I am only giving this film a "5" because it is rare to see Errol Flynn doing song and dance routines, though his best one (in THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS) is the one you try to catch.
We are now in the second (possibly third) generation of home-entertainment systems wherein we can watch a movie or old television show on video or DVD or the newer form of DVD and enjoy it over and over (until it has to be replaced). Some film videos and DVDs do not have to - because one viewing is sufficient to tell us how mediocre or bad the film is. LILACS IN THE SPRING (I am sorry to say) is in that category. I will go into that in a moment, but first one word I found about false marketing.
Many films that were put out on Video in the 1980s were "in the public domain". That is the films were no longer protected by any copy-write problems with producers or companies. A few were actually good films (like HIS GAL Friday), but many were really poor ones. LILACS IN THE SPRING was one of the middle group - not fully bad but not so good either. It's two leads were past their prime, and one had to play a double role she was ill-equipped for. The one musical number was spirited but not memorable (and given the female lead's reputation for singing and dancing that was unfortunate). It brought back reminders of the lady's past triumphs in two older films. It even hinted at past triumphs of the male lead in one sequence. But the story while serviceable was not great. Also the fact that the female lead is virtually forgotten in the United States, the manufacturers and marketers of the video decided on a fortuitous coincidence to get potential buyers.
LILACS IN THE SPRING was made by Henry Wilcox in England in 1954 for his wife, the then celebrated English star Anna Neagle (who appeared in several film biographies as Florence Nightingale, Queen Victoria, and Nell Gwynn, among others). He managed to get Errol Flynn, once one of the biggest names in Hollywood (and a still recognizable one in the 1950s or even now) for a two picture deal opposite Anne (the other film is KING'S RHAPSODY, which I never have seen). The third star in it was David Farrar, also a once promising leading man in British films (BLACK NARCISSUS) but now on a decline like Flynn. As Farrar's rival for Neagle (as her own daughter) was a British actor named Peter Graves. Graves name was prominently displayed on the box for the video under Flynn's - and many Americans thought it was the Peter Graves from television's hit "Mission Impossible" (as well as the weird pilot in the AIRPLANE comedy series). I did not buy LILACS for that reason (I was curious about the film because I never saw it) but I keep wondering how many bought the movie because of Graves' name on the box.
Errol Flynn's wonderful career as king of the adventure films on the Warner Brothers' lots was over by 1954. His last two really good films were literary: KIM and THE MASTER OF BALLENTRAE. Most of the films he did after 1954 were at best mediocre and at worst drivel. He faced a problem that faced Tyrone Power and Robert Taylor as well: age. Power had been lucky to have Darryl Zanuck in his corner, and was slowly able to show his real talent for straight acting in his final 20th Century Fox movies, and then resumed stage work. The result was a stunning series of fine performances in films like ABANDON SHIP! before his untimely death in 1958. Similarly Taylor was a good company player at MGM, and got some damn good roles, like his cynical lawyer in PARTY GIRL. But Flynn flubbed it badly. He tried to produce a film on William Tell and it financially ruined him. He tried to appear as Edward Rochester in JANE EYRE on stage (produced by Huntington Hartford) and the production failed. So he was reduced to the likes of THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN FABIAN (which he wrote the screenplay for) and MARU MARU.
Of his later films only this one, THE SUN ALSO RISES, TOO MUCH TOO SOON, and THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN, are worth looking at. He performs well in them, but he is in support in the last three (in THE SUN he's supporting Powell!). Here he is the husband of Neagle, and the match is a love match that is ruined by career conflicts and jealousy. Neagle divorces him, and keeps their daughter. He still loves her, and is planning to return to her when word comes that she has died in an accident. Years later he is approached to resume relations with his daughter (which vaguely sounds like his better "Jack Barrymore" performance in TOO MUCH TOO SOON).
Neagle has the thankless job of playing mother and daughter, and she simply is too old to do it convincingly (Jessie Matthews did do it very nicely in EVERGREEN, but she was a young woman at that time). Flynn looks convincing as the father (he's old enough), and he can be Neagle's husband earlier, but they are supposed to be about thirty, and they both look closer to fifty (which age is roughly the correct one for both). Flynn's dissipations did not help his looks. As Neagle has two flashbacks resuming roles as Victoria and Gwynn, Flynn is shown in a setting for a film that looks like THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.
Apparently the film did well in England, if not here. If you want to see Neagle in a good film check out the films she did in the 1940s, at her peak (like her quartet of performances in the "over the years" saga, ELIZABETH OF LADYMEAD). Ditto for Flynn fans on his films.
