Gone to Earth (1950) is a film by the British-based director-writer team of Powell & Pressburger.
The film was based on the 1917 novel of the same name by local author Mary Webb (a novel partly inspired by the Diary of Francis Kilvert). The novel was all but ignored when it first appeared, but became widely known in the 1930s, as the neo-romantic revival gathered pace.
Story
Hazel Woodus (Jennifer Jones) is a child of nature in the Shropshire countryside in 1897. She loves and understands all the wild animals more than the people around her. Whenever she has problems she turns to the book of spells and charms left to her by her gypsy mother.
Local squire, Jack Reddin (David Farrar ) sees Hazel and wants her. But she has already promised herself to the Baptist Minister, Edward Marston (Cyril Cusack). A struggle for her body and soul ensues.
Production
Notable for its many exterior shots showing the Shropshire countryside and the village of Much Wenlock. Many local people were recruited as extras.
Subsequent history
Although he had been involved throughout the filming, executive producer David O. Selznick disliked the finished film and took The Archers to court to get it changed. He lost the court case but discovered that he did have the right to have the film changed for its American release. Consequently he had the film re-edited and some extra scenes shot in Hollywood to make the version known as The Wild Heart (1952). Selznick's changes are mainly:- (1) Adding a prologue. (2) Adding scenes explaining things, often literally, by putting labels or inscriptions on them. (3) Adding more close-ups of Jennifer Jones. He also deleted a few scenes that he felt weren't dramatic enough. Sadly some of these were major plot points so the story doesn't make as much sense as in the original film. In his autobiographies, Powell claimed that Selznick only left about 35 mins of the original film. In fact there's a lot more than that. About 2/3 of the original remains.
The original version has subsequently been fully restored. The New Statesman review claimed the restored film to be... One of the great British regional films ...(and)... one of the most beautiful films ever to be shot of the English countryside.
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