Cry of the Penguins (1971)

100% of users liked it
(14 ratings)

A great deal of director Al Viola's version of this film was pruned away for its general release. The missing portions are not only the heart of the story, but they are the heart of the novel by Graham Billings which gave rise to the film. The whole story is that Forbush (John Hurt) is going nowhere… More A great deal of director Al Viola's version of this film was pruned away for its general release. The missing portions are not only the heart of the story, but they are the heart of the novel by Graham Billings which gave rise to the film. The whole story is that Forbush (John Hurt) is going nowhere in his romance of Tara (Hayley Mills) because he is basically an uninteresting, shallow man. In desperation, he decides to go off to Antarctica and study penguins. He hopes that his heroism in doing this will prove his sincerity to Tara. Once there, he grows genuinely enchanted by his project and develops a real interest in penguins. It is this, rather than his courage, which wins him Tara's affections. The truncated version omits most of the film's reputedly spectacular and affecting Antarctic footage (shot by Arne Sucksdorff) in order to concentrate on the love story. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 41 min.
Directed By: Al Viola
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Comedy

On DVD: Sep 20, 1994

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It's worth seeing for the penguins, as the humans prove to be less interesting.
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Hurt's performance elevates this man-in-nature adventure.
Shane Burridge, rec.arts.movies.reviews
This just wouldn't have worked with fakery or process shots

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Cast

            John Hurt as Forbush

            Hayley Mills as Tara

            Tony Britton as George Dewport

            Joss Ackland as Head of Board

            Avril Angers as Fanny

            Richard Bond as Third Pilot

            Rudy Bond as 3rd Pilot

            Judy Campbell as Mrs. Forbush

            John Comer as Police Sergeant

            Sally Geeson as Jackie

            Margaret Lacey as Auntie

            Cyril Luckham as Prof. Tringham

            Brian Oulton as Food-Store Clerk

            Nicholas Pennell as Julian

            Geraldine Sherman as Penny

            Marianne Stone as Policewoman

            Dudley Sutton as Starshot

            Burnell Tucker as 2nd Pilot

            Thorley Walters as Mr. Forbush Sr.

            Hugh Moxey as Lord Cheddar

            Norman Claridge as Principal

            Jumoke Debayo as Traffic Warden

            Salmaan Peer as Ahaz Khan

            Lew Luton as 1st Pilot

            Andy Robins as Barry

            Amanda Steer as Wendy
See full cast

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