My Wife's Family (1956 film)

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My Wife's Family
"My Wife's Family" (1956 film).jpg
Original British quad poster
Directed by Gilbert Gunn
Written byGilbert Gunn
Talbot Rothwell
Based on My Wife's Family by Fred Duprez
Produced byHamilton G. Inglis
Starring Ronald Shiner
Ted Ray
Greta Gynt
Robertson Hare
Cinematography Gilbert Taylor
Edited byEdward B. Jarvis
Music by Ray Martin
Production
company
Forth Films
Distributed by Associated British-Pathé (UK)
Release date
  • November 1956 (1956-11)(UK)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

My Wife's Family is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Gilbert Gunn and starring Ronald Shiner, Ted Ray, Greta Gynt, Diane Hart and Robertson Hare. [1] [2] It was written by Gunn and Talbot Rothwell.

Contents

Plot

Jack Gay, a newlywed with a dominating mother-in-law attempts to surprise his wife Stella with a baby grand piano, but when she overhears him discussing it, she mistakes it for an illegitimate child, particularly with the arrival of his ex-girlfriend, the blonde and glamorous Gloria Marsh. [3]

Cast

Production

It was a remake of the 1941 British film My Wife's Family , [4] and is the third British film of the stage farce of the same name by actor Fred Duprez. [3]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A further adaptation of the slapstick comedy by Fred Duprez (previously filmed in 1931 and 1941), this new production, in colour, serves as a vehicle for two comedians with agreeably contrasting personalities. Ronald Shiner as Doc Knott gives a robust display of over-confidence, while Ted Ray successfully suggests the harassed Jack. But their determined efforts are largely defeated by the lack of originality in both dialogue and situations. Of the supporting players, Fabia Drake makes an imposing Arabella and Robertson Hare gives his customary caricature of the hen-pecked husband." [5]

TV Guide wrote, "The third screen version of Fred Duprez's play proves once and for all there's no hope of reviving the dead... Overplayed without shame, but that doesn't help the ancient jokes any." [6]

Sky Movies noted a "broad comedy, with Ronald Shiner and Ted Ray extracting the maximum number of laughs out of the mother-in-law-coming-to-stay situation. Fabia Drake gives a sharply-observed portrait of the old battleaxe." [7]

References

  1. ↑ "My Wife's Family". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  2. ↑ BFI
  3. 1 2 "My Wife's Family (1956) – Gilbert Gunn | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related".
  4. ↑ Richards, Jeffrey (1997). Films and British National Identity: From Dickens to Dad's Army – Jeffrey Richards. ISBN   9780719047435 . Retrieved 27 June 2014– via Google Books.
  5. ↑ "My Wife's Family". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 24 (276): 8. 1 January 1957. ProQuest   1305823454.
  6. ↑ "My Wife's Family | TV Guide".
  7. ↑ "My Wife's Family – Sky Movies HD". Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.


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