Touch and Go (1955 film)

Last updated

Touch and Go
Touchandgo1955.jpg
Touch and Go UK release poster
Directed by Michael Truman
Written by William Rose
Tania Rose
Produced by Michael Balcon
Starring Jack Hawkins
Margaret Johnston
June Thorburn
Cinematography Douglas Slocombe
Edited by Peter Tanner
Music by John Addison
Production
company
Distributed by J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors
Release date
  • 3 October 1955 (1955-10-03)(London)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Touch and Go (U.S. The Light Touch) is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Michael Truman, and starring Jack Hawkins, Margaret Johnston, and June Thorburn. [1]

Contents

Plot

Following an argument with a work superior, furniture designer Jim Fletcher quits his job in a fit of pique. He decides that England has nothing to offer him, and that the future for his family is in Australia. He eagerly sets about making emigration plans, and, despite the fact that his wife and family are less than enthusiastic about moving to the other side of the world, he disregards their reservations and presses ahead.

Practical and bureaucratic hitches continually threaten to derail the project. Jim must also deal with the opposition of his in-laws, finds himself missing his job, and starts to have doubts himself about the wisdom of the move. However, the snags and pitfalls are finally sorted out, and a firm departure date is set. Then, two days before they are due to leave, the Fletchers' daughter meets and instantly falls in love with her ideal man, after he rescues the family cat, Heathcliff. A good deal of heart-searching ensues before the Fletchers decide whether or not to go ahead with emigration during a delay caused by a missing Heathcliff.

Cast

Production

The film was made by Ealing Studios. [2]

Reception

Box Office

The film was indifferently received on release, and is not generally included in the canon of classic Ealing Comedies. [3] According to Kinematograph Weekly it was a "money maker" at the British box office in 1955. [4]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Although Touch and Go does not match the invention or wit of William Rose's earlier scripts ( Genevieve , The Maggie , etc.), the writer's flair for creating likeable characters is again apparent, and there is an agreeable touch of malicious humour in the handling of such characters as the father and mother-in-law. Unfortunately it is quite obvious, almost from the outset, that this particular family will never reach Australia (young lovers are rarely parted and animals never neglected in the British cinema), and this fact makes for a rather dead climax. Michael Truman (directing his first film) employs a gentle, unhurried style in keeping with the mood of the piece, but does not succeed in disguising the thinness of the material itself; and the young lovers suffer from the distressing coyness invariably associated with members of English screen and radio families. Jack Hawkins as the harassed father sometimes employs an over-emphatic technique, but his playing generally displays a pleasant comic sense. Margaret Johnston, in the under-written part of his wife, suffers nobly and wins through in the end. Altogether, a slight and insubstantial film, which, nevertheless, evokes a gentle and amiable mood." [5]

The Radio Times called the film "A depressing wallow in the sort of whimsy that Ealing foisted upon the world as British Realism." [2] Leonard Maltin was more positive, calling the film a "wry study". [6]

Accolades

The film picked up two nominations at the 1956 British Academy Film Awards: Margaret Johnston for "Best British Actress", and William Rose for "Best British Screenplay." [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hayter (actor)</span> British actor (1907–1983)

Henry James Hayter was a British actor of television and film. He is best remembered for his roles as Friar Tuck in the film The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952) and as Samuel Pickwick in the film The Pickwick Papers (1952), the latter earning him a BAFTA Award for Best British Actor nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Hawkins</span> British actor (1910-1973)

John Edward Hawkins, CBE was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of military men.

<i>The Cruel Sea</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Charles Frend

The Cruel Sea is a 1953 British war film based on the novel of the same title by Nicholas Monsarrat. The film starred Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker, Liam Redmond, Virginia McKenna and Moira Lister. The movie was made by Ealing Studios seven years after the end of the Second World War, and was directed by Charles Frend and produced by Leslie Norman.

<i>The Shiralee</i> (1957 film) 1957 British film by Leslie Norman

The Shiralee is a 1957 British film directed by Leslie Norman and starring Peter Finch. It is in the Australian Western genre, based on the 1955 novel by D'Arcy Niland. It was made by Ealing Studios, and although all exterior scenes were filmed in Sydney, Scone and Binnaway, New South Wales and Australian actors Charles Tingwell, Bill Kerr and Ed Devereaux played in supporting roles, the film is really a British film made in Australia, rather than an Australian film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June Thorburn</span> English actress

Patricia June Thubron-Smith was a popular English actress whose career was cut short by her death in an air crash.

