Something Money Can't Buy | |
---|---|
Directed by | Pat Jackson |
Written by | Pat Jackson J.L. Hodson |
Produced by | Joseph Janni |
Starring | Anthony Steel Patricia Roc Moira Lister |
Cinematography | C. M. Pennington-Richards |
Edited by | Sidney Hayers |
Music by | Nino Rota |
Production companies | British Film-Makers Vic Films |
Distributed by | General Film Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | £121,000 [1] |
Something Money Can't Buy is a 1952 British comedy drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring Patricia Roc, Anthony Steel and Moira Lister. [2] The film was made with backing from the NFFC as part of its British Film-Makers project with the Rank Organisation. [3] The film was distributed by Rank's General Film Distributors. In America it was released by Universal Pictures in 1953.
The film was shot at Pinewood Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky. The film was a rare comedy role for Steel, who made it immediately prior to shooting The Planter's Wife (1952). It involved Roc returning to London after two years in Paris, where she lived with her French husband. She and Steel had an affair during the making of the movie which resulted in Roc having Steel's baby. [4] It was the only comedy Steel made while a star. [5]
Harry and Anne Wilding return to civilian life after service in the army. They have trouble readjusting, and Harry eventually resigns from his council job and goes into business, selling food from a mobile canteen. Anne becomes jealous of the daughter of Harry's backer. Anne gives up her job to concentrate on her marriage. [6]
The Monthly Film Bulletin described it as "a double disappointment from the director of White Corridors ; the poverty-stricken material apart, its staging is uncharacteristically flabby, with none of the polish and professionalism of its predecessor." [7]
Variety said it was "handled with an assured light touch by a competent cast". [8]
Pat Jackson later said "It ought to have been a good film, it had a certain charm, the story had a certain charm. I think I just did it badly, I directed badly, I don't know what it was, it just didn't work. It was my fault and that was it; it was as simple as that...It needed great lightness of touch, which I didn't get... It was all in the script, the script was charming. I think James and I wrote a nice script and he was a great help and a wonderful man, James. But no. I botched it." [9]
Anthony Maitland Steel was a British actor and singer who appeared in British war films of the 1950s such as The Wooden Horse (1950) and Where No Vultures Fly (1951). He was also known for his tumultuous marriage to Anita Ekberg.
The Planter's Wife is a 1952 British war drama film directed by Ken Annakin, and starring Claudette Colbert, Jack Hawkins and Anthony Steel. It is set against the backdrop of the Malayan Emergency and focuses on a rubber planter and his neighbours who are fending off a campaign of sustained attacks by Communist insurgents while also struggling to save their marriage.
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The Yellow Balloon is a 1953 British drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Andrew Ray, William Sylvester, Kathleen Ryan, Kenneth More and Hy Hazell. It was Thompson's second feature as director. It was distributed by Associated British and produced by the company's Marble Arch Productions. It was made at Elstree Studios with sets designed by the art director Robert Jones. Location shooting took place around Bayswater and Chelsea including Queensway tube station.
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The Moonraker is a British swashbuckler film made in 1957 and released in 1958 and set in the English Civil War. It was directed by David MacDonald and starred George Baker, Sylvia Syms, Marius Goring, Gary Raymond, Peter Arne, John Le Mesurier and Patrick Troughton. It is based on the 1952 play of the same title by Arthur Watkyn. It was shot at Elstree Studios with sets designed by the art director Robert Jones.
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Will Any Gentleman...?, also known as Reluctant Casanova, is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Michael Anderson and starring George Cole, Veronica Hurst, Heather Thatcher, Jon Pertwee, and William Hartnell. It was based on the 1950 play of the same name by Vernon Sylvaine. It was the first of five movies Michael Anderson made for ABPC and was reasonably successful at the box office.
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Charles Victor was a British actor who appeared in many film and television roles between 1931 and 1965. He was born Charles Victor Harvey.
Marry Me! is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Terence Fisher, and starring Derek Bond, Susan Shaw, Patrick Holt, Carol Marsh and David Tomlinson.
Maytime in Mayfair is a 1949 British musical romance film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Nicholas Phipps, and Tom Walls. It was a follow-up to Spring in Park Lane.
Mr. Denning Drives North is a 1951 British mystery film directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring John Mills, Phyllis Calvert and Sam Wanamaker. Alec Coppel wrote the script, adapted from his own 1950 novel of the same title. An aircraft manufacturer accidentally kills his daughter's boyfriend and tries to dispose of the body.
The Brave Don't Cry is a 1952 British drama film directed by Philip Leacock and starring John Gregson, Meg Buchanan and John Rae. The film depicts the events of September 1950 at the Knockshinnoch Castle colliery in Scotland, where 129 men were trapped by a landslide. It was shot at Southall Studios and was also known by the alternative title Knockshinnoch Story. The filmmakers used actors from the Glasgow Citizens Theatre. It was screened at the Venice Film Festival in September 1952.
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