My Wife's Lodger

Last updated

My Wife's Lodger
"My Wife's Lodger".jpg
Dominic Roche and Diana Dors
Directed by Maurice Elvey
Written by Stafford Dickens
Dominic Roche (play)
Produced byDavid Dent
Starring Dominic Roche
Olive Sloane
Leslie Dwyer
Diana Dors
Cinematography Phil Grindrod
Les Harris
Edited by Lito Carruthers
Music by Francis Essex
Production
company
Advance Films
Distributed by Adelphi Films
Release date
  • October 1952 (1952-10)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

My Wife's Lodger is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Dominic Roche, Olive Sloane and Leslie Dwyer. [1] [2] It was written by Stafford Dickens based on the 1951 play My Wife's Lodger by Roche. [3] [4]

Contents

Plot

Willie Higginbotham is a soldier who returns home after the Second World War only to find a spiv lodger has established himself in his place. [5] [6]

Cast

Production

Filming took place in May 1952.[ citation needed ] It was one of a series of low budget comedies Dors made around this time. [7]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin said "this comedy runs through a repertoire of farcical situations of the most ancient variety. The playing does not lack energy but the music-hall style jokes – domestic bickering, mothers-in-law and so on – become very exhausting." [8]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Riotous "rough and ready" low life comedy, suggested by the stage success. ... There are no new jokes, but the shrewdly chosen cast makes the most of the evergreen. Wholesome, though occasionally vulgar, it's certain to tickle the crowd." [9]

The Daily Film Renter (quoted in BFI Screenonline) wrote, "the acting is of the 'Ee-bai-goom' school and the dialogue is the ripe, uninhibited language of the music hall... as briny as jellied eels on Southend Pier." [3]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Few things date quicker than humour and Maurice Elvey's northern farce certainly belongs to another era. ... The humour is broad, the musical interludes dismal, but the cast's enthusiasm is infectious." [10]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Vulgar Northern farce with ancient jokes; enthusiastically played." [11]

TV Guide wrote: "the energy of the ensemble partly makes up for the film's lack of coherence and taste." [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Miss Robin Hood</i> 1952 British film

Miss Robin Hood is a 1952 British second feature ('B') comedy film directed by John Guillermin and starring Margaret Rutherford and Richard Hearne. It was written by Val Valentine and Patrick Campbell from a story by Reed De Rouen.

<i>Its Great to Be Young</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Cyril Frankel

It's Great to Be Young is a 1956 British Technicolor musical comedy film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Cecil Parker and John Mills. It was written by Ted Willis. The story concerns an inspirational school music teacher. Although the movie was very successful it has been described as "almost forgotten" today.

<i>Charleys (Big-Hearted) Aunt</i> 1940 British film by Walter Forde

Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde, starring Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch. The screenplay was by J.O.C. Orton, Marriott Edgar and Ralph Smart, adapted from the 1892 Victorian farce Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas. Arthur Askey's professional nickname was "Big-Hearted Arthur", which was added to the title to distinguish it from Jack Benny's version Charley's Aunt (1941), for its (limited) American release.

<i>The Good Die Young</i> 1954 British film by Lewis Gilbert

The Good Die Young is a 1954 British crime film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Joan Collins, Stanley Baker, Richard Basehart and John Ireland. It was made by Remus Films from a screenplay by Vernon Harris and Gilbert based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Richard Macaulay. It tells the story of four men in London with no criminal past whose marriages and finances are collapsing and, meeting in a pub, are tempted to redeem their situations by a robbery.

Maurice Elvey was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He also produced more than fifty films – his own as well as films directed by others.

<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 was based on the 1949 play On Monday Next by Philip King.

<i>Dry Rot</i> (film) 1956 British film by Maurice Elvey

Dry Rot is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey, and starring Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Peggy Mount, and Sid James. The screenplay is by John Chapman, adapted from his 1954 Whitehall farce of the same name.

<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.

My Wife's Family is a 1941 British domestic comedy film directed by Walter C. Mycroft and starring Charles Clapham, John Warwick, David Tomlinson and Patricia Roc.

<i>The Great Game</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Maurice Elvey

The Great Game is a 1953 British sports comedy-drama directed by Maurice Elvey and starring James Hayter, Thora Hird and Diana Dors. It was written by Wolfgang Wilhelm based on the play Shooting Star by Basil Thomas. Many of the scenes were shot at Griffin Park, the home of Brentford F.C. Several professional football players made appearances in the film including Tommy Lawton.

