is reunited with the inventor, who is delighted to have found Johnny again. The star in this case (a very young William/James Fox) is a lonely schoolboy, recovering from scarlet fever and wandering the streets of what is now Merseyside, as well as the streets of his imagination, bowling an imaginary cricket bowl as he goes. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. (1996), The Old Curiosity Shop So, this is Liverpool accent, huh? (1994), Boiler Room camp in Singapore, has summoned talented Brit Marlowe (James Fox), whom he had not previously met, sidekick Max (Patrick O'Neal) attending, in Bryan Forbes'. (1950), The Magnet After a characteristically stressful Physiology exam, decided to settle down with a movie, and what better than an offering from that beloved British institution, Ealing Studios? (1997), Never Ever . Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. A friend of mine recently told me of this film and was amazed that I was able to buy it at Amazon for the amazing price of 5.65 including P&P,just took 2 days ! He used to be Queen Elizabeth, this fella, before they turned him into Danny Kaye.". , Actors William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor, from a well-known acting family. His first performance was in 1934 in Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea. It wasn't actually stepped, but a vicious prank gone bad that left young James Fox films with a guilty conscience and paranoid over every conversation that he hears. (1987), New World Jinnah (1998) -- (Movie Clip) Divide The Country In Two? Ealing Studios, London. 2023 Getty Images. He staged the thriller Rope and following a glowing review from actor Cyril Maude, the play had an eight-week sold-out run. Alleged to mean "Big James with the beard": "The Magnet Movie Review (1950) from Channel 4 Film", "Port Cities: Culture and Ethnicity Differences in Liverpool Chinese Community", The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Magnet_(film)&oldid=1129726443, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Michael Brooke (as Michael Brooke Jr) Kit, This page was last edited on 26 December 2022, at 21:08. William Fox Thursday, 26th January 1911 - Saturday, 20th September 2008 Manila Philippines. [4] He won a scholarship, but since he was from a wealthy family, the scholarship was only given on the condition that the money be passed on to the next person on the list. Actor Born in London, the younger brother of Edward Fox, he began as a child actor (William Fox), playing the son in The Miniver Story (d. H.C.Potter, 1950) and starring as the mendacious owner of The Magnet (d. Charles Frend, 1950). : 11 year old Johnny Brent (Fox) is home from school during a scarlet fever outbreak, but not making much attempt to stay isolated. It's clear he doesn't know Liverpool, also the parents are professionals and Johnny speaks as his parents do - plus he attends boarding school, not a local one. Gentle Ealing comedy about childhood, guilt and half-truths starring a young James Fox (then known by his real name, William Fox) as Johnny Brent, a mischievous boy who tricks a younger boy (Keith Robinson) into giving him his magnet in return for an 'invisible' clock. A delightful comedy of mistaken identity, misinformation, and chinese whispers. A false rape charge threatens British-Indian relations in director David Lean's last movie, A glamorous Polynesian raises temperatures at a boy's school when she comes to visit her cousin in, Life in post-war England is the subject of. This is likely the case due to none of the studios big name actors appearing in the film, as well as the fact that it doesn't contain too many comedic moments. Scene from the classic movie "The Magnet" (1950) in which William (later James) Fox sets his eyes on a younger boy's favorite toy. Wonderful post war film of ENGLAND as she was, with decent honest Englihmen and Ladies behaving in a true English way of decency and high standards. I bought this black & white video recently from a street vendor in St Albans market, Hertfordshire as part of a job lot of three Ealing comedies he was selling for 15.The others were "Whisky Galore" and "Passport to Pimlico".The other comments written below adequately deal with the basic plot, so I shall not elaborate further on that.What is interesting is to see the young William Fox play the juvenile lead small boy and whose later stage name was changed to James Fox (brother of Edward Fox) who later became well known in the film "The Servant" and "Performance".I was born in 1946 and this film was produced in 1950 so those scenes shown of early post war Britain have a reminiscence for me, when I remember those bomb sites, school dinners, food rationing which extended up to 1955, and an altogether more simple life.In those days children went "out to play" with their friends much more than todays TV/computer bound generation. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos It's rather like the sound you used to hear through the ear piece of an old telephone. This film is one of the main reasons why I have loved films all my life. Clarke. Only the small independent filmmakers in America have a chance at making a film like this. : Versatile actor and connoisseur of the civilised life, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, William Fox as Caesar in George Bernard Shaw's play Caesar and Cleopatra. