Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment
Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment (also called Morgan!) is a 1966 comedy film made by British Lion. It was directed by Karel Reisz and produced by Leon Clore from a screenplay by David Mercer. He adapted it from his BBC television play A Suitable Case for Treatment (1962), in which the leading role was played by Ian Hendry.[3]
| Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment | |
|---|---|
 French poster under the title Morgan! | |
| Directed by | Karel Reisz |
| Written by | David Mercer |
| Produced by | Leon Clore |
| Starring | David Warner Vanessa Redgrave Robert Stephens Irene Handl Bernard Bresslaw Arthur Mullard |
| Cinematography | Larry Pizer |
| Edited by | Tom Priestley Jack Harris |
| Music by | John Dankworth |
| Distributed by | British Lion Films |
Release date | 4 April 1966 |
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £201,824[1] or £191,674[2] |
The film stars David Warner, Vanessa Redgrave, and Robert Stephens, with Irene Handl and Bernard Bresslaw.
Plot
Morgan Delt (David Warner) is a failed working-class London artist, who was raised as a communist by his parents. His upper-class wife, Leonie (Vanessa Redgrave), has given up on him and is in the process of getting a divorce in order to marry Charles Napier (Robert Stephens), an art gallery owner of her own social standing. Locked into a personal world of fantasy, Morgan performs a series of bizarre stunts in a campaign to win back Leonie, including putting a skeleton in her bed and blowing up the bed as her mother sits on it. When these stunts fail, Morgan secures the help of Wally "The Gorilla" (Arthur Mullard), a pro wrestler friend of his mother (Irene Handl), to kidnap Leonie, who still nurtures residual feelings of love tinged with pity for Morgan. Leonie is left with Morgan and Wally in the British countryside (clips from Tarzan are cut into the film). Leonie soon gets rescued, and Morgan is arrested and imprisoned.
After escaping, he dresses as a gorilla and crashes the wedding reception of Leonie and Charles. (Clips from King Kong are used to illustrate Morgan's fantasy world). Morgan flees the wedding on a motorcycle, his gorilla suit on fire, and subsequently is committed to an insane asylum. Later a visibly pregnant Leonie visits him. With a wink, Leonie tells him he is the child's father. Morgan returns to tending a flowerbed, as the camera pulls out to a longshot of the entire circular flowerbed with the enclosed flowers arranged into a hammer and sickle.
Cast
- David Warner as Morgan Delt
- Vanessa Redgrave as Leonie Delt
- Robert Stephens as Charles Napier
- Irene Handl as Mrs. Delt
- Bernard Bresslaw as Policeman
- Arthur Mullard as Wally
- Newton Blick as Mr. Henderson
- Nan Munro as Mrs. Henderson
- Peter Collingwood as Geoffrey
- Graham Crowden as Counsel
- John Garrie as Tipstaff
- John Rae as Judge
- Peter Cellier as Second Counsel
Reception
The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Vanessa Redgrave) and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White (Jocelyn Rickards).
The film was also nominated for the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival and Redgrave was awarded Best Actress.[4]
A film poster for Morgan is prominently shown in the 2016 film High-Rise (adapted from the novel of the same name by J. G. Ballard).
References
- Chapman, L. (2021). “They wanted a bigger, more ambitious film”: Film Finances and the American “Runaways” That Ran Away. Journal of British Cinema and Television, 18(2), 176–197 p 191. https://doi.org/10.3366/jbctv.2021.0565
- Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 360
- Moat, Janet (2003–2014). "Morgan - A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966)". BFI screenonline. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- "Festival de Cannes: Morgan!". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 8 March 2009.