Film Still

The Importance of Being Earnest

Anthony Asquith

United Kingdom

1952

95 minutes

Color

1.33:1

English

158

Synopsis

Oscar Wilde’s comic jewel sparkles in Anthony Asquith’s film adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest. Featuring brilliantly polished performances by Michael Redgrave, Joan Greenwood, and Dame Edith Evans, the enduringly hilarious story of two young women who think themselves engaged to the same nonexistent man is given the grand Technicolor treatment. Seldom has a classic stage comedy been so engagingly transferred to the screen.

Cast

Jack WorthingMichael Redgrave
SetonRichard Wattis
Algernon MoncrieffMichael Denison
LaneWalter Hudd
Lady Augusta BracknellEdith Evans
Gwendolen FairfaxJoan Greenwood
Cecily CardewDorothy Tutin
Miss Letitia PrismMargaret Rutherford

Credits

DirectorAnthony Asquith
ScreenplayAnthony Asquith
From the play byOscar Wilde
ProducerTeddy Baird
CinematographyDesmond Dickinson
EditingJohn D. Guthridge

Disc Features

  • New digital transfer
  • Rare production stills
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired

From the Current

ASQUITH BACK FROM UNDERGROUND

Nov 4, 2009

Anthony Asquith is remembered primarily as the director of Pygmalion, The Browning Version, and The Importance of Being Earnest, all stage-to-screen adaptations comfortable flaunting their own theatricality. Yet as critic Jay Weissberg writes in the latest issue...

The Importance of Being Earnest

by Charles Dennis Jun 24, 2002

It’s been a little over a century since Oscar Wilde celebrated the opening season The Importance of Being Earnest in court, on trial for homosexual behavior. The scandal of Wilde’s “indecent acts” forced the smash play to close early in its run; the Irishman’s...

Related Films

The Auteurs Forum

Displaying 0 discussion topics.

Start the first

Available Editions

158_box_348x490_w128 Add to Cart

DVD

1 Disc

SRP: $29.95

Criterion Store price

$23.96

Also Available in

Janusboxset_w128 Add to Cart

Essential Art House DVD

50 Discs

SRP: $850.00

Criterion Store price

$650.00