Ealing (and cinematographer Douglas Slocombe's) very first Technicolor feature film is a lavish costume drama set in the 1700s.

One of Ealing's most expensive films, forgotten by many and dismissed by the critics of the time, Saraband for Dead Lovers follows Sophie-Dorothea (Joan Greenwood), wife of the future George I of England, who unwisely falls in love with Count Philip von Königsmark (Stewart Granger), a Swedish soldier of fortune.

Douglas Slocombe deliberately ignored all the usual strictures laid down by Technicolor on how the film should look, and the result is a gorgeous visual feast for the eyes.

Archive 35mm Print Courtesy of the BFI.

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