| Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher | |
|---|---|
 A scene from the film: sports day | |
| Directed by | John Krish |
| Written by | Ivan Foxwell Alan Hackney Hugh Whitemore |
| Based on | Decline and Fall 1928 novel by Evelyn Waugh |
| Produced by | Ivan Foxwell |
| Starring | Robin Phillips Donald Wolfit Geneviève Page Felix Aylmer Colin Blakely |
| Cinematography | Desmond Dickinson |
| Edited by | Archie Ludski |
| Music by | Ron Goodwin |
Production company | Ivan Foxwell Productions |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,970,000 |
Decline and Fall... of a Birdwatcher is a 1968 British comedy film directed by John Krish and starring Robin Phillips, Geneviève Page and Donald Wolfit.[1] It is an adaptation of the 1928 novel Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh.
The film was made with a budget of $1,970,000.[2] It was the final film role for Wolfit, who died on February 17, 1968.
Paul Pennyfeather is an Oxford divinity student who finds himself sent down after a group of drunken undergraduates remove his trousers and he is accused of exposing himself. Forced to look for work, he seeks the services of an employment agency who secure for him a position at a sleazy Welsh boys' boarding school, presided over by the colourful Dr. Fagan. The school's staff are an assortment of eccentric characters: Mr Prendergast, a withdrawn former clergyman; Captain Grimes, a one-legged philanderer with his eye on Fagan's daughter; and Solomon Philbrick, an undercover criminal posing as Fagan's butler. Paul, who tutors Peter Beste-Chetwynde, is enchanted at the school’s annual sports by the boy’s rich mother. Peter thinks Paul her perfect husband so invites him to vacation at their country home. The two are taken with each other but on the day of their wedding, Paul lands in prison for his inadvertent role in her tawdry business deals. There he runs across everyone from his school days, only to be sprung and sent back into the world by the powerful husband she’s married in his absence.
According to Fox records the film required $3,100,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $1,475,000 so made a loss to the studio.[3]
