The Buttercup Chain
Cast & Crew
Robert Ellis Miller
Clive Revill
Roy Dotrice
Michael Elphick
Johnathan Burn
Yutte Stensgaard
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Born to twin sisters on the same day in London, France and Margaret are more like brother and sister than cousins. The close relationship between the cousins is suspended when Margaret is sent abroad for schooling. Now a young woman, Margaret returns to London and resumes her intimate connection with France. Fearing that their relationship could become incestuous, France decides that he and Margaret should take lovers, and chooses Fred, a Swedish architectural student, to be his cousin's lover. For his mistress, France picks Manny, an American who has had many lovers. The foursome spends a romantic summer interlude at an estate in Spain, where Margaret beds Fred while France takes Manny. Once back in London, however, Manny senses that France is in love with Margaret and begins to suspect that he is using both Manny and Fred to suppress his own feelings. To spare the unsuspecting Fred, Manny seduces him. Upon discovering that she is pregnant, Manny is uncertain about the paternity of her baby, but nevertheless names Fred as the father. Manny's former lover, a middle-aged millionaire named George, offers to throw Manny and Fred a lavish wedding reception, but when Manny gives birth on the day of the reception and is forced to miss the celebration, Margaret and France find themselves the sole attendees. Following the wedding and birth, the four friends decide it is best to end their close relationship, and so Fred takes Manny and their baby to live in Sweden, while Margaret leaves for Rome to study art and France stays behind in London. Some time later, Margaret returns to London after the end of a disastrous love affair, and France suggests that they visit Fred and Manny in Sweden. There they find that Manny and Fred are trapped in an unhappy marriage. Fred, who is still in love with Margaret, takes her on a tour of Sweden while Manny and France rekindle their love affair. One day, while Manny and France are making love on the beach, Manny's child wanders into the water and drowns. Upon receiving the tragic news, Fred and Margaret return from their tour, and one night, to forget their problems, the foursome decides to go to a nightclub. Manny, overwrought by her unrequited love for France and the death of her child, suffers a nervous breakdown on the dance floor. Upon recovering from her breakdown, Manny tells Fred that although she loves him as a friend, she must disengage herself from him as well as Margaret and France. After Manny runs off with George, Margaret tries to convince France that they should admit they love each other, but France, unable to face his incestuous feelings, abandons her on a street in Stockholm.
Director
Robert Ellis Miller
Cast
Clive Revill
Roy Dotrice
Michael Elphick
Johnathan Burn
Yutte Stensgaard
Susan Baker
Jennifer Baker
Hywel Bennett
Leigh Taylor-young
Jane Asher
Sven-bertil Taube
Crew
Richard Rodney Bennett
Fred Carter
John Coleman
Thelma Connell
Christopher Cunning
Marcus Dods
Peter Draper
Gabriella Falk
Leslie Gilliat
Chris Greenham
Bernard Hanson
Klara Kerpen
Roy Larner
Paul Le Mare
Gladys Leakey
Philip Leakey
Richard Mills
Ted Morley
John Oldknow
Kay Rawlings
Pat Ryan
Wilfrid Singleton
Douglas Slocombe
Maude Spector
Jacky Taylor
Doug Turner
Philip Waddilove
Chic Waterson
John Whitney
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The credits above were taken from a cutting continuity deposited in copyright records. In the end cast credits, the four stars's names are listed last, however, in opening credits, the stars's names appear first in the cast list. Electrician Roy Larner's onscreen credit was preceded by the company name Lee Electric Lighting Ltd. Although onscreen credits list the color process as Eastman Color, Filmfacts lists it as Technicolor. Onscreen credits note that The Buttercup Chain was "filmed entirely on location in Spain, Sweden and England and completed at Shepperton Studios, London, England." The Buttercup Chain, a British-American co-production, was nominated for a Golden Palm at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1970
Released in United States 1970
