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Trio

  • 1950
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
939
YOUR RATING
Trio (1950)
DramaRomance

Three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham, "The Verger", "Mr. Know-All", and "The Sanatorium" are introduced by the author.Three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham, "The Verger", "Mr. Know-All", and "The Sanatorium" are introduced by the author.Three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham, "The Verger", "Mr. Know-All", and "The Sanatorium" are introduced by the author.

  • Directors
    • Ken Annakin
    • Harold French
  • Writers
    • Noel Langley
    • W. Somerset Maugham
    • R.C. Sherriff
  • Stars
    • James Hayter
    • Kathleen Harrison
    • Felix Aylmer
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    939
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Ken Annakin
      • Harold French
    • Writers
      • Noel Langley
      • W. Somerset Maugham
      • R.C. Sherriff
    • Stars
      • James Hayter
      • Kathleen Harrison
      • Felix Aylmer
    • 19User reviews
    • 5Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 2 nominations total

    Photos27

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    Top cast39

    Edit
    James Hayter
    James Hayter
    • Albert Foreman - Coach Driver (segment "The Verger")
    Kathleen Harrison
    Kathleen Harrison
    • Emma Brown Foreman (segment "The Verger")
    Felix Aylmer
    Felix Aylmer
    • Bank Manager (segment "The Verger")
    Lana Morris
    Lana Morris
    • Gladys (segment "The Verger")
    Michael Hordern
    Michael Hordern
    • Vicar (segment "The Verger")
    Glyn Houston
    Glyn Houston
    • Ted (segment "The Verger")
    Eliot Makeham
    Eliot Makeham
    • Sexton (segment "The Verger")
    Henry Edwards
    Henry Edwards
    • Church Warden (segment "The Verger")
    Anne Crawford
    Anne Crawford
    • Mrs. Ramsey (segment "Mr. Know-All")
    Nigel Patrick
    Nigel Patrick
    • Max Kelada (segment "Mr. Know-All")
    Naunton Wayne
    Naunton Wayne
    • Mr. Ramsey (segment "Mr. Know-All")
    Wilfrid Hyde-White
    Wilfrid Hyde-White
    • Mr. Gray (segment "Mr. Know-All")
    • (as Wilfrid Hyde White)
    Clive Morton
    Clive Morton
    • Ship's Captain (segment "Mr. Know-All")
    Bill Travers
    Bill Travers
    • Fellowes (segment "Mr. Know-All")
    • (as Bill Linden-Travers)
    Dennis Harkin
    • Captain's steward (segment "Mr. Know-All")
    Michael Medwin
    Michael Medwin
    • Steward (segment "Mr. Know-All")
    Jean Simmons
    Jean Simmons
    • Evie Bishop (segment "Sanatorium")
    Michael Rennie
    Michael Rennie
    • Major Templeton (segment "Sanatorium")
    • Directors
      • Ken Annakin
      • Harold French
    • Writers
      • Noel Langley
      • W. Somerset Maugham
      • R.C. Sherriff
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews19

    7.1939
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    Featured reviews

    8AlsExGal

    Three delightful tales spotlighting a British cast

    Somerset Maugham introduces three short stories that he has authored. The first two are particularly humorous and uplifting and a bit ironic and they are also very short at about 20 minutes each. The first concerns a man over 50 who is fired by the church for which he works because he cannot read and refuses to learn. At first blush he'd seem to be too stubborn for his own good, but he turns out to be more adaptable than his former employer could ever dream. The second involves a fellow with a tremendous ego who at the same time is very generous as he takes a shipboard journey. In the end he must choose between his generosity and his ego as his dominant trait.

    The third tale, at about 40 minutes in length, had the potential to be the downbeat one in the bunch and doesn't sound that intriguing at first - it involves the lives of a group of sufferers of "consumption" - tuberculosis - that are being treated in a sanatorium, which was a long term process prior to the introduction of antibiotics. This one turns out to be as upbeat as a story could possibly be in such a setting. The practical in me has me asking a couple of questions that go unanswered. First, there are several patients who may or may not be recovered who apparently have set this place up as their home of preference since they have been there so long and have made social ties they do not wish to break. Why would any doctor of scruples allow this to go on? The sanatorium is spacey and charming and doesn't seem at all medical or antiseptic, so I can see how lonely people with an illness in common wouldn't want to leave, but it seems like it would be the doctor's obligation to force the patients back out into the real world once cured. Second, since apparently recovery takes months or years, who is paying for all of this? Money never comes into the equation as a concern for any of the patients.

