- Actors: Bernard Miles, Rosamund John, Niall MacGinnis
- Directors: Bernard Miles, Charles Sanders
- Format: PAL, Black & White, Full Screen, Mono
- Language English
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Classification: U
- Run Time: 78 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000PTOD1I
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 13,207 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Product Description
A first rate British comedy, gentle humour set in the English countryside during WWII. Excellent cast and direction, this small film leaves a lasting impression.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A mild wartime comedy drama, Tawny Pipit (1944) was written and directed by the legendary Mermaid Theatre creator Bernard Miles in collaboration with the little-known helmer Charles Saunders, who is mainly remembered today (if at all) for his later work on lurid B-movies like Womaneater (1958) and Naked Fury (1959). The slight storyline concerns a convalescent fighter pilot played by Niall MacGinnis (The Edge of the World, Night of the Demon), who is doing a spot of countryside birdwatching with his nurse Rosamund John, and discovers in a field a pair of nesting tawny pipits, which are rarely seen in England. Together, the two enlist the local villagers to protect the nest against such threats as the imminent ploughing of the field, and an attempted theft of the birds' precious eggs...
Though it seems very 'twee' when viewed today, in 1944 Tawny Pipit was seen as a welcome morale booster and a light, gentle entertainment for a country still under the threat of invasion from Europe. Vaguely reminiscent of more famous `England-your-England' propaganda efforts like the brutal Ealing classic Went the Day Well? (1942) and The Archers' rather more profound A Canterbury Tale (1944), this is nevertheless a much lighter confection than either of those films. Charming, harmless viewing.
Though it seems very 'twee' when viewed today, in 1944 Tawny Pipit was seen as a welcome morale booster and a light, gentle entertainment for a country still under the threat of invasion from Europe. Vaguely reminiscent of more famous `England-your-England' propaganda efforts like the brutal Ealing classic Went the Day Well? (1942) and The Archers' rather more profound A Canterbury Tale (1944), this is nevertheless a much lighter confection than either of those films. Charming, harmless viewing.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
If by some miracle you happen to read this, then that is great. If not then it is not the end of the world. Like a literary Robinson Crusoe I write the words down because they bring me pleasure. A footstep if you like on the desolate beach of an uninhabited Island. Read on internet voyager.
I will agree with a sellers comment that this old VHS is extremely rare. I have been looking for it for a long time without success and may eventually have to bite the bullet and pay the high price asked for at the time of this review. Who knows, someone may have the foresight to bring out a DVD. The price also probably reflects the fact that it is a sought after film, and there is a good reason for that. It is actually a wonderful little film. It is a film that I would dearly love to have in my collection.
The film captures all that is best in pure Englishness. It is set during the second world war. Jimmy Bancroft (Niall MacGinnis) and his sweetheart Hazel Broome (Rosamund John) are walking in the Countryside. They are both keen birdwatchers and see a pair of very rare Tawny Pipits on a nest. They hurry to the nearby fictional village of Lipsbury Lea and inform the locals of the treasure on their doorstep. The locals lead by the Colonel (Bernard Miles) react with great enthusiasm. A plot to steal the eggs is foiled and a plan to plough the area by the local Agricultural committee is also averted by cunning means.
Like the later "Titfield Thunderbolt" it evokes an Elysian fields image of a beautiful unspoilt England. Pretty cottages, friendly villagers, cows in the meadow, lush hedgerows and above all the haunting sound of birdsong in the air. The film was made in 1944 and seemed to be a Blake like hymn to England. This was the sceptred Island that we fought to protect against the great evil that was Nazi Germany. Was it worth it? You bet your life it was.
There are some interesting facts to this film. Apparently there were two ornithological advisors. The actual birds filmed were Meadow pipits and not Tawny pipits. I guess they are so rare they couldn't find any to film. Seems reasonable to me, but some twitchers may be put out. The film was made on location at Lower Slaughter in the Cotswolds. It is picture postcard pretty to this day and visited by throngs of tourists for that very reason. Quite rightly so as it is stunningly beautiful.
Well I found those facts interesting any way!!
Watch this film if you possibly can. It has not been shown on TV for a very long time. The price is very steep but as Paul Newman playing Butch Cassidy said to the bank security guard when he asked what had happened to the old bank, the guard replied "It kept getting robbed". Cassidy responded "Its a small price to pay for beauty".
I will agree with a sellers comment that this old VHS is extremely rare. I have been looking for it for a long time without success and may eventually have to bite the bullet and pay the high price asked for at the time of this review. Who knows, someone may have the foresight to bring out a DVD. The price also probably reflects the fact that it is a sought after film, and there is a good reason for that. It is actually a wonderful little film. It is a film that I would dearly love to have in my collection.
The film captures all that is best in pure Englishness. It is set during the second world war. Jimmy Bancroft (Niall MacGinnis) and his sweetheart Hazel Broome (Rosamund John) are walking in the Countryside. They are both keen birdwatchers and see a pair of very rare Tawny Pipits on a nest. They hurry to the nearby fictional village of Lipsbury Lea and inform the locals of the treasure on their doorstep. The locals lead by the Colonel (Bernard Miles) react with great enthusiasm. A plot to steal the eggs is foiled and a plan to plough the area by the local Agricultural committee is also averted by cunning means.
Like the later "Titfield Thunderbolt" it evokes an Elysian fields image of a beautiful unspoilt England. Pretty cottages, friendly villagers, cows in the meadow, lush hedgerows and above all the haunting sound of birdsong in the air. The film was made in 1944 and seemed to be a Blake like hymn to England. This was the sceptred Island that we fought to protect against the great evil that was Nazi Germany. Was it worth it? You bet your life it was.
There are some interesting facts to this film. Apparently there were two ornithological advisors. The actual birds filmed were Meadow pipits and not Tawny pipits. I guess they are so rare they couldn't find any to film. Seems reasonable to me, but some twitchers may be put out. The film was made on location at Lower Slaughter in the Cotswolds. It is picture postcard pretty to this day and visited by throngs of tourists for that very reason. Quite rightly so as it is stunningly beautiful.
Well I found those facts interesting any way!!
Watch this film if you possibly can. It has not been shown on TV for a very long time. The price is very steep but as Paul Newman playing Butch Cassidy said to the bank security guard when he asked what had happened to the old bank, the guard replied "It kept getting robbed". Cassidy responded "Its a small price to pay for beauty".
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Another great little war time film from the golden age of British film making
The story is used as a parable..to the fighting and indominable spirit of the british
people, when their backs are against the wall
The story is used as a parable..to the fighting and indominable spirit of the british
people, when their backs are against the wall
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Tawney Pipit
A black and white masterpeice from the British wartime film industry, what other nation would have put out a peice of propergander about protecting a rare birds nest. Read more
Published 1 month ago by mark @wigan
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I first saw this film when I was about to leave my home country for England. It gives a rose coloured view of an England that probably never existed but which was almost certainly... Read more
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I can't add much to the above review. Some twenty years ago the British Council had the good taste to offer us, in our Paris Cinémathèque, some British gems. Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2009 by Olivier Comte
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