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Georges Auric - Passport to Pimlico

Georges Auric

(1899 - 1983)

French composer, born in Lodève, who was a member of the group of modernist composers known as Les Six (along with Honegger, Poulenc, Tailleferre, Durey and Milhaud) who revolted against the influence of established French composers such as Claude Debussy.

His first work to gain critical acclaim was the comedy ballet "The Bores".

He composed scores for several films by the French poet Jean Cocteau, including Blood of a Poet (1930), Beauty and the Beast (1935), and Orpheus (1949).

Passport to Pimlico (1949), directed by Henry Cornelius
Enchanting, whimsical comedy set shortly after the Second World War. An old royal charter which cedes Pimlico to the Dukes of Burgundy is found in a shell hole, and the locals declare themselves an independent state in the heart of London. Full of charm and flavour, the film was cleverly written by Ealing regular T.E.B. Clarke, and features fine performances from the likes of Margaret Rutherford, Stanley Holloway and Hermione Baddeley.

Passport to Pimlico is a whimsical comedy that fitted the mood of its day. The idea for the plot came from a news item spotted by Tibby Clarke which stated that during the war, in order that a rule be observed whereby members of the Dutch royal succession must be born on Netherlands soil, a room in Ottawa, where the family was in exile from the German occupation, officially became Dutch territory. The film is set in the inner London district of Pimlico, a few narrow streets hemmed in by railway lines and busy main roads, where a delayed bomb explosion reveals a hidden vault containing treasure and an ancient document proving that the land was granted to the Duke of Burgundy in perpetuity.

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