The Punch and Judy Man

Last updated

The Punch and Judy Man
"The Punch and Judy Man" (1963).jpg
Original UK quad poster by Tom Chantrell
Directed by Jeremy Summers
Written by Philip Oakes
Tony Hancock
Produced byGordon Scott (as Gordon L. T. Scott)
StarringTony Hancock
Sylvia Syms
Ronald Fraser
Barbara Murray
Cinematography Gilbert Taylor
Edited byGordon Pilkington
Music by Don Banks
Derek Scott
Production
company
Distributed by Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • 8 April 1963 (1963-04-08)(UK)
Running time
96 min.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Punch and Judy Man is a 1963 black and white British comedy film directed by Jeremy Summers and starring Tony Hancock, Sylivia Syms, Ronald Fraser and Barbara Murray. [1] It was written by Hancock from a script by Philip Oakes, and made by Elstree Studios for the Associated British Picture Corporation. It was Hancock's second and last starring role in a film, following The Rebel (1961).

Contents

Plot

Wally Pinner is a Punch and Judy man working on the beach in the (fictional) seaside town of Piltdown. He works with his assistant who also makes and repairs the puppets.

Wally and the other individuals who have beach businesses, including the Sandman who makes sand sculptures and Nevil the photographer, are a friendly community of people who pride themselves on their independence. This community is, however, frowned upon by the mayor and council, who consider it a social blight.

Wally's wife, Delia, runs a seaside curios shop below their flat, and is socially ambitious for herself and also for Wally, despite his reluctance. To achieve this, she makes moves to have Wally invited to entertain at the official reception for Lady Jane Caterham, who is to switch on the town's illuminations. At the mayoress's suggestion the reception committee invites Wally to entertain, despite her husband's reluctance. Although their marriage is lacking in passion, Wally wants to please his wife and eventually agrees to do it.

The illumination ceremony ends in farce when Wally's electric shaver leads to a disruption of the power, resulting in some of the illuminated signs displaying unflattering comments about the town. Wally then puts on his show for the guests at the formal dinner and dance, but a drunken guest heckles Punch and disrupts the performance, leading to a food fight involving all the guests. Lady Jane's attempt to leave is blocked and she gets into an argument with Wally, during which she insults and slaps Delia who responds by flooring her with a punch, to the horror of the mayor and mayoress.

The next morning Delia has a black eye: her dreams of social acceptance have vanished, but Wally and Delia are now closer, and happily decide to leave Piltdown for pastures new.

Cast

Background

The film is a gentle but bitter-sweet comedy. In an early scene, Wally and Delia have breakfast in almost total silence, and the scene demonstrates that they are married from habit, and no longer have anything in common.

In the following scene, Wally angrily rams a bunch of flowers up a porcelain pig's backside, which is later discovered by Delia in a socially awkward situation. The flowers were first intended to go up the pig's nose, but Hancock argued that the joke had to be stronger and so a prop with a suitable orifice was made. The scene with Wally was cut from the 2006 DVD (in 4:3 aspect ratio) in "Tony Hancock Collection" released by Optimum Releasing, and from many television versions, leaving only the moment when Delia finds the flowers; the following scene, when Wally goes to join his assistant Edward in his workshop, is also cut, so this cut version runs for only 88 minutes. An uncut (97 minutes) version (in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1:1.66) was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Network in 2019, and was shown on Talking Pictures TV in 2021.

In another scene, Wally retreats from the rain into an ice cream parlour with a small boy, played by Sylvia Syms' nephew, Nicholas Webb. The boy asks for a large sundae (a "Piltdown Glory") and Wally orders the same. Then, because he is uncertain of the correct technique for eating the dessert, Wally carefully watches the boy and imitates his every move. The scene was completed from several different takes, between which Hancock sipped vodka to wash away the taste of the ice cream which he strongly disliked. The scene was originally intended to be done in a shorter time frame, but Hancock believed that drawing it out longer would work better and hold more impact and humour for viewers.

