Prelude to Fame

Dashing the highbrow aspirations of their producers, films about classical music have nearly always been box-office poison. This uninspired tale about a child prodigy whose tutor is his only refuge from expectation and exploitation was no exception. Adapted from a minor Aldous Huxley story, Young Archimedes, the film was directed with little flair by Fergus McDonell, who had obviously been instructed to keep the focus firmly on the sickly soloist, played rather well by Jeremy Spenser. The film was the last made using the ill-fated Independent Frame method, which aimed to cut costs by using back-projected interior scenery.