Penny Paradise

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Penny Paradise
Pennyparadise.jpg
1938 Ealing campaign book cover
Directed by Carol Reed
Written byThomas Browne
Walter Meade
Thomas Thompson
Basil Dean
Produced byBasil Dean
Starring Edmund Gwenn
Betty Driver
Jimmy O'Dea
Cinematography Ronald Neame
Gordon Dines
Edited byErnest Aldridge
Music by Harry O'Donovan
Production
company
Distributed by Associated British
Release date
  • 24 September 1938 (1938-09-24)
Running time
72 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Penny Paradise is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Carol Reed and starring Edmund Gwenn, Betty Driver and Jimmy O'Dea. [1]

Contents

Plot

The film is set in Liverpool, where tugboat captain Joe Higgins, believing he has won £20,000 on the football pools, resigns from his job and throws a party in a local public house where family and friends – some of whom have an eye on a share of the winnings – gather to celebrate his good luck. Higgins pays court to the widow Clegg who he has been wooing, while his daughter Betty is targeted by a chancer who wants her money. The party grinds to a halt with the arrival of the hapless Pat, Higgins' Irish first mate on the tugboat, who is forced to admit that he forgot to post the winning pools coupon. There now seems no reason for celebration, but Higgins is mollified when his former employer offers him the captaincy of the best tugboat on the River Mersey, a position to which he had long aspired.

Cast

Production

The fillm was made at Associated Talking Pictures Studios in Ealing. [1] It was an early directorial assignment for Reed, and along with many other British productions of the era, such as the same year's Reed-directed Bank Holiday (1938), has been described as "belonging to a wider studio tradition of modest representation of ordinary British life." [2]

Music

The action of the film is interspersed with several musical numbers performed by Driver and one by O'Dea. Whilst O'Dea's song is clearly provided for comic effect, those sung by Driver are presented straight.

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said "Good character drawing, unaffected and telling dialogue, and many clever directorial touches help to make up the total excellent effect. ... The acting is good. Edmund Gwenn is quite at home in the part of Joe, and puts over a thoroughly sound and sympathetic performance. Jimmy O'Dea gives a neat and promising little character study as Pat. Betty Driver when she ceases trying to be Gracie Fields will probably act with force and vitality as herself. The supporting cast is thoroughly competent. The settings on river, quayside, and in local pub and small home, are varied, and appropriate." [3]

Kine Weekly said "This topical story, with its original tale of wholesale reaction to unexpected riches, presents both an amusing and human experiment in mass psychology. It is not in the least highbrow, neither are its conclusions forced. Spontaneity is, in fact, its strong suit. It scores all along the line with its faithful North Country character drawing, excellent dialogue and effectively promoted atmosphere. Carol Reed's direction definitely is shrewd." [4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Hackneyed story gets new lease of life from character acting, convincing settings." [5]

Leslie Halliwell said: "An old, old story, with modest effectiveness." [6]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "A simple and oft-told tale makes for a short and straightforward British film, given an authentic background by director Carol Reed, and beautifully played by Welsh character actor Edmund Gwenn, soon to find Hollywood stardom.

Edmund Gwenn Joe Higgin" [7]

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References

  1. 1 2 "TitlePenny Paradise". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Basil Dean BFI Screen Online. Retrieved 31-07-2010
  3. ↑ "Penny Paradise". Monthly Film Bulletin . 5 (49): 218. 1 January 1938 – via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "Penny Paradise". Kine Weekly . 259 (1638): 14. 8 September 1938 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 129. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  6. ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 786. ISBN   0586088946.
  7. ↑ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 712. ISBN   9780992936440.
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