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A Gainsborough Picture, presented by J. Arthur Rank, made at Gainsborough Studios, Shepherds Bush, London. Neither copyrighted nor theatrically released in the U.S.A., but available to TV broadcasters through Walter Reade. U.K. release through General Film Distributors: 14 April 1947. Australian release through Gaumont- British-Dominions/20th Century-Fox: 27 November 1947. 9,901 feet. 110 minutes. (Available only on VHS).

SYNOPSIS: Jilted girl sets out to ruin her former lover and his father by setting up a competing grocery business in a small town.

NOTES: Directorial debut of prolific screenwriter Brock Williams.

COMMENT: There's no doubting the spectacular budget and the thrilling lavishness with which Fletcher's popular novel has been brought to the screen. Despite all its dazzling climactic thrills however — including some of the most exciting stunt-work we've ever seen in a British film - many moviegoers will find the unbelievable twists and turns of its novelettish plot rather heavy going.

An even worse carry-over from the book is the impossibly stilted, instant information, pocket philosophy dialogue. It must be admitted, however, that whilst all this rubbishy talk defeats some of the lesser talents like Michael Rennie and John McCallum, some of the players take to it like turtles to water. In fact Miss Calvert, who has given us some pretty colorless portrayals in the past, is remarkably spirited here. Arthur Young also hams it up rather appealingly as the chief heavy.

But the actor to look out for — in a role much smaller than his billing would indicate — is our favorite comedian Moore Marriott of the Will Hay comedies who here abandons his usual make-up and mannerisms to play a perfectly straight part as the vengeful Scholes. As no-one at our Hollywood Classics screening recognized him, we had to run the film again — but we still didn't tumble to him even though we knew what character he was playing. Some of us even suggested we were seeing a different actor with the same name!

But it's our Moore Marriott all right. According to his entry in the British Film Yearbook, Marriott appeared in more than 300 films!

Not too convincingly but daringly, director Williams stages a fight between Rennie and McCallum without using doubles. Although the two protagonists obviously pull their punches, they do throw each other around.

Alas, in other respects the direction could be described as script indulgent to a fault. The pace is slow and all the dialogue is put across with such meticulous diction that not a single cheesy word is lost — more's the pity as the picture would certainly benefit from trimming. Many of McCallum's scenes should go first thing, especially an uncommonly boring episode in which he and Miss Calvert make a half-hearted attempt to stock-take the wares in the grocery shop before ending up at the fair and then having a predictable bust-up at the garden gate. This whole episode accomplishes nothing except to bore the audience silly.

Admittedly, much of what we see on the screen is predictable, but at least it is presented in most cases — with the notable exception of Mr, McCallum's — with energy and spirit.

Stephen Dade's cinematography is always attractive. So for the most part (there are some obvious backdrops in the rustic scenes) are John Bryan's sets.

As mentioned above the climactic fire scenes are edge-of-the-seat explosive. A pity the actual wind-up is so disappointingly predictable — but that's par for "The Root of All Evil" as a whole. Some really outstanding entertainment qualities are almost buried in pasteboard plotting and verbose dross.

'The Root Of All Evil' is based upon a novel by J. S. Fletcher who was mainly a writer of mystery stories. This tale is not a mystery but a simple account of a girl's journey from poverty to riches using her wits and strong character. It is a bit long and loses its way to an ending that is way too melodramatic but there are good things in it to keep one watching.

Phyllis Calvert as Jeckie Farnish gives a riveting performance as she moves from innocent girl in love to hard headed business woman, particularly in the first hour. She makes plausible the changes in Jeckie's heart and mind. Michael Rennie and John McCallum give strong support as two of the men in her life. Moore Marriott also shines, as he usually does. The director Brock Williams was mainly a screen writer but he does a decent job here.

Not a classic Gainsborough film but definitely worth watching.

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL is an interesting little morality piece made by Gainsborough Pictures. Phyllis Calvert stars as a young woman who gets jilted in love due to financial reasons, thus causing her to go on a lifelong mission of revenge. The plot develops when she meets and falls for the slightly dodgy Michael Rennie, all the while neglecting the attentions of the honest but poor John McCallum. The characters have harder edges than you normally find in cinema from the 1940s, while the depth is largely immersive. I did like the focus on everyday realism and money worries which any audience member will be familiar with.

