The Woman for Joe *** (1955, Diane Cilento, George Baker, Jimmy Karoubi, David Kossoff) – Classic Movie Review 11,924

‘The Story of a STRANGE Love… His love made him give everything. Four feet 3″ tall. Was he man enough? Her love made her take everything. Was she woman enough?’

George Baker stayed as a significant leading man in the 1955 British circus-set romantic drama film The Woman for Joe, directed by George More O’Ferrall and starring Diane Cilento, George Baker, Jimmy Karoubi and David Kossoff.

Circus owner Joe Harrop (George Baker) and his prize attraction midget George Wilson (Jimmy Karoubi) both become romantically involved with the same Hungarian woman, Mary (Diane Cilento), who gets a job in the circus thanks to George.

The circus set, Cilento’s performance and Georges Périnal’s Technicolor VistaVision cinematography are outstanding, with location filming at the Nottingham Goose Fair, England.

The film is made by Group Film Productions at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, and released by J Arthur Rank Film Distributors (UK) on 25 August 1955.

The cast are Diane Cilento as Mary, George Baker as Joe Harrop, Jimmy Karoubi as George Wilson, David Kossoff as Max, Violet Farebrother as Ma Gollatz, Earl Cameron as Lemmie, Sydney Tafler as Butch, Alf Dean as Vendini, Patrick Westwood as Freddie the Kid, Derek Sydney as Harry the Spice, Verna Gilmore as Princess Circassy, Martin Miller as Iggy Pulitzer, Meier Tzelniker as Sol Goldstein, Miriam Karlin as Gladys, Terence Longdon as Doctor at the Circus, Arthur Lowe as George’s Agent , and Philip Stainton as Sullivan.

RIP George Baker (1931–2011). His films include The Intruder (1953), The Dam Busters (1955), The Ship That Died of Shame (1955), The Woman for Joe (1955), The Feminine Touch (1956), A Hill in Korea (1956), The Extra Day (1956), These Dangerous Years (1957), No Time for Tears (1957) and The Moonraker (1958). But he is best known on TV as Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,924

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