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. After watching his father board the ferry to his work as a psychologist in Liverpool, he spends the rest of the morning playing on the beach. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 January 2021. The film is funny, sharp-witted, and intelligent in its satire. Made film acting debut, billed as 'William Fox' in "The Miniver Story", Played most prominent feature role as a child in "The Magnet", Returned to feature films after a ten-year absence to act in a small role in "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", First adult leading role in film, "The Servant", First American film since "The Miniver Story", "King Rat", Left acting for a time to join an international Christian missionary sect, the Navigators, One-shot return to acting, the religious drama, "No Longer Alone", Returned to acting regularly; appeared in the film, "Country", Played Waldorf on the PBS biographical miniseries, "Nancy Astor", Played Angus Meikle on the "Masterpiece Theatre" miniseries, "A Perfect Hero", Starred in Jonathan Glazer's "Sexy Beast", Cast as the King of Denmark in "The Prince and Me", Played Mr. Salt in Tim Burton's adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic tale "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. The modern RSC was formed in 1960. The father, a trained psychiatrist, attempts to apply Jungian psychoanalysis to his son, and smugly reaches an entirely erroneous conclusion. A wonderful, poignant and heartwarming movie. (2009). , Producers Framed as his own recollections before his death, Christopher Lee as Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the recognized founder of Pakistan, in early negotiations ca. T.E.B. As the boy continues to feel guilty for stealing the magnet, the magnet comes back to him in an unexpected way. 1950 (1967), The Chase I also enjoyed hearing the Northern accents on the scruffy boys who rough-up then adopt Johnny once they find out they have a common enemy in the police. The story here is a comedy of misunderstanding as a young boy (unmistakably one of the Fox clan of actors) steals a magnet from another kid, he later. IMDb It's all a bit forced, if somewhat harmless, though I'm not sure it would play to kids today unaccustomed to scarlet fever quarantines, unmonitored outdoor play, iron lungs, and having no toys better than a magnet. Click Customise Cookies to decline these cookies, make more detailed choices, or learn more. (1988), The Whistle Blower Johnny mistakenly thinks she is talking about the little boy himself, and becomes convinced that he is guilty of murder and goes on the runThis is an utterly charming film, with the very photogenic William Fox holding the attention throughout. Billy has an older sister, actress and singer Lisa Zane. He has traded in a magnet for an alleged invisible watch, and gives it away to clear his conscience yet can't escape what he did. It was whilst in Baghdad that he decided to start the Reunion Theatre; this association was designed to help demobilised actors who had been out of the business for several years. Unconfirmed13724 Woolner: One Wild Oat Hooper, the Porter: 1951: Lavender Hill Mob Gregory: 1951: No Place for Jennifer Paula's Counsel: 1951: Queen's Guards Mr. Walters: 1960: Ransom Ferris: 1974: Omen 3: The Final Conflict Diplomat: 1981: The Magnet is a 1950 British comedy film featuring Stephen Murray, Kay Walsh and in his first starring role James Fox (then billed as William Fox). To put it in a nutshell this male brat is avoiding 'growing up ' and wearing long trousers by behaving ( in 1950's terms ) badly. | The bike shop was Longworths in Rowson St. You went and chose your bike and Mr Longworth told you to come and collect it next week so he had time to put the seat at the right height, check the brakes,oil it for you and check the tyres. After a six-year interruption for military service in the Second World War, his acting career did not reach the heights of his early years. I remember seeing this film on the children's' matine in the 1950's - I enjoyed it then, and it has lost none of its charm now. This post-war British film from the great Ealing studios, is a charming tale of innocence lost, and particularly the idea of childhood guilt, brought on by a small incident and exacerbated by fear and misconstrued information. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Lots of nostalgia for those of us brought up at that time and place:New Brighton Pier and Lido;Mersey Ferry and Dockland Overhead Railway;Blitzed Area of Liverpool below Anglican Cathedral;Biscuits being delivered in large tin boxes. Following Staff College, Camberley, he spent the majority of the war stationed in North Africa and the Middle East. Kay Walsh. He played opposite Peggy Ashcroft in As You Like It, and their performance was painted by Walter Sickert. (1989), Boys in the Island He later learned that in 1945, a few days before the liberation of Manila, his parents had been shot by the Japanese. 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