News for
Ryan's Daughter (1970)

photos

board

trailer

details

IMDbPro offers the latest entertainment industry news from the Hollywood Reporter. Sign-up for a two-week free trial today. Click here for a free trial!

Family and Friends Pay Tribute to Sir John Mills
1 July 2005 (WENN)
Stars including Richard Attenborough, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Michael Caine joined Sir John Mills' family to pay tribute to the accomplished actor at a memorial service held in London yesterday. The Ryan's Daughter star died at his Buckinghamshire, England home in April following a short illness. He was 97. And his family and friends were keen to express the deep impact Mills had on their lives at the St. Martin-in-the-Fields church service. Dench gushed, "The most talented, the most adorable, the most charming and the naughtiest man I have ever met." Mills' daughter Juliet added, "If I had to chose three words to describe him, I think they would be loving, brave and funny. He was the funniest man I have ever known." Music at the service was provided by Mills' grandson Crispian, who was once the lead singer of British rock band Kula Shaker, and Andrew Lloyd Webber - who joined singer Andrea Ross to perform a song from his hit musical Whistle Down The Wind. Lord Attenborough said of his friend of 63 years, "I thought he was a hero then and to me he remained so throughout his life. I shall miss his guidance, I shall miss his caring and his unfailing sense of honor, but most of all I shall miss his loyalty and devotion in our lasting friendship."

Oscar Winner John Mills Dead at 97
25 April 2005 (StudioBriefing)
John Mills, who made his feature-film debut 73 years ago and received a best-supporting actor Oscar for David Lean's 1970 film Ryan's Daughter, died Saturday at his home near London at the age of 97. He generally appeared as the English Everyman, modest, emotionally repressed, and deferential. He was directed by Lean in four other films, In Which We Serve in 1942, Noel Coward's This Happy Breed in 1944, Great Expectations in 1946 and Hobson's Choice in 1954. In the 1960s, he appeared in several films that starred his daughters, Hayley Mills and Juliet Mills. He had been active as an actor to the end.

Sir John Mills Dies
25 April 2005 (WENN)
Legendary actor Sir John Mills has died following a battle with a chest infection. He was 97. The British star of over 100 films passed away at his Buckinghamshire, England, home on Sunday after falling ill several weeks ago. His demise has prompted some of the UK's biggest names to speak out in tribute to the actor, who won an Oscar in 1971 for his role in Ryan's Daughter. Devastated director Lord Richard Attenborough says, "He was unequalled as a world (and) British movie star." UK Prime Minister Tony Blair describes Mills as "a great actor, a true gentleman and a loyal friend; someone who made us proud to be British", while Queen Elizabeth II was "sorry" to hear of his death. A funeral service for the screen star has been arranged for family and friends at St Mary's Church in his home town of Denham on Wednesday. Mills is survived by his wife Mary Hayley-bell - now Lady Mills - son Jonathan and actress daughters Juliet Mills and Hayley Mills. In recent years, wheelchair-bound Lady Mills has been suffering with Alzheimer's Disease, but her famous husband never doubted they'd be reunited in full health in the afterlife. He said, "The body dies but the spirit goes on. Of that I'm certain. One day Mary and I will leave this world, but we'll be reunited in the next." Despite his own failing health, Mills refused to retire - because he couldn't bear to never experience the buzz of acting again. He said, "When I get out there, coming across the footlights, it's something that I can hardly explain... such warmth greets me and I feel terrific, it's just wonderful." Mills is best known for his roles in films including Great Expectations in 1946 and 1956's War And Peace.

John Mills in Award Tribute
3 December 2002 (WENN)
Legendary British actor Sir John Mills will be bestowed with a special honor at next year's British Academy Of Film And Television awards. The 94-year old Ice Cold In Alex star will take his place next to previous recipients, including Alfred Hitchcock and Sean Connery, of the Academy's special Fellowship award. Mills, who won an Oscar in 1971 for his performance in Ryan's Daughter, has always welcomed accolades. He says, "I'm not one of those who decry Oscars - ever since school I've always liked the idea of competition and prizes."

