GB
1950
1hr 31mins
Dirs: Ken Annakin (Mr. Know-All) / Harold French (Sanatorium)
Starring: Naunton Wayne and Anne Crawford (Mr. Know-All) / Roland Culver and Jean Simmons (Sanatorium)
A compendium of three W. Somerset Maugham stories about the condition of observing peoples’ frailties
This anthology film has three segments, each based on a story by William Somerset Maugham, and each with a different cast and director. The second story, Mr. Know-All, is about an obnoxiously pushy and irrepressibly boorish dealer of jewellery, who alienates all his fellow passengers on an ocean cruise despite his cheerful nature and generosity. There is a brief glimpse of a busy port, and a whole host of wagons are present on the quayside. One is lettered ‘LMS’ so it is likely to be Liverpool. The third story, Sanatorium, is about a writer who is sent to a sanatorium for his health only for him to become acquainted with the lives and dramas of the residents. The story was originally included in the 1947 collection of Maugham stories Creatures of Circumstance and takes place in the Scottish Highlands. There are a couple of opening shots of a railway journey with two trains featuring. The first is a going away shot of a West Highland Line service hauled by an ex-LMS Class 5MT ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0, and the second is a very rare glimpse of an ex-NBR 4-4-0 arriving into Killiecrankie station. Trio was the second of a film trilogy, all consisting of adaptations of Maugham’s stories. It was preceded by Quartet (qv) in 1948 and followed by Encore in 1951.