Art & Hue
David Niven stylish pop art print.
The Love Lottery
A departure for the Ealing Comedies, “The Love Lottery” combines song-and-dance numbers with fantasy dream sequences, against the backdrop of Lake Como and a plot to raffle off David Niven’s character (most appropriate given he played the jewel thief “Raffles” in the film of the same name).
Also starring Herbert Lom and Gordon Jackson, the story is of a world-famous film star looking for respite from the constant pursuit of rabid fans. The film contains some ambitious dream sequences, particularly the opening with impressive special effects for the time, and glorious Italian locations, all filmed in glorious technicolour.
The film received a charity world premiere in New Zealand on the 21st of January 1954, when it was shown to The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh whilst they were on a royal tour down under, before opening at the Gaumont Haymarket cinema in London on the 28th of January 1954.
Art & Hue had the pleasure to delve into the archives for the Ealing Comedy “The Love Lottery” to create this stylish pop art print of David Niven, available in three sizes and 20 colours.
“The Love Lottery” is available on DVD at Amazon.
David Niven
A successful British export if you will, David Niven became an icon of the golden age of Hollywood alongside making some classic British titles. Smooth, charming, but with a rakish air, Niven was a stalwart of film for over 50 years.
His first film credit is 1932’s “There Goes the Bride” with Basil Radford, but America soon snapped him up.
The golden age of Hollywood beckoned with Niven appearing in swashbuckling adventures of the 1930s and romantic epics including “Mutiny on the Bounty”, “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, “The Prisoner of Zenda”, and “Wuthering Heights”, to name a few.
He was the eponymous “Raffles”, later reprising a Raffles-type jewel thief in the classic 1963 film “The Pink Panther” with Peter Sellers, Capucine, & Claudia Cardinale.
When war interrupted his Hollywood career, as Niven signed up for service, he would later return to British studios to make films including “The Way Ahead” with Stanley Holloway & William Hartnell, the Powell & Pressburger classic “A Matter of Life and Death” with Richard Attenborough as a fellow pilot, “Bonnie Prince Charlie” with Morland Graham, and “The Elusive Pimpernel” with Patrick Macnee.
More film credits include “Happy Go Lovely” with Vera-Ellen & Gordon Jackson, “The King’s Thief” with Roger Moore, “The Silken Affair” with Joan Sims & Irene Handl, “Around the World in 80 Days” as Phileas Fogg, with Buster Keaton, and “The Road to Hong Kong” with Joan Collins & Peter Sellers.
Niven was in the 1967 James Bond-parody “Casino Royale” with Peter Sellers, Orson Welles, Bernard Cribbins, Ronnie Corbett, Jeanne Roland, & David Prowse, “Death on the Nile” with Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Jane Birkin, Maggie Smith, & Harry Andrews, “Escape to Athena” with Roger Moore & Telly Savalas, “The Sea Wolves” with Roger Moore & Patrick Macnee, and “Better Late Than Never” with Art Carney & Maggie Smith.
David Niven Pop Art
Available in A4, A3, and A2 sizes to fit standard-size picture frames. Please note that black frame is not included – for a guide on choosing a frame size take a look here.
An official collaboration with Studiocanal, this print is part of the Ealing Comedies collection of stylish pop art prints inspired by the classic British comedy films made at Ealing Studios, featuring Art & Hue’s signature halftone style (halftone is an age-old technique that uses dots to make up the printed image, similar to newspapers or comic books).
“The Love Lottery” Copyright © STUDIOCANAL Films Ltd. (1954). All rights reserved.
Copyright © Art & Hue® 2019. All rights reserved.
