Worm’s Eye View ** (1951, Ronald Shiner, Garry Marsh, Diana Dors) – Classic Movie Review 11,121

In 1951 things were starting to look up for the 20-year-old former Rank Charm School starlet Diana Dors, whose fee was £250 as the female lead supporting Ronald Shiner in director Jack Raymond’s 1951 comedy Worm’s Eye View, based on a long-running 1945 stage play by R F Delderfield.

Cosy comic mishaps befall a group of five British Royal Air Force fighters staying billeted at a civilian family home during World War Two. The bitter mother, landlady Mrs Bounty (Everley Gregg), unjustly passes on all her many annoyances to her family.

It is all rather like a saucy postcard brought to life, thanks mainly to the unmistakable iconic presence of Diana Dors, as Thelma. There are some enjoyable episodes, entertaining characters and amusing dialogue, and it was one of the most popular movies of 1951 in Britain, though, in the main, it is tediously overstretched and perhaps it should be best kept out of sight. But then again, there is a good nostalgia factor and also that lovely old British cast of Ronald Shiner, Garry Marsh, Diana Dors, Eric Davies, John Blythe, Digby Wolfe, Bruce Seton, Everley Gregg, Christina Forrest, Jonathan Field and Billy Percy to keep us entertained and distracted.

Worm’s Eye View is directed by Jack Raymond, runs 77 minutes, is made by Henry Halstead Productions [Byron Films], is released by Associated British-Pathé (1951) (UK), is written by R F Delderfield and Jack Marks, based on a play by R F Delderfield, is shot in black and white by James Wilson, is produced by Henry Halstead, and scored by Tony Fones (musical director) and Tony Lowry, with Art Direction by C Wilfred Arnold.

Filming took place at Hammersmith, west London, in late 1950.

The play opened at the King’s Theatre in Hammersmith on 23 April 1945 and transferred to The Whitehall Theatre on 18 December 1945 enjoying one of London’s longest runs.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,121

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