The Barber of Stamford Hill

Last updated

The Barber of Stamford Hill
The Barber of Stamford Hill film Opening titles (1962).png
Opening titles
Directed by Casper Wrede
Written by Ronald Harwood
Produced byBen Arbeid
Starring John Bennett, Megs Jenkins and Maxwell Shaw
Cinematography Arthur Lavis
Edited by Thelma Connell
Music byGeorge Hall
Production
company
Release date
  • 1962 (1962)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Barber of Stamford Hill is a 1962 British drama film directed by Casper Wrede and starring John Bennett. [1] The screenplay was by Ronald Harwood, adapted from his own 1960 television play of the same name. [2] It was made at Shepperton Studios.

Contents

Mr. Figg, a Jewish barber about to turn fifty, as he contemplates middle age and expresses regrets at never having started a family.

Plot

The film opens in Mr. Figg’s barbershop in Stamford Hill, in which he discusses his family life with his customers. Upon his arrival home, however, it is revealed that he is a bachelor and his stories of family life are inventions he concocts because he believes they are what his customers want to hear. In fact, he lives on his own in a flat in Stepney and on Friday nights lights the Shabbat candles before his mute friend Dober comes to visit and they spend the evening eating and playing chess.

As he sits with Dober, Mr. Figg discusses his sadness at not having had a family and subsequently decides to propose to Mrs. Werner, a widowed neighbour with two children, so, leaving Dober in the flat, visits her in the hope of doing so. However, as he sits in her kitchen he is not only surprised by her admitting she does not follow Jewish tradition by lighting the candles but is unsure how to respond to domestic conflicts that take place between Mrs. Werner and her children, as her son noisily plays the drums in the front room and her daughter argues with her about being allowed to go out. Before he can get round to proposing, Mrs. Werner mentions that she recently received an offer of marriage from the local butcher only to laugh the idea off as preposterous, leading Mr. Figg to abandon his plan and return to his flat.

The film ends with Mr. Figg back in his barbershop, chatting to a customer and relating the story of Mrs Werner’s son playing the drums as if it is a story about his own, fictional, family.

Cast

Production

Originally a TV play made for ITV Television Playhouse in 1960, (series 5, episode 47, with Danny Green, as Mr. O. The film version was also directed by Caspar Wrede and written by Ronald Harwood, though the only actor to appear in both was Maxwell Shaw as Dober. [3]

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Made on a small budget, this film retains the tight-knit qualities of its television original. The camera moves cautiously around three compact sets, and attention is focussed on the script. Happily, the script can take it. For the most part it consists of soliloquys, as the lonely barber admits his dreams of family life to the dumb piano-tuner. These are finally extinguished by Mrs. Werner who, as she prattles on in her kitchen, builds up a contrary image of herself. The eternal feminine has a mind of her own. There is little music: tension is built up in silences, or to the sound of a knife chopping onions. Steady performances by Megs Jenkins and John Bennett in a story that quietly takes its time." [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Maxwell (actor)</span> American-British actor, director (1929–1995)

James Maxwell was an American-British actor, theatre director and writer, particularly associated with the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Andrews</span> American actor (1914–1985)

Edward Bryan Andrews Jr. was an American stage, film and television actor. Andrews was one of the most recognizable character actors on television and in films from the 1950s through the 1980s. His stark white hair, imposing build and horn-rimmed glasses influenced the roles he received, as he was often cast as an ornery boss, a cagey businessman or other officious types.

<i>Desmonds</i> 1989 British TV sitcom

Desmond's is a British television sitcom broadcast by Channel 4 from 5 January 1989 to 19 December 1994. Conceived and co-written by Trix Worrell, and produced by Charlie Hanson and Humphrey Barclay, Desmond's stars Norman Beaton as barber Desmond Ambrose, whose shop is a gathering place for an assortment of local characters. The show is set in Peckham, London, and features a predominantly black British Guyanese cast. With 71 episodes, Desmond's became Channel 4's longest running sitcom in terms of episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bennett (actor)</span> English actor (1928–2005)

John David Bennett was an English actor.