    I'd recommend this one. Some of Maugham's work can be dark and depressing but these three stories are quite uplifting.
    8calvertfan

    Interesting

    This is actually a trilogy of 3 of Somerset Maugham's short tales. The first one is The Verger, which is about 15 minutes long and very enjoyable. After 17 years Albert Foreman is laid off from his church job because he can't read nor write. So what does he do? Opens a tobacco shop, of course!

    The second is Mr. Know-All which was actually a story I had read for school 6 years ago and instantly forgotten, until I heard the familiar introduction. Another 15 minute one, and also very good. It worked better on film than in a book for me, but then perhaps that's because I was only 14 the last time, afterall.

    The 3rd one is nearly a let-down. Almost an hour in length, it simply drags. It's not all that bad, but not as quick and snappy as the last 2. I watched the first quarter hour of it and then skipped forward to the last quarter hour, and found that it still made sense and really I hadn't missed a thing!

    Overall I give them 8, 9, and 6 out of 10, respectively.
    8TheLittleSongbird

    Trio of charm

    Not everybody may like W Somerset Maugham's writing, have seen criticisms of it not holding up well. For me though, have always appreciated it for its sharp prose, charm and insight. Don't feel his work has been adapted enough on film, but when it is it's interesting to view. Particular examples being the three films in the portmanteau trilogy 'The Aesop's Fables Maugham Concerto Trilogy'.

    Of which the second is 1950's 'Trio', sandwiched between 1948's 'Quartet' and 1951's 'Encore'. Said for 'Quartet' that all three films are well worth watching, with that film being my personal favourite due to the sublime "The Colonel's Lady". And that is definitely true for 'Trio', this time comprising of three segments, "The Verger", "Mr Know-All" and "Sanitorium". Like 'Quartet', it's not even all the way through but considering the type of film it is (where there is always going to be at least segment that is not as good as the others), that's not surprising. Again though it is a very good film with little to criticise as an overall whole.

    The only big criticism is that from personal opinion the Raymond Huntley and Betty Ann Davies part of "Sanitorium" is somewhat on the melodramatic side. The film felt slightly too short.

    However, the good things far outweigh and they are numerous and big. Of the three segments my personal favourite, like others here, is the charmingly ironic and amusing "Mr Know-All" thanks to the comic talents of Nigel Patrick. Have much praise too for the truly poignant Jean Simmons and Michael Rennie portion of "Sanitorium" thanks to the rich character development of those two characters and the truly beautiful way Simmons and Rennie play their roles. One shouldn't overlook "Mr Verger", with James Hayter and Kathleen Harrison on sparkling form. The quality of the performances are a major asset here.

    As is the beautifully balanced writing in distinctive Maugham style, the charm, the insight, the ironic humour are all there with the last being especially well done and a major reason as to why "Mr Know-All" so well as a segment. For such short stories, it is hard not to marvel at how well written the characters are, especially Simmons' and Rennie's. Maugham himself introduces and bookends thoughtfully and the Oscar nomination for Best Sound is hardly inexplicable, though actually don't consider it the very best asset of 'Trio'. Like 'Quartet', 'Trio' is beautifully made and directed, with things never becoming dull or directed with too much of a heavy hand, the lightness present in 'Quartet' present here too.

    Overall, really enjoyed this too. 8/10 Bethany Cox
    7ksf-2

    shorties from Somerset Maugham

    The multi-talented Somerset Maugham wrote these three short stories, which are presented as a collection from British Gainsborough/Paramount Pictures. Each one has a lesson to be learned by the central characters. In the first story, a gentleman who can't read is fired, but then becomes even more successful because of the descisions he is forced to make. In the second, a loud-mouth on a cruise ship finally learns to keep his mouth shut to avoid exposing uncomfortable truths. In the last tale, occupants of a sanatorium argue over the size of their rooms, and so many other things. Each story is introduced by Maugham himself. Directed by two British chaps, sharing the duties... Harold French and Ken Annakin. probably the biggest name here is Jean Simmons.. check her out on wikipedia.org only 500 votes so far on imdb, so they must not have shown this too often on Turner Classics. pretty good stuff from a Great British author (although he was born and died en france).
    7Bunuel1976

