Synopsis
Arthur is the groundsman. He's a perfectionist who has lovingly tended the cricket pitch for 45 years. Now he is given a new assistant.
Arthur's Hallowed Ground
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Theatrical
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UK
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UK
30 Oct 1984
- Theatrical
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Light hearted, made for TV 80’s British film. It was just a nice, charming, and innocent vibe.
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Film 4 fairly recently unearthed some of the strand of First Love TV movies they made in the mid-80s, of which Arthur's Hallowed Ground is one.
For those who don't know anything about cricket or like it or are American, Freddie Young's sole effort at directing doesn't trade much on the (best) game much at all. It's about a stuck-in-his-ways old groundsman being forced to take on a young apprentice while rubbing everyone up the wrong way with his methods.
The cricket fan in me found myself on the side of the club with the story here. The story is that the club want him to prepare pitches that will suit their style of play, and he won't do it.…
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Another offering from David Puttnam's First Love series from the early days of Channel 4, Arthur's Hallowed Ground is a gentle, evergreen English (and specifically Northern) comedy about a deeply fastidious cricket groundkeeper that is as unrushed and well-crafted as the sport itself.
The great Jimmy Jewel stars as the eponymous Arthur who, for forty-five years now, has lovingly tended to the turf in his own inimitable way. A craftsman, Arthur's exacting standards are now bringing him into conflict with the suits in the club boardroom who believe that a pitch this close to perfection is actually hampering the success of the team. Leading the complaints is Michael Elphick's brash building magnate, Len. A true Thatcherite who has pulled himself…
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When Vas Blackwood (most commonly known to UK audiences as Lennox Gilby AKA The Sha-a-dow) turns up, I thought "Oh no, Jimmy Jewel is going to be a horrible racist type now". Thankfully, this charming little drama doesn't take that broad swing, and instead has more of an interest in how Arthur is to be subtly removed from groundskeeper duties by the nefarious Len, played by Michael Elphick. Good acting by the three mentioned players, but also Jean Boht as Arthur's long suffering wife Betty.
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Back in the early days of Channel 4 this is the sort of thing they used to put on of an evening, rather like BBC's Play for Today, only a little more cinematic, this for instance takes place outside rather than the being confined to sets, in fact this story takes place almost entirely on the cricket ground.
Jimmy Jewel plays Arthur, who has been diligently preparing his pitches for 45 unbroken years, to his own exacting standards. This is something which is bringing him into conflict with the club's directors, primarily Michael Elphick's brash property developer, because Arthur's aim is always to produce a pitch which is as perfect as possible, which has the effect of producing nothing but…
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Arthur: “…People who think success can only be measured in money.”
(Old Labour working class versus the emergence of the soulless, profiteering Thatcherite).
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The only film from famed cinematographer Freddie Young. A good look at the job of a cricket groundskeeper that highlights the importance of a job that you usually wouldn’t realise. Of course it looks nice but it’s pretty boring and with some very stilted performances. I wonder why this was the only film story he chose to tell himself? Perhaps a passion project of some kind.
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A lovely curmudgeony performance by Jewel in this simple concept film. Very British in its celebration of pedantic commitment to work.