One Wild Oat

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One Wild Oat
One wild oat DVD.jpg
DVD cover, featuring (Left to right): Robertson Hare, Irene Handl and Stanley Holloway
Directed by Charles Saunders
Written by Lawrence Huntington
Screenplay by Vernon Sylvaine
Based onOne Wild Oat
by Vernon Sylvaine (play)
Produced by John Croydon
Starring Stanley Holloway
Robertson Hare
Sam Costa
CinematographyRobert Navarro
Edited by Margery Saunders
Music by Stanley Black
Production
company
Coronet Films
Distributed by Eros Films
Release date
  • 16 May 1951 (1951-05-16)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Language English

One Wild Oat is a 1951 British comedy film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Stanley Holloway, Robertson Hare and Sam Costa with pre-stardom appearances by Audrey Hepburn and Roger Moore as extras. [1] The screenplay was by Vernon Sylvaine and Lawrence Huntington based on Sylvaine's 1948 play of the same title.

Contents

Plot

Barrister Humphrey Proudfoot attempts to discourage his Cherrie's infatuation for Fred, a philanderer, by revealing Fred's past. The plan backfires when Alfred Gilbey, the daughter's would-be father-in-law, threatens to reveal the barrister's own shady background.

Cast

Production

Theatre Programme from the original West End production. One Wild Oat Theatre Programme Cover.jpg
Theatre Programme from the original West End production.

It was made at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith with sets designed by the art director Ivan King.The stage production debuted at the Garrick Theatre in London and was directed by Jack Buchanan.

The stage version starred Robertson Hare, who reprised his role for the film, and Arthur Riscoe (who replaced Alfred Drayton following his death in 1949), the part being played by Stanley Holloway in the screen version.

June Sylvaine, who played Cherrie Proudfoot in the stage and film versions, was the wife of Vernon Sylvaine.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This is a routine adaptation of the stage farce, cast in the familiar mould. Robertson Hare repeats his stage performance with gusto, and has a hardworking team-mate in Stanley Holloway. Innuendo-laden dialogue produces the requisite number of laughs." [2]

Variety wrote: "A successful British stage farce of last season, One Wild Oat has been transferred to the screen with the minimum of adjustment. It is given the broad laughter treatment that invariably rates high with British audiences, but it cannot expect to make anything of impact on the U.S. market." [3]

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Madame Louise is a 1945 comedy play by the British writer Vernon Sylvaine.

Women Aren't Angels is a 1941 play by the British writer Vernon Sylvaine and featured Robertson Hare, Alfred Drayton and Judy Kelly in its original cast.

<i>Will Any Gentleman?</i> 1950 play

Will Any Gentleman? is a 1950 stage farce by the British writer Vernon Sylvaine. The play was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool in July 1950. It then went on to the West End, running for 364 performances at the Strand Theatre between September 1950 and July 1951. It starred Robertson Hare, who appeared in several plays by Sylvaine. Hare plays a mild-mannered bank clerk who, after a night out, is hypnotized into a much more assertive lifestyle.

References

  1. "One Wild Oat". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  2. "One Wild Oat". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 18 (204): 235. 1 January 1951 via ProQuest.
  3. "One Wild Oat". Variety . 182 (12): 6. 30 May 1951 via ProQuest.