Encore

As the title implies, this follows "Quartet" and "Trio," the first two collections of Maugham stories. This one has three stories. The first story, "The Ant and the Grasshopper," has Patrick as a ne'er-do-well who mooches off his responsible brother. The second, "Winter Cruise," is the amusing tale of a few men caught on a long cruise with a Chatty Kathy (Walsh) who drives them crazy with her non-stop yapping. The final episode, "Gigolo and Gigolette," stars Johns as a performer whose act consists of jumping 80 feet into a pool of burning water, but she starts to lose her nerves; it is the longest and, for the most part, the least interesting of the three, although the ending is compelling.

Sumerset Maughm has always been one of my favorite novelists. He has the ability to present human struggles among all classes, especially significant because of the rigid, British class system in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when he lived and wrote. All three of the stories told in "Encore," present completely different types of people facing compelling personal problems. I disagree with some of the other respondents who claim "Encore" is a flawed film. All three of the stories in this movie are equally compelling in that they manage to capture the humanity in even the most unlikely, odd characters. The dialog is witty, the acting superb. The audience grows fond of the characters, as they develop. Maughm weaves humor, tension, romance and irony together in a masterful way to create unique worlds alive with life lessons for us all. If you have the opportunity to watch "Encore," you won't be sorry you did.

Have always appreciated W Somerset Maugham's writing, it has been criticised for not holding up well but really like the sharpness of the prose, the insight, the irony and charm. He is not adapted enough on film, but when he is it makes for interesting results. Something that is evident in the portmanteau trilogy 'The Aesop's Fables Maugham Concerto Trilogy', consisting of 'Quartet' (1948), 'Trio' (1950) and 'Encore' (1951).

Like 'Quartet' the best marginally, due to "The Colonel's Lady" being my favourite of all the segments of the entire trilogy, while equally liking 'Trio'. Of the three, my least favourite is 'Encore', which is still worthwhile and not because it's bad, just that the other two's segments were more consistent and higher individually in quality. It's uneven but as was said with 'Quartet' and 'Trio' that was not unexpected, considering the usual standard of anthologies (am not meaning this in a derogatory manner). Like 'Trio', 'Encore' is made up of three segments, starting with "The Ant and the Grasshopper" and finishing with "Gigolo and Gigolette" with "Winter Cruise" sandwiched in between.

Unlike 'Quartet' and 'Trio', there are moments of pedestrian direction, apparent in some of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" and on occasions, but only fleetingly in, "The Gigolo and the Gigolette". Found myself not the biggest fan of "The Ant and the Grasshopper", which was admittedly amusing and had great comic timing from especially Nigel Patrick in one of the film's standout performances.

The pacing did need more kick though, while the characters are rather too cynical, while not being as interesting as the rich characterisation in particularly the "Sanitorium" segment in 'Trio', and the ending is on the absurd side.

On the other hand, "Winter Cruise" is very entertaining, lifted by the delightful (if not working for everyone) turn of Kay Walsh having a ball, and with a touch of pathos. The longest segment "The Gigolo and the Gigolette" is not loved by all, though it has been considered the best of the three (my favourite actually is "Winter Cruise", but mostly the pace is fine, it is the most unpredictable of the three with an ending that one does not expect and one is treated to a good deal of emotion and especially tension before getting there.

Have no issues with the performances really and Maugham's writing shines just as much as it did in 'Quartet' and 'Trio', the insight, irony and charm frequently present though the lightness was more apparent in those two films. He again introduces and bookends the film and each segment and he delivers it with the same qualities he brought to 'Quartet' and 'Trio'. Like the previous two films, 'Encore' is pleasing visually and appropriately scored.

In conclusion, worthwhile end to a very interesting and well done trilogy of portmanteaus. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The easiest way to describe this is to say that if you liked the Alfred Hitchcock TV series, you'll like this. In both tone, content, presentation, and humor it is practically a dead ringer for that venerable program, right down to the witty monologues by author Somerset Maugham preceding each vignette. Even the suspense generated in the third story seems to be a melody taken straight from the Hitchcock repertoire. Probably the only really noticeable difference is the gentler treatment of the characters than is common with Hitch's work. Very entertaining example of that genre -- and several years before that series hit the air.

This movie was constructed from three short stories by Somerset Maugham and he also appears to introduce each of them. The third story "Gigolo and Gigolette" is by far the best as you are never quite sure what direction it is going in. Terrific tension. The middle story also has a neat twist at the end but it takes far too long to get there and its main protagonist (played by Kay Walsh) starts to irritate. The first story features a bunch of quite unlikable, selfish characters and I found it did not engage me at all. 4 out of 10 for the first, 6 out of 10 for the second and 8 out of 10 for the third for an average of 6 out of 10 for the whole effort.