The Admirable Crichton (1957 film) The Admirable Crichton (1957 film) The Admirable Crichton is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Kenneth More, Diane Cilento, Cecil Parker and Sally Ann Howes. The film was based on J. M. Barrie's 1902 stage comedy of the same name. It was released in the United States as Paradise Lagoon. In 1905 William Crichton is the efficient butler in the London household of the Earl of Loam and his family. Crichton knows his place in the highly class-conscious English society. The Earl insists that all men are equal, and to prove it, he orders his
James Crichton collection "The Haunted House". The "Admirable Crichton" was mentioned as an exemplar in W. M. Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" (1847) and referenced in chapter 3 of Anthony Trollope's "The Prime Minister" (1876). James Crichton's sobriquet was later employed by fellow Scot Sir James Barrie as the title of his 1902 satirical play, "The Admirable Crichton", about a butler whose "savoir-faire" far exceeds that of his aristocratic employers. A memorial to Crichton can be found in the church of St. Bride's in Sanquhar and in the church of San Simone in Mantua. He is also the namesake of the James Crichton Society