Encore is a 1951 anthology film composed of adaptations of three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham: "The Ant and the Grasshopper", directed by Pat Jackson and adapted by T. E. B. Clarke; "Winter Cruise", helmed by Anthony Pelissier, screenplay by Arthur Macrae; "Gigolo and Gigolette", directed by Harold French, written by Eric Ambler. It is the last film in a Maugham trilogy, preceded by Quartet and Trio.
Writing
Maugham's sly observations land like velvet daggers.
Acting
Glynis Johns steals every frame she's in.
Director
Harold French
Glynis Johns
Stella Cotman
Nigel Patrick
Tom Ramsay
Roland Culver
George Ramsay
Alison Leggatt
Freda Ramsay
Charles Victor
Mr. Bateman
Peter Graves
Philip Cronshaw
Margaret Withers
Mrs. Bateman
Margaret Vyner
Gertrude Wilmot
John Laurie
Andrews, Engineer
Noel Purcell
Tom, Captain
Ronald Squire
Doctor
W. Somerset Maugham
Self and Narrator
Patricia Raine
Office Girl
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This wrapped Maugham's anthology trilogy—Quartet (1948), Trio (1950), Encore (1951)—each declining in popularity despite rising budgets.
Maugham himself introduces each segment, a device borrowed from radio's "Theatre Guild"—his patrician persona became so recognizable it parodied itself in later British comedy.
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