Vice Versa

A parent and child who are at odds switch bodies, thanks to a bit of magic, and find they have a better understanding of each others' lives. That's been the basis for at least four films over the past 30-odd years: Freaky Friday (1976) and its 2003 remake; Like Father Like Son (1987); and Vice Versa (1988). The latter is actually the third film version of F. Anstey's Victorian novel, Vice Versa: A Lesson to Fathers (1882), first filmed as a British silent in 1916. But for many fans of the story, the definitive version is Vice Versa (1948), written and directed by Peter Ustinov and starring Roger Livesey as Paul Bultitude and Anthony Newley as his adolescent son Dick. The 1988 remake was set in modern times, but Vice Versa, like the novel, is set in the Victorian era. The senior Bultitude is a stuffy businessman; his son is a reluctant schoolboy. A magic stone from India brings about the body switch, and the man in the boy's body is sent off to boarding school, while his son runs the household and business. Chaos breaks out at both places, and an elephant, a seal, and some monkeys add to the confusion, and to the fun. Peter Ustinov was the ideal writer-director to keep the whimsy and comedy flowing in Vice Versa. The London-born son of Russian parents, Ustinov was as precocious and multitalented as the young Orson Welles. A published author at 14, Ustinov made his stage debut at 17, and wrote his first play and made his screen debut at 19. At 23, he co-wrote (with Eric Ambler) the screenplay for The Way Ahead (1944), which was directed by Carol Reed; and at 25, he directed his first feature, School for Secrets (1946), which he also wrote. Vice Versa was his second film as a writer-director. Ustinov was not so far removed from his own boarding school days, which, like young Dick Bultitude, he hated. Ustinov recalled a school evaluation of him that noted, "He shows great originality, which must be curbed." Fortunately, it wasn't, and Ustinov went on to a long, illustrious career as actor, director, producer, screenwriter, playwright, raconteur, adventurer, and one of the wittiest and most erudite men in show business. Like Ustinov, Anthony Newley, who plays Dick Bultitude in Vice Versa, was multitalented and began his career at a young age. He was 14 and working as an office boy when he saw a newspaper ad for "boy actors." He auditioned, and was offered not only a job, but also free tuition at a prestigious acting school. The part in Vice Versa was Newley's first major film role, and he followed that with the role of the Artful Dodger in David Lean's film version of Dickens' Oliver Twist (1948). In the 1950s Newley made a successful transition to adult roles, and by the early 1960s, he was also a successful pop singer. In 1961, he co-wrote and starred in the musical Stop the World I Want to Get Off, which was a hit in both London's West End and on Broadway. Further theatrical and film success followed, as an actor, composer and singer. Another child star of the era, Petula Clark, played the headmaster's daughter and the object of Dick Bultitude's affections in Vice Versa. The petite singer became a star in Britain at the age of 11, entertaining the troops during World War II. After a successful film career in the 1950s, Clark reinvented herself in the 1960s as a pop star with the phenomenally successful hit song, "Downtown." Veteran actor Roger Livesey had already had a long career in theater and films when he earned international acclaim in two Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger films, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and A Matter of Life and Death (1946). He had also starred in Ustinov's play The Banbury Nose (1944), which led to Ustinov casting him in Vice Versa. Beloved as a British film classic, Vice Versa is probably the least known of the body-switch comedies to American audiences. It's also one of the best, and a rare example of one more facet of Peter Ustinov's many talents - he directed fewer than a dozen feature films. First-time viewers will find Vice Versa a delightful discovery. Director: Peter Ustinov Producer: George H. Brown, Peter Ustinov Screenplay: Peter Ustinov, based on the novel by F. Anstey Cinematography: Jack Hildyard Editor: John D. Guthridge Costume Design: Nadia Benois Art Direction: Carmen Dillon Music: Antony Hopkins Cast: Roger Livesey (Paul Bultitude), Kay Walsh (Florence "Fanny" Verlane), Petula Clark (Dulcie Grimstone), David Hutcheson (Marmaduke Paradine), Anthony Newley (Dick Bultitude), James Robertson Justice (Dr. Grimstone), Patricia Raine (Alice), Joan Young (Mrs. Grimstone). BW-111m. by Margarita Landazuri