Those People Next Door

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Those People Next Door
"Those People Next Door" (1953 film).jpg
Australian daybill poster
Directed by John Harlow
Based onthe play Wearing the Pants by Zelda Davees [1]
Produced byTom Blakeley
Starring Jack Warner
Charles Victor
Marjorie Rhodes
CinematographyRoy Fogwell
Edited byDorothy Stimson
Music byBilly Butler (musical director)
Production
company
Distributed by Eros Films (UK)
Release date
February 1953 (UK)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Those People Next Door is a 1953 British second feature comedy film directed by John Harlow and starring Jack Warner, Charles Victor and Marjorie Rhodes. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Plot

In Second World War era Britain, working-class Sam Twigg (Jack Warner) and his wife Mary (Marjorie Rhodes) are raising their family in the shadow of the Blitz. Their next door neighbours Joe (Charles Victor) and Emma (Gladys Henson) practically live in the Twiggs’ house, borrowing cups of sugar or using their Anderson shelter. Controversy arises when Sam's pretty daughter Anne (Patricia Cutts) becomes romantically involved with RAF officer Victor Stevens (Peter Forbes-Robertson). There is disapproval from Victor's wealthy parents, Sir Andrew and Lady Stevens (Garry Marsh and Grace Arnold), who object to the match on grounds of class. Lady Stevens even offers money to the Twigg family to call off the relationship, which enrages father Sam. However, when RAF man Victor is reportedly shot down in action, parental attitudes soften.

Cast

Recent assessment

According to Sky Movies , which gives the film three out of five stars, "The Rank Organisation had unexpectedly boosted its bank balance with comedies about the cockney Hugget family (starring Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison) in post-war years, but decided to end the series after four films. Unconvinced that this vein of comedy had been mined out, producer Tom Blakeley's Manchester-based film unit, which had made Frank Randle comedies in the war years, took an old play set in 1941, hired Jack Warner and a good cast, and let rip. Unfortunately, the characters were too unsympathetic and the piece still ran like a play, but the same distributors had better luck a couple of years later when they reunited Warner with Kathleen Harrison in Home and Away ." [5]

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References

  1. Murphy, Robert (15 August 2005). British Cinema and the Second World War. A&C Black. ISBN   9780826478979 via Google Books.
  2. "Those People next Door (1952)". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
  3. "Those People Next Door (1952) - John Harlow - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
  4. Spicer, Andrew (3 October 2003). Typical Men: The Representation of Masculinity in Popular British Cinema. I.B.Tauris. ISBN   9781860649318 via Google Books.
  5. "Those People Next Door".