The Demi-Paradise (1943)

Directed by

Anthony Asquith

Genre

romantic comedy

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 54m

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 8 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A Soviet inventor brings his new propeller design to England during World War Two. He falls in love with a local woman while observing the quirks of British life.

lightheartedamusingwarmgentleromanticsatiricalcharmingfeel-goodnostalgic

What happens

The Demi-Paradise (also known as Adventure for Two) is a 1943 British comedy film made by Two Cities Films. It stars Laurence Olivier as a Soviet Russian inventor who travels to England to have his revolutionary propeller manufactured, and Penelope Dudley-Ward as the woman who falls in love with him. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald and Filippo Del Giudice from a screenplay by de Grunwald. The music score was by Nicholas Brodszky and the cinematography by Bernard Knowles. The film was shot at Denham Studios with sets designed by the art director Carmen Dillon. The film is a gentle satire on the values the English hold so dear. It was designed to encourage sympathy between Britain and the Soviet Union. The film's title is a reference to John of Gaunt's famous speech in Richard II which begins: This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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