Calling All Cars (1954 film)

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Calling All Cars
Calling All Cars film Opening titles (1954).png
Opening titles
Directed by Maclean Rogers
Written byCharles Robinson
Produced by E. J. Fancey
Starring Spike Milligan
Cardew Robinson
John Fitzgerald
Adrienne Scott
CinematographyS.D. Onions
Edited by Monica Kimick
Release date
  • 1954 (1954)
Running time
43min
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Calling All Cars is a 1954 British short second feature ('B') [1] black and white film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Spike Milligan (voice only), Cardew Robinson and John Fitzgerald. [2]

Contents

The film is a mixture of semi-documentary about the port of Dover and a comedy about two young men who decide to chat up two girls and follow them to Dover in an old taxicab.

Plot

Reggie Ramsbottom is smitten with local girl Beryl Grant, although he hardly knows her. Told that she is planning a car holiday on the Continent with her sister, Reggie and his friend Tom Lester decide to follow them in an ancient second-hand taxi.

Cast

Production

En route to Dover, Beryl and Marjorie stop for tea at the former "Fantail" restaurant building in Locksbottom, Bromley.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This second feature wavers curiously between farce and sequences which look as though they were devised to publicise the Dover Harbour car terminal. A fairly lengthy section, accompanied by some painfully facetious cross-talk between Reggie and his friend, deals factually with the construction of the terminal; for the rest, the film provides some remarkably unamusing adventures on the Dover Road." [3]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Unique, if unpretentious, comedy-cum-documentary, pivoting on the famous Dover Harbour car terminal. The leading characters are an assinine fellow, owner of a boneshaker, his pal and two attractive girls, and the crazy antics of the foursome keep its modest end up. ... The car ferry at Dover provides motorists with a particularly valuable amenity, and the cross-talk between the dude and his pal, appropriately illustrated, give some indication of the money and brains expended on the project. The introduction of the women prevents the detail and action from becoming too technical and also furnishes appropriate light relief. The acting is as good as the script permits and the cracks are not too 'chestnutty'." [4]

Chibnall and McFarlane in The British 'B' Film called the film "a poor man's Genevieve (1953) filmed at the Dover Harbour car terminal." [1]

References

  1. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 119. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "Calling All Cars". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "Calling All Cars". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 21 (240): 72. 1 January 1954. ProQuest   1305810262.
  4. ↑ "Calling All Cars". Kine Weekly . 445 (2441): 21. 8 April 1954. ProQuest   2732608104.
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