<i>Treasure Island</i> (1950 film) 1950 film by Byron Haskin

Treasure Island is a 1950 adventure film produced by RKO-Walt Disney British Productions, adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel of the same name. Directed by Byron Haskin, it stars Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins and Robert Newton as Long John Silver. Treasure Island was Disney's first completely live-action film and the first screen version of Treasure Island made in color. It was filmed in the United Kingdom on location and at Denham Film Studios, Buckinghamshire.

Michael Truman was a British film producer, director and editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Leggatt</span>

Alison Joy Leggatt was an English character actress.

The 9th British Academy Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1956, honoured the best films of 1955.

<i>John and Julie</i> 1955 film

John and Julie is a 1955 British comedy film written and directed by William Fairchild for Group 3 Films and distributed by British Lion Films. The cast includes Colin Gibson and Lesley Dudley as John and Julie respectively. Other stars include Noelle Middleton and Moira Lister, and featuring Peter Sellers and Sid James in early screen roles. It marked the film debut of Valerie Buckley. In 1953, two children are determined to see the Queen and decide to make their way to London.

<i>The Captains Table</i> 1959 film

The Captain's Table is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Jack Lee based upon a novel by Richard Gordon. It stars John Gregson, Donald Sinden, Peggy Cummins and Nadia Gray, and featured Maurice Denham, Joan Sims, John Le Mesurier, Richard Wattis and Reginald Beckwith in leading supporting roles.

<i>The Man in the Sky</i> 1957 British film by Charles Crichton

The Man in the Sky is a 1957 British thriller drama film directed by Charles Chrichton and starring Jack Hawkins and Elizabeth Sellars. A test pilot strives to land a stricken prototype plane.

<i>The Rough and the Smooth</i> 1959 film

The Rough and the Smooth is a 1959 British drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Nadja Tiller, Tony Britton, William Bendix and Natasha Parry. The screenplay concerns an archaeologist who has an affair with a German woman, putting his engagement to another woman in jeopardy.

<i>Cheer Boys Cheer</i> 1939 film by Walter Forde

Cheer Boys Cheer is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Nova Pilbeam, Edmund Gwenn, Jimmy O'Dea, Graham Moffatt, Moore Marriott and Peter Coke.

<i>Dear Octopus</i> (film) 1943 British film

Dear Octopus is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Harold French and starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding and Celia Johnson. It is based on a 1938 play, Dear Octopus, written by Dodie Smith. It was also released as The Randolph Family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Johnston</span> Australian actress (1914–2002)

Margaret Johnston was an Australian actress. Johnston was best known for her stage performances, but also appeared in 12 films and a handful of TV productions before retiring from acting in 1968 to devote herself to running a theatrical agency.

<i>The Feminine Touch</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film

The Feminine Touch is a 1956 colour British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring George Baker, Belinda Lee and Delphi Lawrence. In 1957 it was released as A Lamp Is Heavy in Canada, and The Gentle Touch in the United States.

<i>A Honeymoon Adventure</i> 1931 film

A Honeymoon Adventure is a 1931 British thriller film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Benita Hume, Peter Hannen and Harold Huth. Written in collaboration by Rupert Downing and Basil Dean, it The film was shot at Beaconsfield Studios. Location shooting, including the railway scenes took place in Scotland.

Peter Tanner was a British film editor. After beginning his career editing quota quickies in the 1930s, he then worked on documentaries during the Second World War. He briefly worked with Alfred Hitchcock in 1945, editing footage of the liberated concentration camps. He was later employed by Ealing Studios, working on films such as Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Blue Lamp.

Henryetta Edwards was a British actress on the London stage, and in films and television, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s.

References

  1. "Touch and Go". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Touch and Go". RadioTimes.
  3. Winnert, Derek (4 August 2015). "Touch and Go ** (1955, Jack Hawkins, Margaret Johnston, June Thorburn, John Fraser, Roland Culver, Alison Leggatt, James Hayter)".
  4. "Other Money Makers of 1955". Kinematograph Weekly. 15 December 1955. p. 5.
  5. "Touch and Go". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 22 (252): 166. 1 January 1955 via ProQuest.
  6. "Touch and Go". TCM.
  7. "British Film Academy awards and nominations for 1955" . Retrieved 24 July 2010.