Salute John Citizen | |
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Directed by | Maurice Elvey |
Written by | Elizabeth Baron (scenario) Clemence Dane (uncredited) Robert Greenwood (dialogue) |
Based on | the novels Mr. Bunting and Mr. Bunting at War by Robert Greenwood [1] |
Produced by | Wallace Orton |
Starring | Edward Rigby Stanley Holloway George Robey Mabel Constanduros Jimmy Hanley |
Cinematography | James Wilson |
Edited by | Jack Harris |
Music by | Kennedy Russell |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Anglo-American Film Corporation (UK) |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Salute John Citizen is a 1942 black and white British drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Edward Rigby, Mabel Constanduros and Jimmy Hanley. [2] The Bunting family face up to the fortunes of war during the Second World War. [3]
The life of an ordinary family during the London Blitz. In the summer before that explosive September, elderly clerk Mr. Bunting (Edward Rigby) loses his job at the department store where he's worked for over 40 years. George Bunting is the head of a happy home, with wife Mary (Mabel Constanduros), daughter Julie (Peggy Cummins), and two sons, Chris (Eric Micklewood) and Ernest (Jimmy Hanley). When the Blitz hits London, we observe its effect on the family, and how they cope with the crisis. Mr. Bunting is rehired in his former job due to the shortage of manpower, though little else in his life is positive. Daughter Julie goes to work in a factory. The London blitz destroys everything in sight, and one of his sons, Chris, is killed. In the wake of this destruction, his other son, Ernest is converted from pacifism to the war effort.
Allmovie described the film as " a simple, low-pressure study of the wartime "home front."...in its own quiet, unassuming war, Salute John Citizen paints a truer portrait of a proud populace besieged by war than the more celebrated Mrs. Miniver "; [4] and TV Guide noted "a nice little film--a simple telling of a modest family's attempts to cope with ongoing conflict" [5] while in his book Typical Men: The Representation of Masculinity in Popular British Cinema, Andrew Spicer concluded that the films "popularity was limited by its obviously frugal budget, and uncharismatic central star." [6]
Peggy Cummins was an Irish actress, born in Wales, who is best known for her performance in Joseph H. Lewis's Gun Crazy (1950), playing a trigger-happyfemme fatale, who robs banks with her lover. In 2020, she was listed at number 16 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Jimmy Hanley was an English actor who appeared in the popular Huggetts film series, and in ITV's most popular advertising magazine programme, Jim's Inn, from 1957 to 1963.
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Edward Coke MC, known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor.
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To Dorothy a Son is a black and white 1954 British gentle comedy film in the form of a farce directed by Muriel Box and starring Shelley Winters, John Gregson and Peggy Cummins. Known in the U.S. as Cash on Delivery, it is based on the 1950 play To Dorothy, a Son by Roger MacDougall which had enjoyed a lengthy run in the West End. It was shot at Elstree Studios near London with sets designed by the art director George Provis. It was distributed in America by RKO Pictures in January 1956.
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