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Mr. Forbush and the Penguins

  • 1971
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
382
YOUR RATING
John Hurt in Mr. Forbush and the Penguins (1971)
AdventureDrama

A womanizing biologist studies life in a colony of penguins.A womanizing biologist studies life in a colony of penguins.A womanizing biologist studies life in a colony of penguins.

  • Directors
    • Alfred Viola
    • Roy Boulting
  • Writers
    • Anthony Shaffer
    • Graham Billing
  • Stars
    • John Hurt
    • Hayley Mills
    • Dudley Sutton
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    382
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Alfred Viola
      • Roy Boulting
    • Writers
      • Anthony Shaffer
      • Graham Billing
    • Stars
      • John Hurt
      • Hayley Mills
      • Dudley Sutton
    • 15User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos15

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    Top cast30

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    John Hurt
    John Hurt
    • Forbush
    Hayley Mills
    Hayley Mills
    • Tara St. John Luke
    Dudley Sutton
    Dudley Sutton
    • Starshot
    Tony Britton
    Tony Britton
    • George Dewport
    Thorley Walters
    Thorley Walters
    • Mr. Forbush Sr.
    Judy Campbell
    Judy Campbell
    • Mrs. Forbush
    Joss Ackland
    Joss Ackland
    • Head of Board
    Nicholas Pennell
    • Julien
    Avril Angers
    Avril Angers
    • Fanny Hill
    Cyril Luckham
    Cyril Luckham
    • Professor Tringham
    Sally Geeson
    • Jackie
    Brian Oulton
    Brian Oulton
    • Food Store Assistant
    Salmaan Peerzada
    Salmaan Peerzada
    • Ahaz Khan
    • (as Salmaan Peer)
    Hugh Moxey
    Hugh Moxey
    • Lord Cheddar
    Norman Claridge
    • Principal
    John Comer
    John Comer
    • Police Sergeant
    Geraldine Sherman
    • Penny
    Jumoke Debayo
    • Traffic Warden
    • Directors
      • Alfred Viola
      • Roy Boulting
    • Writers
      • Anthony Shaffer
      • Graham Billing
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews15

    6.5382
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    Featured reviews

    10lucashowe

    A little lost treasure on DVD

    Alfred Viola, not everyone may know this, was a major American commercial director for several decades. If you watched television in the US for any amount of time in the last 30+ years you have assuredly seen some of his work. Keeping in mind that this film is the first feature by a commercial director, you will see the technical efficiency and streamlined storytelling of a VERY experienced filmmaker at work here. The backstory behind this production is that the studio performed some major hacking on the original Alfred Viola cut and brought in a new director to shoot a tacked-on slapstick opening, and the film suffers from this quite a bit. The first 10 minutes of the film lack style and indeed cohesion of any kind, but once we reach the glacier and John Hurt is left alone with his penguins, it is like a breath of fresh air. This is a beautiful piece of cinema history and although the DVD transfer is of extremely low quality, it is good to know that this piece has not been lost forever. A wonderful forgotten film of the 1970s.
    7CinemaSerf

    Mr. Forbush and the Penguins

    I have only recently come across this film, and John Hurt is super. He is "Forbush", a rather rakish biology student who is coasting through life until his professor (Tony Britton) nominates him for a gig counting penguins - in Antarctica! Meantime, he has been bothering local barmaid "Tara" (Hayley Mills) who isn't really interested in him, and is frankly quite delighted when he announces his imminent project. He duly arrives, settles into Shackleton's hut and waits, and waits, and waits - no penguins! Then they arrive, slowly but surely and, despite himself, his interest is tweaked. He has to count them, weight them and generally monitor them and their behaviour. As winter sets in, they start to lay their eggs and incubate them from the extreme storms that very nearly do for him, too! As the chicks arrive and the skua's begin to raid, he becomes even more protective of his several thousand charges - and devises one hell of a catapult to exact his revenge. It's a bit of a slow starter, this, but once he is in situ, the story appealed to me. He has quite a few Eureka moments that vindicate the approach taken by his professor at the start - to help him grow up and develop a sense of purpose. The photography is fun - especially of the penguins milling about, and I really did quite enjoy Hurt's performance here. Well worth a watch, I'd say.
    8EmsR2D2-3

    Carry on Up the Antarctic!