We are now in the second (possibly third) generation of home-entertainment systems wherein we can watch a movie or old television show on video or DVD or the newer form of DVD and enjoy it over and over (until it has to be replaced). Some film videos and DVDs do not have to - because one viewing is sufficient to tell us how mediocre or bad the film is. LILACS IN THE SPRING (I am sorry to say) is in that category. I will go into that in a moment, but first one word I found about false marketing.
Many films that were put out on Video in the 1980s were "in the public domain". That is the films were no longer protected by any copy-write problems with producers or companies. A few were actually good films (like HIS GAL Friday), but many were really poor ones. LILACS IN THE SPRING was one of the middle group - not fully bad but not so good either. It's two leads were past their prime, and one had to play a double role she was ill-equipped for. The one musical number was spirited but not memorable (and given the female lead's reputation for singing and dancing that was unfortunate). It brought back reminders of the lady's past triumphs in two older films. It even hinted at past triumphs of the male lead in one sequence. But the story while serviceable was not great. Also the fact that the female lead is virtually forgotten in the United States, the manufacturers and marketers of the video decided on a fortuitous coincidence to get potential buyers.
LILACS IN THE SPRING was made by Henry Wilcox in England in 1954 for his wife, the then celebrated English star Anna Neagle (who appeared in several film biographies as Florence Nightingale, Queen Victoria, and Nell Gwynn, among others). He managed to get Errol Flynn, once one of the biggest names in Hollywood (and a still recognizable one in the 1950s or even now) for a two picture deal opposite Anne (the other film is KING'S RHAPSODY, which I never have seen). The third star in it was David Farrar, also a once promising leading man in British films (BLACK NARCISSUS) but now on a decline like Flynn. As Farrar's rival for Neagle (as her own daughter) was a British actor named Peter Graves. Graves name was prominently displayed on the box for the video under Flynn's - and many Americans thought it was the Peter Graves from television's hit "Mission Impossible" (as well as the weird pilot in the AIRPLANE comedy series). I did not buy LILACS for that reason (I was curious about the film because I never saw it) but I keep wondering how many bought the movie because of Graves' name on the box.
Errol Flynn's wonderful career as king of the adventure films on the Warner Brothers' lots was over by 1954. His last two really good films were literary: KIM and THE MASTER OF BALLENTRAE. Most of the films he did after 1954 were at best mediocre and at worst drivel. He faced a problem that faced Tyrone Power and Robert Taylor as well: age. Power had been lucky to have Darryl Zanuck in his corner, and was slowly able to show his real talent for straight acting in his final 20th Century Fox movies, and then resumed stage work. The result was a stunning series of fine performances in films like ABANDON SHIP! before his untimely death in 1958. Similarly Taylor was a good company player at MGM, and got some damn good roles, like his cynical lawyer in PARTY GIRL. But Flynn flubbed it badly. He tried to produce a film on William Tell and it financially ruined him. He tried to appear as Edward Rochester in JANE EYRE on stage (produced by Huntington Hartford) and the production failed. So he was reduced to the likes of THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN FABIAN (which he wrote the screenplay for) and MARU MARU.
Of his later films only this one, THE SUN ALSO RISES, TOO MUCH TOO SOON, and THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN, are worth looking at. He performs well in them, but he is in support in the last three (in THE SUN he's supporting Powell!). Here he is the husband of Neagle, and the match is a love match that is ruined by career conflicts and jealousy. Neagle divorces him, and keeps their daughter. He still loves her, and is planning to return to her when word comes that she has died in an accident. Years later he is approached to resume relations with his daughter (which vaguely sounds like his better "Jack Barrymore" performance in TOO MUCH TOO SOON).
Neagle has the thankless job of playing mother and daughter, and she simply is too old to do it convincingly (Jessie Matthews did do it very nicely in EVERGREEN, but she was a young woman at that time). Flynn looks convincing as the father (he's old enough), and he can be Neagle's husband earlier, but they are supposed to be about thirty, and they both look closer to fifty (which age is roughly the correct one for both). Flynn's dissipations did not help his looks. As Neagle has two flashbacks resuming roles as Victoria and Gwynn, Flynn is shown in a setting for a film that looks like THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.
Apparently the film did well in England, if not here. If you want to see Neagle in a good film check out the films she did in the 1940s, at her peak (like her quartet of performances in the "over the years" saga, ELIZABETH OF LADYMEAD). Ditto for Flynn fans on his films.