Dear Octopus (film)

Last updated

Dear Octopus
"Dear Octopus" (1943 film).jpg
Directed by Harold French
Written by Patrick Kirwan
R. J. Minney
Esther McCracken (adaptation)
Based onthe play by Dodie Smith
Produced by Edward Black
Starring Margaret Lockwood
Michael Wilding
Celia Johnson
Cinematography Arthur Crabtree
Edited by Michael C. Chorlton
Music by Hubert Bath
Production
company
Distributed by General Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • 20 September 1943 (1943-09-20)(UK)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Dear Octopus is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Harold French and starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding and Celia Johnson. [1] It is based on a 1938 play, Dear Octopus , written by Dodie Smith. It was also released as The Randolph Family.

Contents

Plot

Well-to-do couple Dora and Charles Randolph are celebrating their golden wedding, and three generations meet at the Randolph country home. As the relatives gather, each reveals his or her personal quirks and shortcomings. Caught in the middle is family secretary Penny Fenton, who has the unenviable task of sorting and smoothing out the family's deep-set hostilities and jealousies so that a good time can be had by all. [2] [3]

Cast

Production

Lockwood made it after The Man in Grey in the spring of 1943. She wrote in her memoirs that "there had been some trouble over the script of this film. Neither Herbert [her agent] nor I had considered the part which was offered to me sufficiently good. After much arguing my part was built up, but even so I was not pleased with the film, and felt that for me it had been a backward step." [4]

Director Harold French later said "I'd liked the play and thought I could make a picture of it and I think I did some of it well." He called it "a lovely film to make, very harmonious cast. I was delighted to get away from war films and make something light and frothy. It was just what the public wanted." [5]

Critical reception

TV Guide described the film as a "routine English comedy of manners", but added, "it has its moments"; [6] while Allmovie wrote "the film is variations on a single theme, albeit consistently amusing ones." [7]

Box office

Kinematograph Weekly listed this film among those which were "runners up" in its survey of the most popular films in Britain in 1943: The Gentle Sex , The Lamp Still Burns , Dear Octopus and The Adventures of Tartu . [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Lockwood</span> British stage and film actress (1916–1990)

Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE, was a British actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included The Lady Vanishes (1938), Night Train to Munich (1940), The Man in Grey (1943), and The Wicked Lady (1945). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress for the 1955 film Cast a Dark Shadow. She also starred in the television series Justice (1971–74).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Cadell</span> Scottish actress (1884–1967)

Jean Dunlop Cadell was a Scottish character actress. Although her married name was Jean Dunlop Perceval-Clark she retained her maiden name in the context of acting.

Cast a Dark Shadow is a 1955 British suspense film noir directed by Lewis Gilbert and written by John Cresswell, based on the 1952 play Murder Mistaken by Janet Green. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood, Kay Walsh, Kathleen Harrison and Robert Flemyng. The film released on 20 September 1955, distributed by Eros Films Ltd. in the United Kingdom and Distributors Corporation of America in the United States. The story concerns a husband who murders his wife.

<i>The Man in Grey</i> 1943 film by Leslie Arliss

The Man in Grey is a 1943 British film melodrama made by Gainsborough Pictures; it is considered to be the first of a series of period costume dramas now known as the "Gainsborough melodramas". It was directed by Leslie Arliss and produced by Edward Black from a screenplay by Arliss and Margaret Kennedy that was adapted by Doreen Montgomery from the 1941 novel The Man in Grey by Eleanor Smith. The film's sets were designed by Walter Murton.

<i>Curtain Up</i> 1952 British film by Ralph Smart

Curtain Up is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Ralph Smart and starring Robert Morley, Margaret Rutherford and Kay Kendall. Written by Jack Davies and Michael Pertwee it is based on the play On Monday Next by Philip King. It was shot at Isleworth Studios in London with the exterior of the nearby Richmond Theatre standing in for that of Drossmouth. The film's sets were designed by the art director Geoffrey Drake.

Edward Black was a British film producer, best known for being head of production at Gainsborough Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during which time he oversaw production of the Gainsborough melodramas. He also produced such classic films as The Lady Vanishes (1938). Black has been called "one of the unsung heroes of the British film industry" and "one of the greatest figures in British film history, the maker of stars like Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, John Mills and Stewart Granger. He was also one of the very few producers whose films, over a considerable period, made money." In 1946 Mason called Black "the one good production executive" that J. Arthur Rank had. Frank Launder called Black "a great showman and yet he had a great feeling for scripts and spent more time on them than anyone I have ever known. His experimental films used to come off as successful as his others."

<i>Mad About Men</i> 1954 British film by Ralph Thomas

Mad About Men is a 1954 British Technicolor comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Glynis Johns, Donald Sinden, Anne Crawford and Margaret Rutherford. It was written by Peter Blackmore, who also wrote the 1948 film Miranda which preceded Mad About Men. Johns appears in both films as the mermaid Miranda. However, Rank Films insisted it was not a sequel.

