American Friends

Synopsis: Feature film adapted by Michael Palin from the travel diaries of his greatgrandfather. Francis Ashby, a fellow of Oxford College, falls in love with Elinor, an American girl of 17, while on a walking holiday in Switzerland. Back in Oxford, Elinor becomes pregnant by Sykes, a colleague of Ashby and Ashby turns down the offer of college presidency to marry her. A recurring motif is a college production of King Lear. In the final Lear scene a storm interrupts the play (during the storm scene).
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Film
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Year of release: 1991
Duration: 95 mins

Director

Tristram Powell

Producer

Patrick Cassavetti; Steve Abbott

Cinematographer

Philip Bonham-Carter

Screenplay

Michael Palin; Tristram Powell

Music

Georges Delerue

Art Direction

Chris Townsend

Cast

Jo Stone-Fewings	undergraduate ‘King Lear’ (Lear)
Alfred Molina	Oliver Syme
Michael Palin	Rev. Francis Ashby
Trini Alvarado	Elinor Hartley

Awards: Palin and Powell’s screenplay won the 1991 Writers Guild of Great Britain Award.
Reviews: Lanier, Douglas ‘Film Spin-Offs and Citations’ in Burt, Richard (ed). Shakespeares After Shakespeares: an Encyclopedia of the Bard in Mass Media and Popular Culture. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006 (p. 195, entry 807).

Variety (January 1st 1991).