Dance Hall (1950 film)

Last updated

Dance Hall
Dance Hall 1950 UK quad poster.jpg
Original UK quad format poster
Directed by Charles Crichton
Screenplay by E.V.H. Emmett
Diana Morgan
Alexander Mackendrick
Produced by Michael Balcon
associate
E.V.H. Emmett
Starring Donald Houston
Bonar Colleano
Petula Clark
Natasha Parry
Jane Hylton
Diana Dors
Cinematography Douglas Slocombe
Edited by Seth Holt
Music byJoyce Cochrane
Reg Owen
Jack Parnell
Production
company
Distributed by GFD (UK)
Release date
  • 8 June 1950 (1950-06-08)(UK) [1]
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£167,749 [2]
Box office£89,000 [3]

Dance Hall is a 1950 British drama film directed by Charles Crichton. The film was an unusual departure for Ealing Studios at the time, as it tells the story about four women and their romantic encounters from a female perspective. [4] [5]

Contents

Plot

The storyline centres on four young female factory workers who escape the monotony of their jobs by spending their evenings at the Chiswick Palais, the local dance hall, where they have various problems with their boyfriends. [6]

Main cast

Production

Filming took place in November 1949. [7]

Peter Finch was offered a supporting role but did not appear in the final film. [8] It was Donald Houston's second film. [9]

The part of Alec was originally played by Dermot Walsh but he was replaced during filming by Bonar Colleano. "I did feel very cross about that," said Walsh later. "They'd ruined my career in first features." [10]

The film was edited by Seth Holt, who called it "terrible." [11] Actress Diana Dors later called it "a ghastly film - quite one of the nastiest I ever made" although she received positive reviews. [12]

Music

The bands of Geraldo and Ted Heath provide most of the music in the dance hall.

Reception

Some critics felt that the lead actresses were too glamorous for the working-class ladies whom they represented but agreed that Clark, slowly emerging from her earlier children's roles, and Parry, in her screen debut, had captured the spirit of young postwar women clinging to the glamour and excitement of the dance hall. [13]

The film premiered on 8 June 1950 at the Odeon Marble Arch in London. [1] A review in The Times stated, "[T]he trouble with the film is that the characters do not match the authenticity of the background, and the working girls, who are the heroines, are too clearly girls who work in the studio and nowhere else" and concluded that the film "is not without its interest, but it does not quite live up to the high standards set by the Ealing Studios." [14]

Unusually for an Ealing production of the time, the film tells the story about the four women and their romantic encounters from a female perspective, presumably the input of screenwriter Diana Morgan. The film retains interest as "an historical piece full of incidental detail: visual reminders of London bomb sites and trolleybuses, and references to Mac Fisheries, Music While You Work , football results and rationing." [4]

FilmInk wrote: "Dors is easily the best thing about the film, playing a saucy minx out for a good time, and does not get nearly enough screen time. The film focuses more on the adventures of Parry, Hylton and … Donald Houston." [15]

Director Charles Crichton later said "it wasn't a picture I particularly wanted to make but was quite interesting." He said the film "didn't do too well" so his career was "sliding" before being "rescued" by The Lavender Hill Mob. [16]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Lavender Hill Mob</i> 1951 film by Charles Crichton

The Lavender Hill Mob is a 1951 British comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T. E. B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass. The title refers to Lavender Hill, a street in Battersea, a district in London SW11, near to Clapham Junction railway station.

<i>The Blue Lamp</i> 1950 British film by Basil Dearden

The Blue Lamp is a 1950 British police procedural film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Jack Warner as PC Dixon, Jimmy Hanley as newcomer PC Mitchell, and Dirk Bogarde as criminal Tom Riley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ealing comedies</span> Ealing Studios films, 1947 to 1957

The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the sequence include Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Whisky Galore! (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955). Hue and Cry (1947) is generally considered to be the earliest of the cycle, and Barnacle Bill (1957) the last, although some sources list Davy (1958) as the final Ealing comedy. Many of the Ealing comedies are ranked among the greatest British films, and they also received international acclaim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Balcon</span> English film producer (1896–1977)

Sir Michael Elias Balcon was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in west London from 1938 to 1956. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British film studios of the day. In an industry short of Hollywood-style moguls, Balcon emerged as a key figure, and an obdurately British one too, in his benevolent, somewhat headmasterly approach to the running of a creative organization. He is known for his leadership, and his guidance of young Alfred Hitchcock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Crichton</span> English film director, film editor, screenwriter and film producer (1910–1999)

Charles Ainslie Crichton was an English film director and editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seth Holt</span> Palestinian-born British film director, producer and editor (1923–1971)

Seth Holt was a Palestinian-born British film director, producer and editor. His films are characterized by their tense atmosphere and suspense, as well as their striking visual style. In the 1960s, Movie magazine championed Holt as one of the finest talents working in the British film industry, although his output was notably sparse.

Charles Herbert Frend was an English film director and editor, best known for his films produced at Ealing Studios. He began directing in the early 1940s and is known for such films as Scott of the Antarctic (1948) and The Cruel Sea (1953).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonar Colleano</span> American actor (1924–1958)

Bonar Colleano was an American-British stage and film actor based in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Shaw</span> English actress (1929–1978)

Susan Shaw was an English actress.