<i>The Case of the Frightened Lady</i> (film) 1940 British film by George King

The Case of the Frightened Lady is a 1940 British, black-and-white, crime, drama, mystery thriller, directed by George King and starring Marius Goring as Lord Lebanon, Helen Haye as Lady Lebanon, Penelope Dudley Ward as Isla Crane, George Merritt as Detective Inspector Tanner, Ronald Shiner as Detective Sergeant Totty and Felix Aylmer as Dr Amersham. It was produced by Pennant Picture Productions and presented by British Lion Film Corporation. The film is based on the 1931 play by Edgar Wallace.

<i>Once Upon a Dream</i> (1949 film) 1949 British film

Once Upon a Dream is a 1949 British comedy romance film directed by Ralph Thomas in his debut and starring Googie Withers, Griffith Jones, and Guy Middleton. It was a J. Arthur Rank presentation and a Sydney Box production, and was released through General Film Distributors Ltd. The film was made at the Lime Grove Studios with sets designed by the art director Cedric Dawe.

<i>The Wifes Family</i> 1931 British comedy film by Monty Banks

The Wife's Family is a 1931 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Gene Gerrard, Muriel Angelus, and Amy Veness. It was based on the popular stage farce by Fred Duprez. The play was subsequently filmed a further four times: in a Swedish version Mother-in-Law's Coming, in 1932; a 1933 Finnish film Voi meitä! Anoppi tulee; and British remakes in 1941 and 1956. It was produced by British International Pictures and shot at the company's Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. The film's sets were designed by the art director John Mead.

<i>Midshipman Easy</i> 1935 British film

Midshipman Easy is a 1935 British adventure film directed by Carol Reed and starring Hughie Green, Margaret Lockwood, Harry Tate and Robert Adams. The screenplay concerns a young man who runs away from home, joins the navy and goes to sea in the 1790s. He rescues a captive woman from a Spanish ship and battles pirates and smugglers. The film was based on the novel Mr Midshipman Easy (1836) by Frederick Marryat.

<i>Hungry Hill</i> (film) 1947 British film

Hungry Hill is a 1947 British film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Margaret Lockwood, Dennis Price and Cecil Parker with a screenplay by Terence Young and Daphne du Maurier, from the 1943 novel by Daphne du Maurier.

<i>Madness of the Heart</i> 1950 British film by Charles Bennett

Madness of the Heart is a 1949 British drama film directed by Charles Bennett, produced by Richard Wainwright for Two Cities Films and starring Margaret Lockwood, Maxwell Reed, Kathleen Byron and Paul Dupuis. The screenplay was written by Charles Bennett, adapted from the novel of the same name by Flora Sandström.

<i>The Trygon Factor</i> 1966 British-West German film by Cyril Frankel

The Trygon Factor is a 1966 British-West German crime film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Stewart Granger, Susan Hampshire and Robert Morley. It is based on the 1917 Edgar Wallace novel Kate Plus Ten.

<i>Lorna Doone</i> (1934 film) 1934 British film

Lorna Doone is a 1934 British historical drama film directed by Basil Dean and starring Victoria Hopper, John Loder and Margaret Lockwood. It is based on the 1869 novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore. This was the third screen version of the novel, and the first with sound; a further cinema adaptation followed in 1951.

<i>Old Mother Riley Overseas</i> British film

Old Mother Riley Overseas is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane and Anthony Holles. In the screenplay, Old Mother Riley relocates to Portugal.

<i>Dear Octopus</i> Play

Dear Octopus is a comedy by the playwright and novelist Dodie Smith. It opened at the Queen's Theatre, London on 14 September 1938. On the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the run was halted after 373 performances; after a spell in the provinces in early 1940, the play was brought back to London, and played two further runs there until 31 August 1940.

<i>Davy</i> (film) 1958 British film by Michael Relph

Davy is a 1958 British comedy-drama film directed by Michael Relph and starring Harry Secombe, Alexander Knox and Ron Randell. It was the last comedy to be made by Ealing Studios and had the distinction of being the first British film in Technirama. Davy was intended to launch the solo career of Harry Secombe, who was already a popular British radio personality on The Goon Show, but it was only moderately successful.

<i>Reluctant Heroes</i> 1952 film

Reluctant Heroes is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Ronald Shiner, Derek Farr and Christine Norden. It is based on the popular farce of the same title by Colin Morris. The play, which had its West End premiere at the Whitehall Theatre in September 1950, was the first of the Brian Rix company's Whitehall farces. The film was shot at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith in West London. Its sets were designed by the art director Wilfred Arnold.

References

  1. "Dear Octopus". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
  2. "Dear Octopus". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  3. "The Randolph Family (1943) – Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie.
  4. Lockwood, Margaret (1955). Lucky Star: The Autobiography of Margaret Lockwood. Odhams Press Limited. pp. 99–100.
  5. mcFarlane, Brian (1997). An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it. Metheun. p. 212.
  6. "The Randolph Family". TV Guide.
  7. "The Randolph Family (1943) – Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie.
  8. Lant, Antonia (1991). Blackout : reinventing women for wartime British cinema. Princeton University Press. p. 231.