In a word, this film is BRILLIANT.

WARNING: possible spoilers!

**

Phyllis Calvert is excellent as the independent and head-strong young lady Jeckie Farnish (I spent the entire film wondering whether it was 'Jackie' and people just pronounced it weird, or it really was 'Jeckie' and yes, she's Jeckie with an E) that this film centres on; who has one heck of a time. Her family is really poor and end up having to sell everything and move into a workhouse. Including the sweet little miniature collie, which is really sad. (Trust me) And the only light in her life is her fiance, but then when he goes on holiday and marries his cousin whilst away, she's at her wit's end. But our gal Jeckie (with an E)ain't gonna be licked, so she actually sues her ex-fiance and his family for emotional damages, and gets £1500 out of it, which she uses to start her own store - directly across the street from her ex-fiance's family's grocery store. Pretty shifty! Naturally, she ends up stealing all their business and has a thriving success with her store, but you begin to notice she's getting a little money hungry, and suddenly the title (Root Of All Evil) begins to make sense. So when this bloke Mortimer comes along and tells her there's oil under their town, she goes into a plan with him to start an industry. But the land it's on is owned by a crotchety old man, it's not Jeckie or Mortimer's land. She eventually manages to buy the land from him for £550, while he doesn't know why she wants it; it's all stony and unusable, and his wife is just happy to get rid of it and have some cash!

After the oil has been mined, she's all rich and living in the big house and making money like nobody's business, and the man that she *legitimately* bought the land from gets a bit p***ed off, accusing her of swindling him, and so he does the mature thing, and sets fire to the whole refinery. Poor Jeckie stands to lose everything, but perhaps she's starting to learn that everything isn't really 'everything'.

I was quite simply blown away by this movie. I knew none of the actors very well; most of them not at all, and I just recorded it late one night on a whim. Definitely one of the best whims I have ever had, Root Of All Evil is a splendid movie and I do hope they show it again, and soon!

This is a typical overheated Gainsborough melodrama with everyone going way over the top.The fact that it is relatively unknown is clear testament to the fact that it does not match up to the more illustrious films from those studios,even though many of the usual actors are present.Seeing Calvert winning over her chauvinist rivals is quite enjoyable.However it all seems to come adrift when Michael Rennie comes on the scene.He offers her a share in an oil drilling programme in the UK of all places.He doesn't produce any geological evidence of oil.She falls for him but Rennie doesn't mention he is already married.Then mad farmer Moore Marriott sets fire to the refineries on the land on the basis that he should have been told of the existence of oil.\then to make matters worse the firemen come along and pour water on burning oil!So it all gets a bit silly in the end.Nevertheless quite entertaining.

Taking over the part of the vindictive schemer usually played in these Gainsborough melodramas by Margaret Lockwood, Phyllis Calvert is all sweetness and light on the surface, that is until her fiancee is forced by her powerful father to dump her. She sues for breach of promise, wins a small settlement and creates a rival business that further destroys theirs. Having declared a moratorium on all men, she's still vulnerable enough to fall for the more sincere charms of long time admirer John McCallum who is the only person who can make her laugh and force her to have fun.

A different style of melodramatic darkness that still has a hint of light, this gives Calvert a fun character to play, filled with all sorts of layers. She knows exactly what she's doing from the moment she goes to see McCallum, her solicitor, who once worked for her ex's father, Arthur Young, and helps Calvert ruin him. Hubert Gregg as his son also turns against him, with the woman he did marry pushing him into betraying his father. Young becomes desperate and makes his own proposition, furthering the success of her revenge even as it consumes her and threatens her own soul.

Usually these are period pieces so it's interesting to see one of them set in the modern period, showing that melodrama doesn't require dark and damp mansions or gaslit street lights. Calvert is the whole show, although Brefni O'Rorke as her father and Hazel Court as her sister add to the color of who her character is. Michael Rennie comes into the story later on as a new business associate of hers. This has a lot of twists and the dropping in and out of various characters but never becomes too messy.

I'm adding Calvert to my list of 1947's best performances, so clever and crafty, and certainly an example of a strong woman before they were permitted to exist that even the most chauvinistic of men can enjoy watching. She's outdoing what powerful and ruthless men had been doing since the first business deal was made and won't allow the men she does allow in her life to take away from her.