Lease of Life (1954)

Lease of Life is a 1954 British film drama made by Ealing Studios and directed by Charles Frend. The film was designed as a star-vehicle for Robert Donat, representing his return to the screen after an absence of over three years during which he had been battling the chronic asthma which plagued his life and career. It was a prestige production which was generally respectfully, if not over-enthusiastically, received and gained Donat a nomination as Best British Actor at the 1955 British Academy Film Awards. In common with a number of other Ealing films of the era, Lease of Life focuses on a specific English milieu – in this case a Yorkshire village and its nearby cathedral city – and examines the nuances, quirks and foibles of its day-to-day life. The film is unique in the Ealing canon in having religion as its dominant theme.



^ "Mr. Donat has a new Lease of Life" Sydney Morning Herald, 28-10-1954. Retrieved 27-07-2010

Synopsis

William Thorne (Robert Donat) is the vicar of the village of Hinton St. John, living with wife Vera (Kay Walsh) and daughter Susan (Adrienne Corri), an exceptionally gifted pianist. Although the focus of the local community, the Thornes live a life of having to struggle and scrimp to make ends meet financially. Vera is a typical clergy wife, having to sublimate her own needs and desires to the exigencies of her husband's career, as a result tending to live life vicariously through her daughter, whose musical gifts she is determined must not be wasted.

Acteurs