Word: pipit
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Dates: during 1947-1947
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...That most are of a certain sameness which indicates a basic limitation in their conception is also increasingly evident. This disturbing alikeness, is, in fact, introversion, and together with the oft-cited virtues of English motion pictures, it can be observed clearly in the new Rank-produced film,, "Tawny Pipit...
...best British film manner, "Tawny Pipit" assumes that it is the commonplace that is worth examining. The incident of a rare species of bird nesting in a small English village offers camera and actors an appropriate chance to reproduce quiet, minutely-scaled rural life pretty much as it exists. No one is seduced or murdered on a chrome-plated village green, and what action does occur has the look and sound of reality...
...Arthur Rank and his band of studio radicals have long held that a noteworthy movie needs only a good story, not a raft of magenta sunsets, daring cleavages or rabid mobs. This conservatism, marking the difference between British efforts and their Hollywood counterparts, is displayed in "Tawny Pipit," and proves once again that the designation "rank" lauds as well as castigates. This story of a rare bird and its effects on the nearby town is consistently first-rate...
...fluff, an extremely light touch was needed lest the downy plot be brushed away. The touch provided fills the bill, for the writers stress the humor, underscore the sentiment, yet never lose the bird in the shuffle. By keeping their dramatic proportions constant, they maintain the credibility of the Pipit throughout--in fact, so important does he become that he assumes a par with the RAF: winged creatures all. Bird lovers everywhere, farmers or ornithologists, forget the War and join the Pipit's Cause; and the blood, sweat and tears shed to protect the specimen for future science are convincing...
...picture is significant in a larger context. Very possibly, it was the Englishman's concern with such minor themes as the Pipit that enabled him to preserve his perspective during the war. This important aspect is conveyed, not in melodramatic buzz-bomb sequences, but in small-town scenes, and indicates the cogency of Rank's approach. The Pipit's sincere saga does more than just muddle through--it scores a tweedy triumph...