    TRIO (Ken Annakin and Harold French, 1950) ***

    Given the title, this first follow-up to QUARTET (1948) obviously reduces the number of W. Somerset Maugham stories which comprise the film. The author still turns up to introduce the episodes, but there’s no epilogue this time around; by the way, while the script of the original compendium gave sole credit to R.C. Sheriff, here Maugham himself also lent a hand in the adaptation, as well as Noel Langley (though it’s unclear whether they contributed one segment each or else worked in unison). As can be expected, much of the crew of QUARTET has been retained for the second installment – though this also extends to at least three cast members, namely Naunton Wayne, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Felix Aylmer (the last two had bit parts in the episode from QUARTET entitled “The Colonel’s Lady”). While TRIO ultimately emerges to be a lesser achievement than its predecessor (slightly unbalanced by the third story which takes up more than half the running-time), it’s still done with the utmost care, acted with verve by a stellar cast and is solidly enjoyable into the bargain.

    “The Verger” tells of a church sexton (James Hayter) – for which the story’s title is another word – who’s dismissed after 17 years of service by the new parish priest (Michael Hordern) simply because he’s illiterate. Rather than rest on his laurels, despite his age, he not only takes a wife (his landlady, played by Kathleen Harrison) but opens a tobacconist shop strategically placed in a lengthy stretch of road where no such service is offered – and, with business flourishing, this is developed into a whole chain. The last scene, then, sees him pay a visit to bank manager Felix Aylmer who, not only is surprised to learn of Hayter’s lack of education, but is prompted to ask him what his other interests were – to which the wealthy (and respected) tobacconist replies, with some measure of irony, that he had the calling to be a verger!

    The second episode, “Mr. Know-All”, is the shortest but also perhaps the most engaging: a voyage at sea is utterly beleaguered by the insufferable presence of a pompous young man (Nigel Patrick), British despite his foreign-sounding name of Kelada, who professes to be an authority on virtually every subject under the sun. Naunton Wayne and Wilfrid Hyde-White are the two passengers who have to put up with him the most – the latter because he shares a cabin with the man and the former in view of Patrick’s attentions to his pretty wife (Anne Crawford). During a fancy-dress party, however, the passengers decide to enact their ‘revenge’ on Kelada by having one of them impersonate him (a jest which he naturally doesn’t appreciate)!; still, it’s here that he contrives to show a decent side to his character – told by Crawford that the necklace she’s wearing is an imitation, Wayne challenges Patrick to name its price…but the latter realizes immediately that it’s the genuine article and that this would compromise Crawford’s position if he were to tell, so Kelada allows himself to be publicly ridiculed rather than expose the fact that the woman probably has a secret admirer!

    As can also be deduced from the title, “Sanatorium” deals with the myriad patients at such a place – run by Andre' Morell; the protagonist is a new intern, Roland Culver, who wistfully observes the various goings-on. The narrative, in fact, highlights in particular three separate strands of plot – one humorous (the ‘feud’ between two aged Scots long resident at the sanatorium, played by Finlay Currie and John Laurie), one melodramatic (the erratic relationship between disgruntled patient Raymond Huntley and long-suffering but devoted wife Betty Ann Davies) and one bittersweet (the romance between naïve but charming Jean Simmons and dashing cad Michael Rennie which, in spite of having pretty much everything against it including the fact that Morell has diagnosed Simmons as a ‘lifer’ while Rennie only has a few years left to him, leads the couple to the altar).

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Andrew Crawford (uncredited) played the coachman who talked to Ashenden about Scotland as he drove the latter from the railway-station to the sanatorium at the beginning of the last part of the picture.
    • Quotes

      Albert Foreman: [to the vicar] I'm too old a dog to learn new tricks, sir.

    • Connections
      Followed by Encore (1951)
    • Soundtracks
      The Sunshine of Marseilles
      (uncredited)

      Music by Lawrence Wright

      Lyrics by Joseph Gilbert

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    FAQ14

    • How long is Trio?Powered by Alexa

    Details

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    • Release date
      • March 2, 1951 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • So ist das Leben
    • Filming locations
      • Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Gainsborough Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 31m(91 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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