Documentary MAD ABOUT THE BOY – THE NOËL COWARD STORY to be Released in UK & Ireland in June

To mark the 50th anniversary of Noël Coward's death, Altitude announces that Mad About The Boy - The Noël Coward Story, will be released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 2 June 2023. The film will be narrated by Alan Cumming and with Rupert Everett as the voice of Noël Coward.

Featuring never seen before private home movies of Coward's global travels, recently discovered in the storage vaults of the Noël Coward Estate, plus rare photography and extensive archive material, this brand new feature documentary, written and directed by Barnaby Thompson (PIXIE, ST TRINIANS), comprehensively chronicles the life and career of the famed playwright, director, and flamboyant wit.

Noël Coward grew up in poverty and left school when he was only nine years old. He was queer in a very straight world. And yet by the age of 30, he was the highest paid writer in the world, and a star on the Broadway stage. One of the most important figures of the 20th Century.

Noël Coward wrote, directed and acted in some of the finest plays and movies of all time, including Private Lives, Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter and In Which We Serve, also discovering great talents such as John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier and David Lean. He became a world renowned songwriter and performer, of whom Frank Sinatra said, 'If you want to hear how a song should be sung, go see Mr Noël Coward'. Even becoming a British spy in the Second World War, against all odds, Noël Coward became the most successful multi-talented artist of the Twentieth Century. He was the epitome of self-invention and defied convention to invent the modern Englishman. This is his inspirational story told in his own words and music, and unique home movies.

The film features Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Peter O'Toole, Harold Pinter, Frank Sinatra, Lauren Bacall, Michael Caine and Lucille Ball. International superstar recording artist Adam Lambert sings the film's theme song, an updated cover of Coward's, "Mad About The Boy". The song was produced by Amanda Ghost and Johnny Coffer. The film - which is released 50 years after Coward's death at Firefly, his home in Jamaica, on 26 March 1973 - is officially part of Coward 125, a two-year celebration of the enduring legacy of Sir Noël Coward and launches alongside a range of other special events in 2023 to commemorate his life and work, including new stage productions of Private Lives (Donmar Warehouse) and The Vortex (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Masquerade, a major new biography by Oliver Soden. Full details below.

Director Barnaby Thompson comments: "Noël Coward remains a fascinating character, a true original. He invented the modern Englishman - witty, sophisticated and stylish - and yet he was born poor and left school when he was only 9. He was a sex symbol who was queer in a very straight world, and ended up exiled from the country he came to define."

Producer Gregor Cameron from Unigram stated: "Unigram is thrilled to help Barnaby Thompson unravel the enigma of Noel Coward and bring to the screen the first ever feature documentary about one of the most talented, accomplished and multi-faceted artists of the 20th Century. An award-winning actor, writer, and director, Noel Coward was also a songwriter who wrote many of the most iconic and evergreen recordings of the 20th century and it's a joy to incorporate Warner Music's catalogue of Coward's music into the film and hear Adam Lambert bring his version of "Mad About The Boy" in to the 21st Century."

Mad About The Boy - The Noël Coward Story will be released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland by Altitude on 2 June.

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