Under the Greenwood Tree is a 1929 British sound part-talkie historical drama film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Marguerite Allan, Nigel Barrie and Wilfred Shine. It is an adaptation of the 1872 novel Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy.
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Production and release
The film's sets were designed by Wilfred Arnold. It was made at Elstree Studios by the leading British company of the era British International Pictures. It was originally intended to be a silent film, but following the arrival of sound, songs and dialogue were added using the RCA system. It was released in September 1929, around the same time as The American Prisoner, both films following on from the company's first sound release, Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail, in June.
A review in Close Up suggested it "has perhaps the best direction yet produced from a British studio".
Cast
Marguerite Allan as Fancy Day
Nigel Barrie as Shinar
John Batten as Dick Dewey
Maud Gill as Old Maid
Wilfred Shine as Parson Maybold
Roberta Abel as Penny
Antonia Brough as Maid
Tom Coventry as Tranter Dewey
Robison Page as Grandfather Dewey
Tubby Phillips as Tubby
Bill Shine as Leaf
Peggie Robb-Smith as Allan
Queenie Leighton as Uncredited