<i>Where No Vultures Fly</i> 1951 British film

Where No Vultures Fly is a 1951 British adventure film directed by Harry Watt and starring Anthony Steel and Dinah Sheridan. It was released under the title Ivory Hunter in the United States. The film was inspired by the work of the conservationist Mervyn Cowie. The film's opening credits state that "the characters in this film are imaginary, but the story is based on the recent struggle of Mervyn Cowie to form the National Parks of Kenya." The title Where No Vultures Fly denotes areas where there are no dead animals. A sequel, West of Zanzibar, was released in 1954.

<i>The Man Inside</i> (1958 film) 1958 British film by John Gilling

The Man Inside is a 1958 British crime adventure film directed by John Gilling and starring Jack Palance, Anita Ekberg, Nigel Patrick, Anthony Newley and Bonar Colleano. It was produced by Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli for Warwick Film Productions. The screenplay by David Shaw was based on the 1954 novel of the same name by M. E. Chaber. It was Bonar Colleano's final film role.

<i>Pool of London</i> (film) 1951 British film by Basil Dearden

Pool of London is a 1951 British noir crime film directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Bonar Colleano, Earl Cameron and Susan Shaw. Set in post-war London, the film is of note for portraying the first interracial relationship in a British film.

<i>Good-Time Girl</i> 1948 British film

Good-Time Girl is a 1948 British film noir-crime drama film directed by David MacDonald and starring Jean Kent, Dennis Price and Herbert Lom. A homeless girl is asked to explain her bad behaviour in the juvenile court, and says she’s run away from home because she’s unhappy there. They explain in detail what happened to the last girl who thought she could cope on her own, and this becomes the main plot.

<i>Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?</i> 1953 British film by Maurice Elvey

Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Bonar Colleano, Diana Dors, David Tomlinson and Diana Decker. It was based on Vivian Tidmarsh's 1944 West End hit play by the same name.

<i>Diamond City</i> (film) 1949 British film by David MacDonald

Diamond City is a 1949 British drama film directed by David MacDonald and starring David Farrar, Honor Blackman, Diana Dors and Niall MacGinnis. The screenplay was by Roland Pertwee based on the story "Digger's Republic" by Roger Bray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelphi Films</span>

Adelphi Films Limited was a British film production company. With its sister company Advance, it produced over 30 films in the 1940s and 1950s and distributed many more. Adelphi linked Gainsborough Pictures and the raw “kitchen sink” dramas of the early 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Hylton</span> British actress (1927–1979)

Jane Hylton was an English actress who accumulated 30 film credits, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving into television work in the latter half of her career in the 1960s and 1970s.

Sailors Three is a 1940 British war comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Tommy Trinder, Claude Hulbert and Carla Lehmann. This was cockney music hall comedian Trinder's debut for Ealing, the studio with which he was to become most closely associated. It concerns three British sailors who accidentally find themselves aboard a German ship during the Second World War.

<i>Crow Hollow</i> 1952 British film by Michael McCarthy

Crow Hollow is a 1952 British second feature ('B') mystery film directed by Michael McCarthy and starring Donald Houston, Natasha Parry and Patricia Owens. It was written by Vivian Milroy based on the 1950 novel Crow Hollow by Dorothy Eden. Newlywed Ann Amour survives a number of murder attempts, while her maid is found stabbed to death by unknown assailants.

<i>Them Nice Americans</i> 1958 British film by Tony Young

Them Nice Americans is a 1958 British second feature comedy-drama film directed by Tony Young and starring Bonar Colleano, Vera Day and Renée Houston.

References

  1. 1 2 The Times, 8 June 1950, page 3: Picture Theatres – Odeon, Marble Arch Linked 2015-06-01
  2. ↑ Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 356.
  3. ↑ Harper, Sue; Porter, Vincent (2003). British Cinema of The 1950s The Decline of Deference. Oxford University Press USA. p. 285.
  4. 1 2 BFI Screenonline, Roger Philip Mellor: Dance Hall (1950) Linked 2015-06-01
  5. ↑ DANCE HALL Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 17, Iss. 193, (Jan 1, 1950): 99.
  6. ↑ Capsule write-up ("Grim drama but well done") for Dance Hall's July 1957 TV broadcast in U.S. (on WSUN, channel 38 in Florida, licensed to city of St. Petersburg)
  7. ↑ "Mary Armitage's FILM CLOSE-UPS". The Mail (Adelaide) . Vol. 39, no. 1, 955. South Australia. 19 November 1949. p. 4 (SUPPLEMENT). Retrieved 21 May 2019– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Selznick-Korda Deal Is On Barter System". The Newcastle Sun . No. 9894. New South Wales, Australia. 17 September 1949. p. 10. Retrieved 21 May 2019– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ ""Success" Was "Writing on the Wall" for Ex-Coalminer". Illawarra Daily Mercury . New South Wales, Australia. 4 January 1951. p. 10. Retrieved 21 May 2019– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ McFarlane, Brian (1997). An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it. Methuen. p. 591. ISBN   9780413705204.
  11. ↑ Gough-Yates, Kevin (November–December 1969). "Seth Holt interview". Screen. Vol. 10, no. 6. p. 5.
  12. ↑ Dors, Diana (1960). Swingin' Dors. World Distributors. p. 30.
  13. ↑ George Perry: Forever Ealing: a celebration of the great British film studio (Pavilion/Michael Joseph, 1981) ISBN   9780907516064
  14. ↑ The Times, 12 June 1950, page 6: New films in London Linked 2015-06-01
  15. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (7 September 2020). "A Tale of Two Blondes: Diana Dors and Belinda Lee". Filmink.
  16. ↑ "Interview with Charles Crichton" (PDF). British Entertainment History Project. 15 December 1988. p. 17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.