Sir Mills Ailing
22 August 2002 (WENN)
Screen legend Sir John Mills has been admitted to hospital while holidaying in the Scottish Highlands. The Ryan's Daughter star, 94, was relaxing in the exclusive Skibo Castle, the idyllic Dornoch, Sutherland setting where Madonna and Guy Ritchie tied the knot in December 2000. Sir Mills was struck down with a chest infection and taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness on Thursday where he is currently being attended by his own private nurse. The Oscar-winner's spokeswoman says, "Sir John was staying at Skibo Castle and had a chest infection. He's absolutely fine but at his age we have to take every precaution. He had his nurse with him and was transferred to Raigmore Hospital. We hope he'll be out today or tomorrow and then he plans to continue his holiday staying with friends in Scotland."

Scorsese To Consummate David Lean Movie?
22 April 2002 (StudioBriefing)
The estate of director David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, Ryan's Daughter, Doctor Zhivago), is negotiating with Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Mean Streets) to revive Lean's plans to produce a film version of Joseph Conrad's epic novel Nostromo, British newspapers reported today (Monday). Lean, who had spent six years working on the screenplay, first with Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons), and then with Robert Bolt (Lawrence, Ryan's, Zhivago), died of throat cancer in 1991 at the age of 83, just four weeks before production was due to start on Nostromo. In an interview with the London Daily Telegraph, Sandra Lean, the widow of the director, said that Lean had "slaved away" for five or six years on planning the film. "I remember him saying to me, 'This is going to be bigger than Lawrence.'" He had cast Marlon Brando, Paul Scofield, Anthony Quinn and Isabella Rossellini in the film. The British press published excerpts from a letter that Brando had written Lean in which he remarked: "There are simply no scenarios that I have read in recent times that leave me with any enthusiasm whatsoever. The happy exception is Nostromo." The London Independent reported that Brando remains enthusiastic about appearing in the film.

Movie Reviews: Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring
19 December 2001 (StudioBriefing)
Not since the films of David Lean (Bridge on the River Quai, Lawrence of Arabia, Ryan's Daughter) has a big-budget movie extravaganza attracted the nearly boundless praise that Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring has managed to garner from reviewers. Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan's torrid (if wordy) enthusiasm for the production is typical: "Made with intelligence, imagination, passion and skill, propulsively paced and shot through with an aged-in-oak sense of wonder, the trilogy's first film so thrillingly catches us up in its sweeping story that nothing matters but the vivid and compelling events unfolding on the screen," he raves. Says Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Whatever it is that makes great movies stand apart from great theater or great literature, this film has it." Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune calls it "an extraordinary work, grandly conceived, brilliantly executed and wildly entertaining." Jay Carr in the Boston Globe writes that director Peter Jackson has succeeded in bringing off the transformation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic "with visual flair, epic scale, enlivening detail, and, above all, conviction." Peter Howell in the Toronto Star judges the movie one of the best of the year. "Well cast, carefully written and handsomely mounted, it provides all the spectacle that audiences expect of an epic adventure without stinting on character or plot details," he writes. Several critics compare this latest extravaganza with the one that preceded it a month ago. Jack Mathews in the New York Daily News comments: "The Fellowship of the Ring runs circles around The Sorcerer's Stone -- for filmmaking, storytelling, characters, settings, creatures, action and scares." However, Rita Kempley in the Washington Post observes: "Some pundits have compared Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but it's more of a medieval Star Wars, and every bit as stirring. It's clearly a labor of love for Jackson -- one that makes you forgive all the horrible hype bestowed upon it." A few critics do present some quibbles. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Steven Rea, an admitted fan of the Tokien books, finds actor Elijah Wood "a wimpy protagonist." And Roger Ebert, another fan, finds the book far more satisfying, but adds, "That Fellowship of the Ring doesn't match my imaginary vision of Middle-earth is my problem, not yours." And Philip Wuntch in the Dallas Morning News warns that the 178-minute length of the movie seems just like "three hours, no more but no less." Nevertheless, he adds, the film is "plot-heavy rather than cumbersome, but do pick a 'plex with comfortable seating." (On the other hand, Lou Lumenick in the New York Post warrants that "it's the three most exciting hours we've seen on a movie screen in years.")

Freddie Young Dies At 96
2 December 1998 (StudioBriefing)
Legendary cinematographer Freddie Young, who won Oscars for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Ryan's Daughter (1970) reportedly died Tuesday night in London at the age of 96. His film work dates back to the early 1930s, beginning with the original film version of Noel Coward's Bitter Sweet (1933). His cameras also captured Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), the original Treasure Island (1950), Ivanhoe (1952), Lust for Life (1956), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), among many others.