The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

February 10, 2018

February 10, 1987

Although William Rose (August 31, 1918 to February 10, 1987) writer and screen writer, was a native of the American state of Missouri, he fought in WWII, at first anyway, as part of the Canadian forces, and later settled in England. He gets screen credit for, films like The Ladykillers (1955). Rose claims he dreamt the whole plot and just wrote down the details after he woke up. Alec Guinness plays the lead criminal, the role Tom Hanks took when the movie was remade. Rose got an Academy Award nomination for The Ladykillers as well winning the BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) are two Rose credits. And among others he has Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) on his filmography.

But today we remember The Smallest Show on Earth (1957) which was described as "a considerable commercial success .... [which] is now a fondly remembered minor classic... "

According to the literature: 'Matt (Bill Travers) and Jean (Virginia McKenna) Spenser inherit the Bijou, a dilapidated cinema nicknamed 'The Fleapit', from an unknown great uncle. They travel to Sloughborough to discover that the cinema is in a terrible state, with trains thundering past and shaking the building to its foundations.'

Matt Spenser and his wife are young and still in love. He is a "struggling writer," and they dream of having enough money to travel. He and his wife are idealistic and quickly come to grasp that the three employees still working in the theatre, though old and cranky folks, spent their lives on the theater and would probably have inherited it themselves had the owner's death not been unexpected. So the new owners must concentrate on maximizing their own profit as well as securing enough money to provide for the these three. Threaded throughout the scenes is a fluffy gray and white cat. And her litter of six kittens shadows the fact the writer's wife becomes pregnant.
And Rose's great plot included roles for Margaret Rutherford and Peter Sellars.

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