Adventure in the Hopfields

Adventure in the Hopfields is a 1954 British children's film directed by John Guillermin and starring Mandy Miller.[2] It was made for the Children's Film Foundation.[3]

Adventure in the Hopfields
Directed byJohn Guillermin
Produced byRoger Proudlock
Written byJohn Cresswell
Based onthe novel The Hop Dog by Nora Lavrin
& Molly Thorp[1]
StarringMandy Miller
Music byRonald Binge
Philip Martell (musical director)
CinematographyKen Talbot
Edited bySam Simmonds
Production
company
Distributed byCFF
Release date
1954
Running time
60 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

After accidentally smashing her mother's prized china dog, little London girl Jenny (Mandy Miller) leaves her mother a note and sets off from home to make the money to buy a new one. Travelling by train, she follows her friend's family to Kent to earn money hop picking in the countryside. After the first day of hop picking, Sam Hines takes her with him to a junk shop where she sees a china dog just like her mother's. Mr. Hines lends her the money to buy it, but the dog is later stolen by two local children - the Reilly boys. Jenny chases after the kids into an old mill, but the thieves lock her in the loft. When lightning strikes the decaying mill and sets it on fire, Ned Reilly returns to rescue Jenny in the nick of time and goes back to the mill to get the china dog.

Cast

Production

It was based on a novel The Hop Dog published in 1952.[4]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin said "the production is modest, but the sets are good and the locations well chosen... rates with Johnny on the Run as one of the most successful of CFF's productions to date."[5]

TV Guide gave the film two out of four stars, noting "An above average children's film, with believable characters and story."[6] The Radio Times rated it two out of five stars, writing, "In days of yore, the poor folk of South London flocked to Kent and went hop-picking...this exciting tale offers bullying, theft and a climactic lightning storm. A little piece of British social history from the future director of The Towering Inferno."[7]

Filmink called it " a decent, brisk, efficient movie...No one seems to bat an eye as she [Miller] gets on a train and then goes to work – what was the labor market like in 1954 England?"[8]

Rediscovery

In 2002, a copy of Adventure in the Hopfields was discovered in a rubbish bin in Chicago, United States, and subsequently purchased by film buff Barry Littlechild for $35. The film was screened at the village hall in Goudhurst, Kent, near the filming location, on 8 March 2002.[9][10]

References
  1. Goble, Alan (1 January 1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110951943 – via Google Books.
  2. "Adventure in the Hopfields (1954)".
  3. Moore, By David Sapsted and Malcolm. "Hop garden film was picked from the rubbish bin".
  4. "JUNIOR BOOKSHELF BERYL GREY Ballerina". The Age (30, 424). Victoria, Australia. 1 November 1952. p. 14. Retrieved 18 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ADVENTURE IN THE HOPFIELDS Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 21, Iss. 240, (Jan 1, 1954): 83.
  6. "Adventure In The Hopfields".
  7. "Adventure in the Hopfields - Film from RadioTimes".
  8. Vagg, Stephen (17 November 2020). "John Guillermin: Action Man". Filmink.
  9. "Lost Asher film returns home" BBC News, March 8, 2002. Accessed 27 April 2019.
  10. Jane Asher's Lost Film Saved from Rubbish Author: David Sapsted and Malcolm Moore Date: Monday, Feb. 25, 2002 Publication: The Daily Telegraph (London, England) Issue: 45629 p 10


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