My Wife's Lodger

1952 British film
  • October 1952 (1952-10)
Running time
80 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

My Wife's Lodger is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Dominic Roche, Olive Sloane and Leslie Dwyer.[1] The screenplay concerns a soldier who returns home after the Second World War only to find a spiv lodger has established himself in his place.[2][3] It was based on the play My Wife's Lodger written by Roche.[4]

Cast

  • Dominic Roche as Willie Higginbotham
  • Olive Sloane as Maggie Higginbotham
  • Leslie Dwyer as Roger the Lodger
  • Diana Dors as Eunice Higginbotham
  • Alan Sedgwick as Tex
  • Vincent Dowling as Norman Higginbotham
  • Vi Kaley as Mother-in-Law
  • Martin Wyldeck as Policeman
  • David Hannaford as Vernon
  • Ilena Sylva as Vernon's Mother
  • Ronald Adam as Doctor
  • Wally Patch as Sergeant
  • Derek Tansley as Deserter
  • Alastair Hunter as Lance Corporal
  • Toke Townley as Soldier
  • Fred Griffiths as Driver
  • Harry Locke as Passer-by

Production

The film was based on a 1951 play.[5]

Filming took place in May 1952. Dors was appearing in a revue Rendezvous at night[6] It was one of a series of low budget comedies Dors made around this time.[7]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin said "this comedy runs through a repertoire of farcical situations of the most ancient variety. The playing does not lack energy but the music-hall style jokes - domestic bickering, mothers-in-law and so on - become very exhausting."[8]

TV Guide wrote, "the energy of the ensemble partly makes up for the film's lack of coherence and taste."[9] The 'Daily Film Renter' (quoted in BFI Screenonline) wrote, "the acting is of the 'Ee-bai-goom' school and the dialogue is the ripe, uninhibited language of the music hall... as briny as jellied eels on Southend Pier."[4] In 'CathodeRayTube.co.uk', Frank Collins writes, "there are some genuinely laugh out loud moments here and the humour derived from the antics of such a dysfunctional family reflect many of the tropes that would find their way into British sitcoms of the late 1960s and 1970s where other ideological wars would be fought - based on gender, class, race and religion."[2]

References

  1. ^ "My Wife's Lodger (1952)". BFI. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b Frank Collins. "June 2010". Cathode Ray Tube. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  3. ^ "My Wife's Lodger (1953) - Maurice Elvey - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
  4. ^ a b "BFI Screenonline: My Wife's Lodger (1952)". Screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  5. ^ "My Wife's Lodger." By Dominic Roche (Book Review) Hamilton, Iain. The Spectator; London Vol. 187, Iss. 6422, (Jul 27, 1951): 124.
  6. ^ Pin Money Date: Wednesday, May 14, 1952 Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 17464
  7. ^ Vagg, Stephen (7 September 2020). "A Tale of Two Blondes: Diana Dors and Belinda Lee". Filmink.
  8. ^ MY WIFE'S LODGER Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 19, Iss. 216, (Jan 1, 1952): 158.
  9. ^ "My Wife's Lodger - TV Guide". TVGuide.com.

External links

  • My Wife's Lodger at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  • My Wife's Lodger at BFI Screenonline
  • My Wife's Lodger at Letterbox DVD
  • My Wife's Lodger at Reel Streets
  • My Wife's Lodger at BFI
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Films directed by Maurice Elvey
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