The Great Game | |
---|---|
Directed by | Maurice Elvey |
Written by | Wolfgang Wilhelm |
Based on | the play Shooting Star by Basil Thomas |
Produced by | David Dent |
Starring | James Hayter Thora Hird Diana Dors John Laurie |
Cinematography | Phil Grindrod |
Edited by | Lito Carruthers |
Music by | W.L. Trytel |
Production company | Advance |
Distributed by | Adelphi Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Great Game is a 1953 British sports comedy-drama directed by Maurice Elvey and starring James Hayter, Thora Hird and Diana Dors. [1] It was written by Wolfgang Wilhelm based on the play Shooting Star by Basil Thomas. [2] Many of the scenes were shot at Griffin Park, the home of Brentford F.C. [3] Several professional football players made appearances in the film including Tommy Lawton.
The chairman of a relegation zone English football club makes an illegal approach to a rising star of a rival club. This is discovered by the football authorities and the chairman is ultimately suspended from the game following the ensuing scandal. [4]
The film was based on a play "Shooting Star" by Basil Thomas which premiered in 1949. [5] Thomas was a football fan who decided to write a play about the transfer system. He says managers and directors were keen to co operate. Among the people Thomas interviewed were Ted Vizard, Stan Cullis and Claude Jephcott. [6] [7]
Film rights were bought by Adelphi who made a number of low budget comedies. They also made Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? with Dors. [8] [9]
Picture Show called it an "unpretentious but most enjoyable comedy." [10]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This film falls between two stools. Those patrons who think they will see a fine display of football will be disappointed – there are only about three minutes of play in the whole film – while others expecting a sincere attempt to investigate the evils of transfer procedure will be bored by the film's stupidity. The humour is stale, and the only convincing acting comes from James Hayter and Thora Hird." [11]
Kine Weekly wrote: "Straight-shooting soccer comedy drama, artfully approached from the woman's angle. It gets right behind the scenes of the nation's most popular game and exposes the evils of the transfer system through its leading characters, faultlessly portrayed, yet displays a keen sense of humour. Atmosphere is authentic, but director Maurice Elvey never gets offside by putting ball-play before human interest." [12]
The Digital Fix found the film "largely insignificant and admittedly musters up little interest, but then it is offset with a gentle humour and plenty of broad comedy characterisation from its supporting cast; nobody could ogle Dors’ sexpot secretary quite like John Laurie does in the opening scene." [13]
The play was filmed for TV in 1949. [14]
Diana Dors was an English actress and singer.
Wide-Eyed and Legless is a 1993 made-for-TV British drama film, directed by Richard Loncraine starring Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Sian Thomas and Thora Hird.
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High Treason is a 1929 film based on a play by Noel Pemberton Billing. It was directed by Maurice Elvey, and stars James Carew, Humberstone Wright, Benita Hume, Henry Vibart, Hayford Hobbs, Irene Rooke, and Jameson Thomas. Raymond Massey makes his first screen appearance in a small role. The film was initially produced as a silent but mid-way during production, Elvey was pushed by the studio to add sound to the film in order to cash in on the talkies. Although a third of the film was filmed in sound, Elvey maintained much of the silent footage and dubbed over the dialogue for shots that were originally silent, with Elvey himself voicing some of the minor characters, which he admitted when interviewed by the Manitoba Free Press shortly after the film was released in the US. Likewise, BIP's Blackmail, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, was also turned into a sound picture mid-way during production and many of the silent scenes used dubbed dialogue and sound effects in a similar fashion to High Treason.
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Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Bonar Colleano, Diana Dors, David Tomlinson and Diana Decker. It was based on Vivian Tidmarsh's 1944 West End hit play by the same name.
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Adelphi Films Limited was a British film production company. With its sister company Advance, it produced over 30 films in the 1940s and 1950s and distributed many more. Adelphi linked Gainsborough Pictures and the raw “kitchen sink” dramas of the early 1960s.
For Better, for Worse is a 1954 British comedy film in Eastmancolor directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Dirk Bogarde, Susan Stephen and Cecil Parker. It was written by Thompson, Peter Myers and Alec Grahame based on Arthur Watkyn's 1948 play For Better, for Worse.
The Weaker Sex is a 1948 British drama film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ursula Jeans, Cecil Parker and Joan Hopkins. It was written by Esther McCracken, Paul Soskin and Val Valentine based on McCracken's 1944 play No Medals.
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You Lucky People! is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Tommy Trinder, Mary Parker and Dora Bryan. Originally titled Get Fell In, the film was renamed to match Trinder's familiar catchphrase. It was shot in a rival French process to CinemaScope, called 'CameraScope', with the attendant publicity describing "the first feature to be made with an anamorphic lens in black and white! It's a camerascoop!". It was shot at Beaconsfield Studios near London with sets designed by the art director Ray Simm.
My Wife's Lodger is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Dominic Roche, Olive Sloane and Leslie Dwyer. The screenplay concerns a soldier who returns home after the Second World War only to find a spiv lodger has established himself in his place. It was based on the play My Wife's Lodger written by Roche.
A Boy, a Girl and a Bike is a 1949 British romantic comedy film directed by Ralph Smart and starring John McCallum, Honor Blackman and Patrick Holt, with art direction by George Provis. The screenplay was by Ted Willis. The film is set in Wakeford and in the Yorkshire Dales and features cycle sabotage and cycling tactics.
Always a Bride is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Ralph Smart and starring Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan and Ronald Squire. It was written by Peter Jones and Smart.