<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.

<i>Who Goes There!</i> 1952 British film

Who Goes There! I is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring Nigel Patrick, Valerie Hobson and George Cole. It was written by John Dighton based on his 1950 play Who Goes There!. The film depicts the farcical activities of the various inhabitants of a grace and favour house near St James's Palace in Central London.

<i>The Man in the Mirror</i> (1936 film) 1936 British film by Maurice Elvey

The Man in the Mirror is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Edward Everett Horton, Genevieve Tobin and Ursula Jeans. It was adapted by F. McGrew Willis from the 1931 novel by William Garrett.

<i>House of Blackmail</i> 1953 British film by Maurice Elvey

House of Blackmail is a 1953 British second feature drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Mary Germaine, William Sylvester and Alexander Gauge. It was written by Allan MacKinnon. The plot follows a soldier and his girlfriend, who become mixed up with a blackmailer.

<i>This Man Is Mine</i> (1946 film) 1946 film

This Man Is Mine is a 1946 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Tom Walls, Glynis Johns and Jeanne De Casalis. The screenplay was by Mabel Constanduros, David Evans, Norman Lee, Doreen Montgomery|, Nicholas Phipps and Val Valentine based on the hit West End play A Soldier for Christmas by Reginald Beckwith. It concerns a Canadian soldier who is billeted with a British family for the Christmas holidays.

What Every Woman Wants is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring William Sylvester, Elsie Albiin, Brenda De Banzie and Patric Doonan, as well as featuring Brian Rix and Prunella Scales. It was based on a play Relations Are Best Apart by Edwin Lewis and was shot at Walton Studios outside London. The film's sets were designed by the art director John Stoll.

<i>You Lucky People!</i> 1955 film

You Lucky People! is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Tommy Trinder, Mary Parker and Dora Bryan. Originally titled Get Fell In, the film was renamed to match Trinder's familiar catchphrase. It was shot in a rival French process to CinemaScope, called 'CameraScope', with the attendant publicity describing "the first feature to be made with an anamorphic lens in black and white! It's a camerascoop!". It was shot at Beaconsfield Studios near London with sets designed by the art director Ray Simm.

Dominic Roche (1902–1972), was a British actor and playwright. His 'North country farce' My Wife's Lodger had a West End run in 1950,and was filmed with Roche in the leading role. The BFI Screenonline observed, "Roche's impressively spiky, downbeat script is peppered with dryly effective cynicism."

<i>Fun at St. Fannys</i> 1955 British film by Maurice Elvey

Fun at St. Fanny's is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Fred Emney, Cardew Robinson and Vera Day. The film revolves around the teachers and students at St Fanny's private school. It was based on Robinson's "Cardew the Cad" character which he created in 1942 and was featured in the BBC's Variety Bandbox programme.

<i>A Boy, a Girl and a Bike</i> 1949 British film by Ralph Smart

A Boy, a Girl and a Bike is a 1949 British romantic comedy film directed by Ralph Smart and starring John McCallum, Honor Blackman and Patrick Holt, with art direction by George Provis. The screenplay was by Ted Willis. The film is set in Wakeford and in the Yorkshire Dales and features cycle sabotage and cycling tactics.

References

  1. ↑ "My Wife's Lodger". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  2. ↑ "My Wife's Lodger (1952)". BFI. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 "BFI Screenonline: My Wife's Lodger (1952)". Screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "My Wife's Lodger." By Dominic Roche (Book Review) Hamilton, Iain. The Spectator; London Vol. 187, Iss. 6422, (Jul 27, 1951): 124.
  5. ↑ Frank Collins. "June 2010". Cathode Ray Tube. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "My Wife's Lodger (1953) - Maurice Elvey - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
  7. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (7 September 2020). "A Tale of Two Blondes: Diana Dors and Belinda Lee". Filmink.
  8. ↑ MY WIFE'S LODGER Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 19, Iss. 216, (Jan 1, 1952): 158.
  9. ↑ "My Wife's Lodger" . Kine Weekly . Vol. 2361, no. 426. 25 September 1952. p. 18 – via ProQuest.
  10. ↑ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 645. ISBN   9780992936440.
  11. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 350. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  12. ↑ "My Wife's Lodger - TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
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.