Lease of Life is a 1954 British drama film made by Ealing Studios and directed by Charles Frend. The film was designed as a star-vehicle for Robert Donat, representing his return to the screen after an absence of over three years during which he had been battling the chronic asthma which plagued his life and career. It was a prestige production which was generally respectfully, if not over-enthusiastically, received and gained Donat a nomination as 'Best British Actor' at the 1955 British Academy Film Awards. In common with a number of other Ealing films of the era, Lease of Life focuses on a specific English milieu – in this case a Yorkshire village and its nearby cathedral city – and examines the nuances, quirks and foibles of its day-to-day life. The film is unique in the Ealing canon in having religion as its dominant theme. It bears several parallels to the 1952 Japanese film Ikiru ("to live") but with a much lighter tone. Plot Rev William Thorne (Robert Donat) is the vicar of the village of Hinton St. John, living with his wife Vera (Kay Walsh) and his daughter Susan (Adrienne Corri) (an exceptionally gifted teenage pianist). Susan gets guidance in her potential concert potential from Martin Blake (Denholm Elliott). However Rev and Mrs Thorne cannot afford to pay for her accommodation in London even if she wins a scholarship. Although the church is the focus of the local community, the Thornes live a frugal life of having to struggle and scrimp to make ends meet financially. Vera is a typical clergy wife, having to sublimate her own needs and desires to the exigencies of her husband's position, as a result tending to live life vicariously through her daughter, whose musical gifts she is determined must not be wasted. A local elderly farmer Mr Sproatly asks him to visit his sick bed. He says he wishes to ensure that his son rather than his wife gets his money when he dies. He is about to entrust Rev Thorne with the cash when the wife enters and the plan is abandoned, The farmer's son is still listed as "missing" after the war and he hopes he will rematerialise. While working hard on a sermon he has been asked to present for a boys school, he collapses while reaching up for a book in his library. On discovering from his doctor that