Dame Thora Hird was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 films, as well as many television roles, becoming a household name and a British institution.
Ursula Jean McMinn, better known as Ursula Jeans, was an English film, stage, and television actress.
A Kind of Loving is a 1962 British kitchen sink drama film directed by John Schlesinger, starring Alan Bates and June Ritchie. It is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Stan Barstow which was later adapted into the 1982 television series A Kind of Loving. The film tells the story of two lovers in early 1960s Lancashire. It belongs to the British New Wave movement.
Hallelujah! is a British television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television that aired on ITV from 29 April 1983 to 21 December 1984.
Time Gentlemen, Please! is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Lewis Gilbert and written by Val Valentine and Peter Blackmore. The cast includes Eddie Byrne, Jane Barrett and Raymond Lovell. It was produced by Group 3 Films with funding from the NFFC and distributed by ABPC. It was shot at Southall Studios and on location at Thaxted in Essex. The film's sets were designed by the art director Michael Stringer. The film is based on the 1946 novel Nothing to Lose by R.J. Minney.
The Nightcomers is a 1971 British horror film directed by Michael Winner and starring Marlon Brando, Stephanie Beacham, Thora Hird, Harry Andrews and Anna Palk. It is a prequel to Henry James' 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw, which had already been adapted into the 1961 film The Innocents. The manor house in the film is Sawston Hall, a 16th-century Tudor manor house in Sawston, Cambridgeshire.
Two Thousand Women is a 1944 British comedy-drama war film about a German internment camp in Occupied France which holds British women who have been resident in the country. Three RAF aircrewmen, whose bomber has been shot down, enter the camp and are hidden by the women from the Germans.
The Woman in the Hall is a 1947 British drama film directed by Jack Lee and starring Ursula Jeans, Jean Simmons, Cecil Parker. The screenplay was written by Jack Lee, Ian Dalrymple and Gladys Bronwyn Stern, from Stern's 1939 novel of the same title.
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 based on Arthur Watkyn's play of the same title.
Portrait from Life is a 1948 British drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Mai Zetterling, Robert Beatty and Guy Rolfe.
Mandy Miller is an English former child actress who made a number of films in the 1950s. She is also remembered for her recording of the 1956 song "Nellie the Elephant".
The Chiltern Hundreds is a 1949 British politically-themed comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs, adapting William Douglas Home's 1947 play of the same name and starring Lana Morris, David Tomlinson and Cecil Parker.
Great Day is a 1945 British drama film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Eric Portman, Flora Robson and Sheila Sim. It is based on the play of the same name by Lesley Storm.
Women Without Men is a 1956 British second feature drama film directed by Elmo Williams and Herbert Glazer and starring Beverly Michaels, Joan Rice and Hermione Baddeley. A woman escapes from prison to keep a date with her boyfriend.
No Room at the Inn is a 1945 play by Joan Temple that became a 1948 film directed by Daniel Birt. Both play and film are presented in flashback mode and share the same subject matter – cruelty, neglect and mental and physical abuse meted out to evacuee children during World War II. Temple's attack on those who turn a blind eye to child abuse, be they public officials or private individuals, was considered frank and uncompromising in its time.
The Lost Hours is a 1952 British film noir directed by David MacDonald and starring Mark Stevens, Jean Kent and John Bentley. It was produced by Tempean Films which specialised in making second features at the time, and marked Kent's first descent into B films after her 1940s stardom. It was shot at Isleworth Studios and on location around London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Andrew Mazzei. It was released in the United States the following year by RKO Pictures as The Big Frame.
It's Hard to Be Good is a 1948 British comedy film directed by Jeffrey Dell and starring Jimmy Hanley, Anne Crawford and Raymond Huntley. In the film, an ex-army officer finds his altruistic attempts to improve the world are unsuccessful.
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. The film's art direction was by George Provis. The film concerns the romantic escapades and adventures of a Yorkshire cycling club.
Joan Hopkins was a British stage and film actress. During the late 1940s she appeared in starring roles in several productions, including Princess Charlotte in The First Gentleman and as Helen in the box office success The Weaker Sex. Her final appearance was in the 1950 thriller Double Confession. After this she appeared in television for several years. She was married to the film director Henry Cass.
No Medals is a play by the British writer Esther McCracken first staged in 1944. Its West End run at the Vaudeville Theatre lasted for 740 performances between 4 October 1944 and 19 July 1946. It depicts the struggles of a middle-class British housewife during the war years. The original cast included Fay Compton and Frederick Leister while Thora Hird appeared in a comic relief role as servant in her first London performance.
