Main Cast: Robert Donat, Robert Morley, Phyllis Calvert, John Mills, Max Adrian, Raymond Lovell
Release Year: 1942
Country: UK
Run Time: 118 minutes
Plot
Released worldwide by 20th Century Fox, Carol Reed's The Young Mr. Pitt is a static but sincere filmed biography of 19th century British prime minister William Pitt Jr., here played by Robert Donat. Appointed to his office at the tender age of 24, Mr. Pitt spends most of his time in Parliament alerting his countrymen of the dangers posed by France's Emperor Napoleon (Herbert Lom, in his first English-speaking role). The Frank Launder-Sidney Gilliat screenplay works overtime drawing parallels between the Pitt-Napoleon conflict and the present crisis involving Great Britain and Nazi Germany. Various historical personages are impersonated by the likes of Phyllis Calvert, John Mills, and Robert Morley, with Morley stealing the show hands down. Like its thematic "twin" Penn of Pennsylvania, Young Mr. Pitt is lavishly produced, but suffers from pedantic speechifying and substandard special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
More effective in 1942, when its propagandistic tone was more readily received by audiences living through a terrible war, The Young Mr. Pitt is moderately entertaining today. The chief flaw with Pitt is that its creators have taken the complex politics of its period and reduced them to an us-vs.-them, good-vs.-evil situation. This not only does a disservice to history -- it makes for stilted and artificial drama. This political/dramatic simplification might have mattered less had the filmmakers offered a compelling, incisive study of the title character and important members of the cast, but everything is kept essentially superficial. Indeed, were it not for the superlative efforts of the sterling cast -- led by an impeccable Robert Donat and with an unstoppable performance from Robert Morley -- Pitt would be very slow going indeed. Still, director Carol Reed demonstrates his flair for working with actors, and he certainly knows how to imbue small moments -- the sipping of a glass of wine, for example -- to convey larger meanings. And he has made a sumptuously appointed film, with gorgeous yet not overwhelming Cecil Beaton costumes and similarly stunning Alexander Vetchinsky settings. If The Young Mr. Pitt is less than perfect, it's still worth a viewing. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Felix Aylmer - Lord North; Stephen Haggard - Lord Horatio Nelson; Jean Cadell - Mrs. Sparry; Neal Arden; Geoffrey Atkins - William Pitt (as a boy); Leslie E. Bradley - Gentleman Jackson; Kathleen Byron; Esma Cannon; Frederick Culley - Sir William Farquhar; Robert Donat - Earl of Chatham; Leslie Dwyer; Roy Emerton - Dan Mendoza; Leo Genn; Muriel George; Alf Goddard; Morland Graham; James Harcourt; Henry Hewitt - Henry Addington; Billy Holland; W.E. Holloway; James Kenney; Agnes Laughlan - Queen Charlotte; Frederick Leister; Albert Lieven - Talleyrand; Stuart Lindsell - Earl Spencer; Herbert Lom - Napoleon; Ian MacLean - Henry Dundas; Aubrey Mallalieu; Hugh McDermott - Mr. Melvill; Gibb McLaughlin; Charles Paton; Esme Percy; Frank Pettingell - Coachman; Kynaston Reeves; John H. Roberts; Ralph Roberts; John Salew - Smith; Ronald Shiner; John Slater; Ann Stephens; Sydney Tafler; Merle Tottenham; Austin Trevor - French Registrar; Frederick [Fritz] Valk; Margaret Vyner; Jack Watling; Edmund Willard; D.J. Williams; Bruce Winston; Johnnie Schofield; Lloyd Pearson; Owen Reynolds; Gordon James; Stanley Escane; Leslie Harcourt; Alfred Sangster - Lord Grenville; Townsend Whitling; Bromley Davenport - Sir Evan Nepean
Credit
Alexander Vetchinsky - Art Director, Cecil Beaton - Costume Designer, Elizabeth Haffenden - Costume Designer, Carol Reed - Director, R.E. Dearing - Editor, Louis Levy - Musical Direction/Supervision, Freddie Young - Cinematographer, Edward Black - Producer, Maurice Ostrer - Producer, B.C. Sewell - Sound/Sound Designer, Sidney Gilliat - Screenwriter, Frank Launder - Screenwriter
William Pitt the Younger, son of a famous politician father, becomes the youngest Prime Minister the United Kingdom has ever known, wins an election on the promise of peace and prosperity, yet ironically ends up as the presiding spirit of an interminable war with Revolutionary France. Both his health and his private life suffer from the strain.
Notes
^ Similar parallels were drawn between Napoleonic and contemporary history in the film That Hamilton Woman.
