Malachi's Cove
Directed byHenry Herbert
Written byHenry Herbert
Based onMalachi's Cove
by Anthony Trollope
Produced byAndrew Sinclair
Kent Walwin
StarringDonald Pleasence
Veronica Quilligan
Dai Bradley
CinematographyWalter Lassally
Edited byTeddy Darvas
Music byBrian Gascoigne
Production
company
Penrith Productions
Distributed byImpact Quadrant Films
Release date
  • 29 November 1974 (1974-11-29)
Running time
86 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Canada
LanguagesEnglish
Cornish

Malachi's Cove is a 1974 British-Canadian coming-of-age period drama film directed by Henry Herbert and starring Donald Pleasence, Veronica Quilligan and Dai Bradley.[1] It is based on the short story Malachi's Cove by Anthony Trollope and is also known as The Seaweed Children.

Plot

In North Cornwall, 1880, Mally Trenglos, a tough young girl aged sixteen, collects seaweed and sells it as fertilizer for the local farmers. She lives with her grandfather Malachi in a little hut above the cove where she collects seaweed. Her parents died two years before from drowning. When Mally's mother discovered her father's body, she wanted him to be buried and stayed with his body in a dangerous storm. Mally went in the village to get help but no one came. The Gunliffes, a local farming family, answered but didn't believe her. By the time she was back at the sea, Mally's mother had also drowned.

The film focuses on the life of Mally, her grandfather and Barty Gunliffe, a local boy (son of the family who didn't believe Mally when she claimed of her mum's drowning) who keeps taking weed from their cove. Barty and Mally remain enemies until one day when Barty comes to prove to Mally that he's not afraid of the stormy ocean. As a result, he hits his head on a rock. He is unconscious but Mally manages to pull him from the sea. Luckily though Barty survives. However, Mrs. Gunliffe, who despises Mally, has a suspicion that Mally tried to kill him. In the end, Barty and Mally become friends and the film ends with Barty helping Mally collect the seaweed.

Cast

  • Donald Pleasence as Malachi Trenglos
  • Dai Bradley as Barty Gunliffe
  • Veronica Quilligan as Mally Trenglos
  • Peter Vaughan as Mr. Gunliffe
  • Lillias Walker as Mrs. Gunliffe
  • Arthur English as Jack Combes
  • David Howe as Jake Combes
  • Kennaley Hoyle as Matt Combes
  • John Barrett as Reverend Polwarth
  • Alan Hockey as Dr. Peverick
  • George Malpas as Mr. Eliot
  • Meg Wynn Owen as Mally's mother
  • Peter Wyatt as Mr. Carew
  • David Foxxe as Mr. Carew's Clerk
  • Derek Carpenter as Dr. Peverick's Assistant
  • Claire Davenport as Lady in Store
  • Linda Robson and Pauline Quirke as Girls in Store

Production

Jacquemine Charrott Lodwidge was the film's art director and was also brought in for Herbert's next film, Emily (1976).

Filming

The film was made at Bray Studios and the location filming was carried out in Trebarwith Strand but most was in Clovelly.

References

  1. ↑ "The Seaweed Children (1977) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2016.


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