Always on Sunday 

Always On Sunday is a bio-pic on Le (Henri) Douanier Rousseau, a French naive painter.

Director:

Ken Russell

Writers:

Melvyn Bragg (scenario), Ken Russell (scenario)

Stars:

James Lloyd, Annette Robertson, Bryan Pringle

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
James Lloyd	...	Henri Rousseau
Annette Robertson	...	Alfred Jarry
Bryan Pringle	...	Pere Ubu
Jacqui Cook	...	Mere Ubu (as Jacqueline Cooke)
Roland MacLeod	...	Apollinaire
Izabella Telezynska	...	Josephine (as Isa Teller)
Dorothy-Rose Gribble	...	Eugénie
Sheila Van Bloemen	...	1st Neighbour
Ann Mitchell	...	2nd Neighbour
Joanna Rigby	...	Daughter
Michael Van Bloemen	...	Picture Dealer
Kenneth Goodare	...	Musician
Paul Cameron	...	Musician
Peter Matheson	...	Musician
Jane Anderson	...	Musician

Storyline

Always On Sunday is a bio-pic on Le (Henri) Douanier Rousseau, a French naive painter.

---

Plot Keywords:

painting | 

---

Genres:

Documentary

---

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 1965 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The part of Henri Rousseau is played by James Lloyd, not the small-part actor of that name, but a real-life artist who worked as a railwayman during the week and created elaborate paintings (in the "pointilliste" style) on Sundays. These had been acclaimed and exhibited and Ken Russell had made a documentary film about him for the "Monitor" series, so when he later moved on to making a drama-documentary about Rousseau, he thought of asking Lloyd, as a sort of British equivalent to the French artist, to play the lead.

---

Connections

Featured in Omnibus: The Ken Russell Festival: Part 2 - The Dotty World of James Lloyd/Always on Sunday (1968)

User Reviews

a marvellously infectious documentary presents itself for our delectation.

I really enjoyed this. Its a taken for granted that Ken Russell can get a little carried away in his enthusiasm for his subject sometimes to the detribute of the project in hand. On occasion that excitement can lead to greatness, as with The Devils, Savage Messiah and here with poor neglected Sunday painter, Henri Rousseau. I knew little of the man and so was immediately drawn in to the wonderful little tale of the wonderful little man who kept at it despite the odds (remind you of anyone?) until eventually, after all the mockery and derisive comments, gains the recognition of the surrealists in general and Picasso in particular. As Rousseau's expertise grew, his pictures, still displaying the childlike naivety, began also to take on the feeling of dreams and the workings of the subconscious. Ken Russell's playful, experimental and amusing presentation fits perfectly with the subject and a marvellously infectious documentary presents itself for our delectation.