    This film is thought-provoking yet remarkably sweet and funny. The first half is like a Carry On film, then, once deposited in the Antarctic, John Hurt goes from womanizing man-about-town, to eccentric, slowly-unravelling biologist very convincingly. Some remarkable wildlife photography and the baby penguins give the 2nd half of the film great 'Aah' potential. Given that I only saw this on DVD because a friend is mad about penguins, it was a great surprise! If it doesn't make you want to rush off to the South Pole, I'll be very surprised!
    7Yellit

    Oddball, uncategorizable, yet watchable.

    Look at the cast and crew list and you will see this is a film of the highest pedigree. Sometimes you get the impression that there are several films happening here and the multiplicity of directors may be a clue to the reason of this.

    The title may confuse, but yes they are real penguins!

    I suspect that this is one of those films that gave the deskbound money men at the studio many nightmares.
    7aplantage

    uneven, but very entertaining

    According to Bryan Forbes' autobiography as well as David Nathan's biography of John Hurt, the story behind this film is as interesting as the film itself.

    When the producers saw the finished material, it was decided that the opening in London should be completely re-shot, with a different director - Roy Boulting instead of Alfred Viola - and a different leading lady - Hayley Mills (Boulting's wife at the time), instead of an unnamed RADA actress who reportedly did not photograph well. According to Boulting, the reason was that "It presented a ridiculous picture of a character who lived in a swinging London that never ever existed and who was totally artificial, totally unreal and totally unsympathetic." Even though Hurt seems to have agreed at least in part, he was very unhappy about the prospect - understandably so, after the ordeal of the long and difficult location shooting in the Antarctica. Producer Bryan Forbes persuaded him not to quit.

    Hurt's feelings about the animals were quite different from his character's. "The penguins were a real pain in the arse. They have all the faults of the human race without the redeeming gift of occasional intelligence. I preferred the predators, greatly admired the skuas. They farm the penguins, taking only a certain percentage of the eggs. The other skuas fish and battle for existence on the mountains in extreme conditions. If you killed off the predators the penguin colonies would become so huge they would probably become extinct. That would be a bad thing for the skuas. There's only one good thing to say about penguins and that is that they taste delicious - fishy, but nice." The film team actually had a few penguins for dinner - with HP sauce.

    Several years later, Richard Burton happened to see this film, and it motivated him to suggest Hurt for 1984.

    I enjoyed the film more than I expected. I am not a sentimental animal lover, and for scientific subjects, I prefer to watch a documentary or read a book. What I enjoyed about this film is Hurt's tour de force performance, the great location footage (by Arne Sucksdorff), but also the humour and style of the opening (as a fan of British swinging sixties films in general). The machine Forbush builds for his futile fight against the skuas reminded me of the Acme contraptions in the COYOTE AND ROADRUNNER cartoons.

    I find it interesting that - probably male - commentators write that Hurt is not convincing as a ladies' man. Judging from the number of - probably female - commentators who fell in love with him in this film (and others such as IN SEARCH OF GREGORY), Hurt's quirky sex appeal seems to have been underused. Pity, but typical, because most of the decision makers in the industry are male.

    Related interests

    Still frame
    Adventure
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Al Viola was dismissed from this movie and replaced by Producer Roy Boulting. Swedish documentary filmmaker Arne Sucksdorf had started filming the penguin footage in the Antarctic, but it failed to blend with the studiobound sequences. Boulting then brought his wife Hayley Mills on-board, which further added to this movie's escalating budget. This was one of the box-office disappointments, which led to Bryan Forbes' dismissal as head of EMI Films.
    • Goofs
      When the first penguin arrives and slides on its belly towards Forbush, there are already other penguin belly tracks in the snow.
    • Quotes

      Richard Forbush: [to the predatory skuas] Retribution is near my fine feathered friends. Make no mistake about that.

      Richard Forbush: [as he attacks the skuas with a catapult] You've asked for it, now you'll get it! Now it's your turn! You hear me? Go on, get out! GET OUT! ALL OF YOU! Die, damn you! Die! DO YOU HEAR ME? DIE! DIE!

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 3, 1972 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Cry of the Penguins
    • Filming locations
      • Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • EMI Films
      • British Lion Films
      • P.G.L. Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 41m(101 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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