Young Wives’ Tale *** (1951, Joan Greenwood, Nigel Patrick, Helen Cherry, Derek Farr, Guy Middleton, Athene Seyler, Audrey Hepburn, Fabia Drake)

Henry Cass’s mildly amusing 1951 British comedy film Young Wives’ Tale is based on the 1949 play by Ronald Jeans, and stars Joan Greenwood, Nigel Patrick, Helen Cherry, Derek Farr, and Audrey Hepburn as a sexy lodger on the lookout for likely blokes.

Director Henry Cass’s mildly amusing 1951 British black and white comedy film Young Wives’ Tale is based on the 1949 play by Ronald Jeans, and stars Joan Greenwood, Nigel Patrick, Helen Cherry, Derek Farr, Guy Middleton, Athene Seyler, Audrey Hepburn and Fabia Drake.

Two young couples – Sabina and Rodney Pennant (Joan Greenwood and Nigel Patrick) and Mary and Bruce Banning (Helen Cherry and Derek Farr) –are forced to share a house because of the post-war housing shortage in London and, naturally, various silly adventures ensue, some amusing enough.

You really want to like this faintest of comedies, still thoroughly set-bound and very obviously based on a play (written by Ronald Jeans). But this stagy, talky film is all terribly English, rather complacent and slackly handled, and everything about it looks as hard up and cramped as the shared home in the movie, though certainly this does reflect the austerity Britain of the day.

However, it is still entirely pleasant and very worthwhile for the cast: all four leads and the other main performers are expert crowd-pleasers. The lovely young Audrey Hepburn, still on her way up, stands out as Eve Lester, a sexy lodger on the lookout for likely blokes, and those redoubtable character players Athene Seyler (as Nanny Gallop), Fabia Drake (as Nanny Blott), Joan Sanderson (as Nurse) and Irene Handl (as Nanny) score too.

Did people really speak like this in 1951? They must have done.

Young Wives’ Tale is directed by Henry Cass, runs 79 minutes, is made by Associated British, is released by Associated British-Pathé (UK), is written by Anne Burnaby, based on the play by Ronald Jeans, is shot in black and white by Erwin Hillier, is produced by Victor Skutezky, is scored by Philip Green, and is designed by Terence Verity.

The cast are Joan Greenwood as Sabina Pennant, Nigel Patrick as Rodney Pennant, Derek Farr as Bruce Banning, Helen Cherry as Mary Banning. Guy Middleton as Victor Manifold, Athene Seyler as Nanny Gallop, Audrey Hepburn as Eve Lester, Fabia Drake as Nanny Blott, Irene Handl as Nanny, Brian Oulton as Man in pub, Joan Sanderson as Nurse, Anthony Deamer, Carole James, Jack McNaughton, Brian Oulton, and Selma Vaz Dias.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,106

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