<i>Little Women</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by Mervyn LeRoy

Little Women is a 1949 American comedy-drama film with script and music taken directly from the earlier 1933 Hepburn version. Based on Louisa May Alcott's 1868–69 two-volume novel of the same name, it was filmed in Technicolor and was produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay was written by Sally Benson, Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason, and Andrew Solt. The original music score was composed by Adolph Deutsch and Max Steiner. The film also marked the American film debut of Italian actor Rossano Brazzi. Sir C. Aubrey Smith, whose acting career had spanned four decades, died in 1948; Little Women was his final film.

<i>Little Women</i> (1933 film) 1933 film by George Cukor

Little Women is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Cukor, and starring Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Frances Dee, and Jean Parker. The screenplay, written by Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman, is based on the 1868-1869 two-volume novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott.

<i>Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street</i> (1936 film) 1936 British film

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1936 British drama film produced and directed by George King, and written by Frederick Hayward, H. F. Maltby, and George Dibdin-Pitt. The film features actor Tod Slaughter as the barber Sweeney Todd.

<i>Five on the Black Hand Side</i> 1973 comedy film by Oscar Williams

Five on the Black Hand Side is a 1973 African American comedy film based on the 1969 play of the same name by Charlie L. Russell. It was shot in Los Angeles, California. Leonard Jackson appeared as John Henry Brooks. He was cast in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple fifteen years later.

Baron Casper Gustaf Kenneth Wrede af Elimä, known as Caspar Wrede, was a Finnish theatre and film director. He was long active in the English theatre, co-founding the Royal Exchange theatre company in Manchester.

<i>Private Potter</i> 1962 British film

Private Potter is a 1962 British drama film directed by Caspar Wrede and starring Tom Courtenay, Mogens Wieth, Ronald Fraser and James Maxwell.

Avril Elgar Williams was an English stage, radio and television actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wensley Pithey</span> South African actor (1914–1993)

Wensley Ivan William Frederick Pithey was a South African character actor who had a long stage and film career in Britain.

<i>Baxter!</i> 1972 British-American drama film

Baxter! is a 1973 British-American drama film directed by Lionel Jeffries and starring Patricia Neal, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Britt Ekland. The film follows a young boy called Roger Baxter who struggles to overcome his speech problem (rhotacism) and his strained relationship with his parents. The screenplay was by Reginald Rose, based on the 1968 book by Kin Platt, The Boy Who Could Make Himself Disappear.

<i>Daybreak</i> (1948 film) 1948 British film

Daybreak is a 1948 drama by Riverside Studios – classified by some as 'British Noir' – directed by Compton Bennett and starring Eric Portman, Ann Todd and Maxwell Reed. It is based on a play by Monckton Hoffe.

<i>Mister Quilp</i> 1975 British film by Michael Tuchner

Mister Quilp is a 1975 British musical film directed by Michael Tuchner and starring Anthony Newley, David Hemmings and Jill Bennett. It is based on the 1841 novel The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eve Gray</span> English actress (1900–1983)

Eve Gray was an English film actress.

Malachi's Cove is a 1974 British-Canadian coming-of-age period drama film directed by Henry Herbert and starring Donald Pleasence, Veronica Quilligan and Dai Bradley. It is based on the short story Malachi's Cove by Anthony Trollope and is also known as The Seaweed Children.

Michael Elliott, OBE was an English theatre and television director. He was a founding director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

<i>Little Women</i> (1918 film) 1918 American film

Little Women is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by Harley Knoles and written by Anne Maxwell based upon the 1868-69 two-volume novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. The film stars Isabel Lamon, Dorothy Bernard, Lillian Hall, Florence Flinn, and Conrad Nagel. The film was released on November 10, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maxwell Shaw</span> British actor (1929–1985)

Maxwell Shaw was an actor, known for The Barber of Stamford Hill (1962), Once More, with Feeling! (1960) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950). He is best remembered for his television work, but he also appeared in many feature films of the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. He appeared as Mark 'Frisky' Lee in Gideon's Way (1964).

References

  1. "The Barber of Stamford Hill". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  2. "BFI Player: The Barber of Stamford Hill" . Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  3. "IMDB: The Barber of Stamford Hill". IMDb . Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  4. "The Barber of Stamford Hill". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 30 (348): 36. 1 January 1963 via ProQuest.