Swallows and Amazons (1974 film) been made available on video, both in VHS and DVD, in the UK, but is not readily available in the US and elsewhere. Swallows and Amazons (1974 film) Swallows and Amazons is a 1974 British film adaption of the 1930 novel of the same name by Arthur Ransome. The film, which was directed by Claude Whatham and produced by Richard Pilbrow, starred Virginia McKenna and Ronald Fraser, and a young Zanna Hamilton. Its budget was provided by Nat Cohen of EMI Films who had funded the successful 1970 film "The Railway Children". During the school holidays, the Walker children (John,
Elinor Lyon Lyon wrote over twenty books for children, which had some success on both sides of the Atlantic. She found they "came much more easily" than writing for adults and believes her inspiration came from "omnivorous reading". Lyon began "The House in Hiding", for example, after reading "Swallows and Amazons", because she disliked the characters within it (they were too good at everything). In response, the children in "The House in Hiding" get things wrong, but still manage to succeed eventually. The development was pinpointed in an obituary by Julia Eccleshare: "Lyon's adventures, with their strong girls and sensitive boys and