Momma Don’t Allow **** (1956, documentary) – Classic Movie Review 6644

Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson co-direct the classic short British documentary film Momma Don’t Allow about a night at the Wood Green Jazz Club in north London, shot in black and white on 16mm film during the winter of 1954-1955 with a grant of £425 by photographer Walter Lassally.

Produced with the support of the British Film Institute’s Experimental Film Production Fund, Momma Don’t Allow was first shown as part of the first Free Cinema programme at the National Film Theatre in February 1956.

When Reisz and Richardson submitted a proposal to the BFI Experimental Film Fund for a short documentary in March 1954, they requested only £232 and it was called Jazz. But by the time it was completed in November 1955, its title was the much catchier Momma Don’t Allow.

Though just 22 minutes long, it provides great atmosphere and period detail, and was an important calling card for all the three careers of Reisz, Richardson and Lassally. It’s so brilliant that they caught The Chris Barber Jazz Band performing – Chris Barber (trombone), Lonnie Donegan (banjo and vocals), Ron Bowden (drums), Jim Bray (bass), Pat Halcox (trumpet), Monty Sunshine (clarinet) and Ottilie Patterson (vocals).

Reisz and Lassally followed it with We Are the Lambeth Boys (1959).

RIP Lonnie Donegan (1931–2002), who was known as The King of Skiffle.

RIP Ottilie Patterson (1932–2011).

RIP Pat Halcox (1930–2013).

RIP Walter Lassally (18 December 1926 – 23 October 2017). He was associated with the Free Cinema movement in the 1950s and the British New Wave in the early 1960s, working with Tony Richardson on A Taste of Honey (1961), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) and Tom Jones (1963).

Here is Momma Don’t Allow in two parts: 

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6644

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