Venetian Bird

Venetian Bird
Venetian Bird
Directed by	Ralph Thomas
Written by	Victor Canning
Based on	Venetian Bird ; by Victor Canning
Produced by	Betty Box ; Earl St. John
Starring	Richard Todd ; Eva Bartok ; John Gregson
Cinematography	Ernest Steward
Edited by	Gerald Thomas
Music by	Nino Rota
Production; company	British Film-Makers
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release date	3 November 1952;
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	£80,000

Venetian Bird is a 1952 British thriller film starring Richard Todd, Eva Bartok and John Gregson, and directed by Ralph Thomas.^[2] The screenplay was adapted by Victor Canning from his own 1950 novel of the same title. It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location in Venice. The film's sets were designed by the art director George Provis. It was released in America by United Artists where it was titled The Assassin.

Box and Thomas decided not to use colour shooting the film as they felt that it would not suit the genre.^[3]

Plot

British private detective Edward Mercer (Richard Todd) is employed to travel to Venice and locate an Italian who is to be rewarded for his assistance to an Allied airman during the Second World War. Once he arrives in Italy, however, he becomes mixed up in an assassination plot enveloped in a great deal of mystery. Central to it is whether Renzo Uccello (John Gregson) actually died a few years earlier in World War II or not.

Cast

Richard Todd as Edward Mercer
Eva Bartok as Adriana Medova
John Gregson as Renzo Uccello
George Coulouris as Chief of Police Spadoni
Margot Grahame as Rosa Melitus
David Hurst as Minelli
Walter Rilla as Count Boria
John Bailey as Lieutenant Longo
Sid James as Bernardo
Martin Boddey as Gufo
Michael Balfour as Moretto
Sydney Tafler as Boldesca
Miles Malleson as Grespi
Eric Pohlmann as Gostini
Raymond Young as Luigi
Ferdy Mayne as Tio
Jill Clifford as Renata
Eileen Way as Woman Detective
Toni Lucarda as Nerva
Janice Kane as Ninetta
Meier Tzelniker as Mayor of Mirave

Production

Michael Balcon initially rejected the idea of a film based on Canning's novel because it was set in Italy and dealt with Italians, not Britons. Betty Box appealed to Earl St John, who overruled Balcon. Italian censors required that the script clarify the political struggles in post-war Venice that were portrayed in the novel.^[4]

References

^ BFI Collections: Michael Balcon Papers H3 reprinted in British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference by Sue Harper, Vincent Porter p 41
^ IMDb Plot Summary: The Assassin
^ HOWARD THOMPSON (14 September 1952). "BY WAY OF REPORT: Box -- Thomas Activities -- Cinema 16 Plans --". New York Times. p. X5.
^ British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference by Sue Harper, Vincent Porter Oxford University Press, 2003 p 38

External links

Venetian Bird at IMDb
Venetian Bird at Britmovie

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[1] BFI Collections: Michael Balcon Papers H3 reprinted in British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference by Sue Harper, Vincent Porter p 41

[2] IMDb Plot Summary: The Assassin

[3] HOWARD THOMPSON (14 September 1952). "BY WAY OF REPORT: Box -- Thomas Activities -- Cinema 16 Plans --". New York Times. p. X5.

[4] British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference by Sue Harper, Vincent Porter Oxford University Press, 2003 p 38

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