Several actors from Hancock's earlier television series Hancock's Half Hour also appear in supporting roles: John Le Mesurier, Hugh Lloyd, Mario Fabrizi and (briefly) Hattie Jacques. Syms was cast as Delia after Billie Whitelaw withdrew. Roger Wilmut, in Tony Hancock: Artiste (1978), argues that the climactic food fight escalates too quickly and that a more experienced director would have given it more time to develop comedically.

The film itself was partly shot on location in Bognor Regis, and when the producers asked for some local people to take parts as extras, over 2,000 people turned up. Many parts of the town are shown in the film; the pier and the town hall feature alongside other areas such as Spencer Street, Belmont Street, and York Road, beside the Esplanade and Royal Hotel, where the film crew stayed. Tony Hancock himself stayed at the more expensive and smarter Royal Norfolk Hotel during filming.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The question of Tony Hancock's image' as a comedian has lately been much to the fore. The old Hancock of East Cheam got along without one; the new Hancock (or the post-Galton and Simpson Hancock) is clearly much concerned with the question, and this film, along with his recent TV series, must be regarded as part of the process of self-discovery. Hancock's own uncertainty about just what he wants to do with his truculent, abrasive, likeable screen other self seems to hang over The Punch and Judy Man; and the young director, Jeremy Summers, has been unable to provide the firmness lacking in the script. But, botched though the film often is, its faults (and its virtues) are never wearily conventional. The whole tone of the comedy is quiet, understressed, a little melancholy, from the rainswept setting of the beach itself .... In the first few minutes – Hancock dressing, to the chilling accompaniment of the Bbc, and eating a glum breakfast at which the stirring of tea and the crunching of toast reverberate like storm signals – the film establishes its mood. Nothing that follows is quite as good, and set-pieces ... suffer most from indecision in the direction, a failure to sustain and build comic tempo. At some time, in someone's mind, The Punch and Judy Man existed as a distinctive and very engaging comedy. It hasn't come through on the screen quite like this, but one warms all the same to its performances  ... and to its little, lugubrious jokes." [2]

Filmink magazine dubbed it "The Film Hancock Did after Sacking His Writers Which No One Really Likes". [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Hancock</span> English comedian and actor (1924–1968)

Anthony John Hancock was an English comedian and actor.

In film, television, and radio, British comedy has produced some of the most renowned characters in the world. In it, satire is one of the features of Biritsh comedy. Radio comedy in Britain has been almost exclusively hosted on BBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hattie Jacques</span> English actress (1922–1980)

Hattie Jacques was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the Carry On films, where she typically played strict, no-nonsense characters, but was also a prolific television and radio performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Le Mesurier</span> English actor (1912–1983)

John Le Mesurier was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation comedy Dad's Army (1968–1977). A self-confessed "jobbing actor", Le Mesurier appeared in more than 120 films across a range of genres, normally in smaller supporting parts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Syms</span> English actress (1934–2023)

Sylvia May Laura Syms was an English stage and screen actress. Her best-known film roles include My Teenage Daughter (1956), Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award, Ice Cold in Alex (1958), No Trees in the Street (1959), Victim (1961), and The Tamarind Seed (1974).

<i>The Rebel</i> (1961 film) 1961 British film by Robert Day

The Rebel is a 1961 British satirical comedy film directed by Robert Day and starring Tony Hancock. It was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The film concerns the clash between bourgeois and bohemian cultures.

Nicholas Webb was an English acoustic guitarist, composer, and co-founder of contemporary jazz group Acoustic Alchemy. Webb was the brother of Alex Webb, the nephew of actress Sylvia Syms, and appeared as a child in The Punch and Judy Man, British comedian Tony Hancock's second starring film, in which Syms played the wife of his character.

<i>Lady Godiva Rides Again</i> 1951 British film by Frank Launder

Lady Godiva Rides Again is a 1951 British comedy film starring Pauline Stroud, George Cole and Bernadette O'Farrell, with British stars in supporting roles or making cameo appearances. It concerns a small-town English girl who wins a local beauty contest by appearing as Lady Godiva, then decides to pursue a higher profile in a national beauty pageant and as an actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Fabrizi</span> British actor and comedian (1924–1963)

Mario Edgio Pantaleone Fabrizi was an English comedian and actor of Italian descent, noted for his luxuriant moustache. He was active in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Murray</span> British screen actress (1929–2014)

Barbara Ann Murray was an English actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Summers</span> British film and TV director (1931–2016)

Jeremy Summers was a British television director and film director, known for directing television series such as The Saint and films such as Five Golden Dragons, The House of 1,000 Dolls, and The Vengeance of Fu Manchu.

<i>The Birthday Present</i> 1957 British film by Pat Jackson

The Birthday Present is a 1957 British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring Tony Britton and Sylvia Syms. The screenplay was by Jack Whittingham who also produced the film for British Lion Films.

<i>The Moonraker</i> 1958 film by David MacDonald

The Moonraker is a 1957 British swashbuckler film directed by David MacDonald and starring George Baker, Sylvia Syms, Marius Goring, Gary Raymond, Peter Arne, John Le Mesurier and Patrick Troughton. It was based on the 1952 play of the same title by Arthur Watkyn. It was released in 1958.

<i>Flame in the Streets</i> 1961 British film by Roy Ward Baker

Flame in the Streets is a 1961 British film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring John Mills and Sylvia Syms. The screenplay was by Ted Willis based on his 1958 play Hot Summer Night and was novelised by John Burke for Four Square Books. The film was made in CinemaScope.

<i>The World Ten Times Over</i> 1963 British film by Wolf Rilla

The World Ten Times Over is a 1963 British drama film written and directed by Wolf Rilla, and starring Sylvia Syms, June Ritchie, Edward Judd and William Hartnell. Donald Sutherland makes a brief appearance, in one of his earliest roles. The British Film Institute has described it as the first British film to deal with an implicitly lesbian relationship.

<i>No Time for Tears</i> (film) 1957 British film by Directed by Cyril Frankel

No Time for Tears is a 1957 British drama film directed by Cyril Frankel in CinemaScope and Eastman Color and starring Anna Neagle, George Baker, Sylvia Syms and Anthony Quayle. The staff at a children's hospital struggle with their workload.

Joan Dorothy Le Mesurier was an English actress and author who was the widow and biographer of the actor John Le Mesurier.

<i>Double Crossbones</i> 1951 film by Charles Barton

Double Crossbones is a 1951 American comedy adventure film distributed by Universal International, produced by Leonard Goldstein, directed by Charles Barton, and stars Donald O'Connor and Helena Carter. It was shot in Technicolor and was released on January 22. The story is of shopkeeper apprentice Davey Crandall becoming a pirate after being accused falsely of being involved of selling stolen goods.

<i>My Teenage Daughter</i> 1956 British film Herbert Wilcox

My Teenage Daughter is a 1956 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Sylvia Syms and Norman Wooland. The screenplay concerns a mother who tries to deal with her teenage daughter's descent into delinquency. It was intended as a British response to Rebel Without a Cause (1955). It was the last commercially successful film made by Wilcox.

John Le Mesurier was an English actor who performed in many mediums of light entertainment, including film, radio and theatre. Le Mesurier's career spanned from 1934 until his death in 1983. He is best remembered for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC situation comedy Dad's Army, between 1968 and 1977.

References

  1. ↑ "The Punch and Judy Man". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "The Punch and Judy Man". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 30 (348): 61. 1 January 1963 – via ProQuest.
  3. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (22 February 2023). "The Surprisingly Saucy Cinema of Sylvia Syms". Filmink. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.