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Folly to Be Wise

2022-10-18T09:35:37Z

112.206.1.170:

{{short description|1952 film by Frank Launder}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Folly to Be Wise
| image = Folly_to_Be_Wise_(1953_film).jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| director = [[Frank Launder]]
| producer = [[Sidney Gilliat]]
| writer = [[James Bridie]] (play) [[John Dighton]] [[Frank Launder]]
| music = Temple Abady
| cinematography = [[Jack Hildyard]]
| editing = [[Thelma Connell]]
| narrator =
| starring = [[Alastair Sim]] [[Elizabeth Allan]] [[Roland Culver]] [[Edward Chapman (actor)|Edward Chapman]] [[Martita Hunt]]
| studio = [[British Lion Film Corporation]]
| distributor = British Lion Film Corporation
| released = {{film date|df=y|1952|12|4|London}}
| runtime = 91 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
'''''Folly to Be Wise''''' is a 1952 British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Frank Launder]] and starring [[Alastair Sim]], [[Elizabeth Allan]], [[Roland Culver]], [[Colin Gordon]], [[Martita Hunt]] and [[Edward Chapman (actor)|Edward Chapman]]. It is based on the play ''It Depends What You Mean'' by [[James Bridie]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044626/|title=Folly to Be Wise|date=6 December 1953|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> The film follows the efforts of a British Army [[chaplain]] attempting to recruit entertainment acts to perform for the troops and the complications that ensue when he does.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/33597 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113212342/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/33597 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-01-13 |title=BFI | Film & TV Database | FOLLY TO BE WISE (1952) |publisher=Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk |date=2009-04-16 |access-date=2012-07-15}}</ref> The title is taken from the line by [[Thomas Gray]] "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise".

==Plot==
Having recently taken over the role of Entertainments Officer at an army camp, the [[Military chaplain|army chaplain]] Captain William Paris (Sim) is disheartened that so few of the troops turn out for an evening of [[classical music]]. He visits a local [[pub]], "The Rose and Crown", and finds the place packed with soldiers, including his own driver. He resolves to try and secure something more entertaining for the troops and decides to copy the idea of a [[brains trust]], as in a popular BBC radio programme, where panellists answer questions from the audience.

With the help of Lady Dodds, Paris manages to gather together a group of local notables. These individuals each prove to be mildly eccentric. The group includes the opinionated Professor Mutch, who is a popular radio personality on [[BBC]] radio, and his friend the [[oil painter]] George Prout and his wife Angela. Arriving at the Prout's house, Paris interrupts Mutch and Mrs Prout who are about to embrace. Then meeting Mr Prout, he soon finds him a cold man who verbally abuses his wife. The 'brains trust' panel is rounded out by the hard-of-hearing Doctor McAdam and the chippy local [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP Joseph Byres.

With the help of his secretary, Private Jessie Killigrew, the chaplain manages to organise the event. The hall is relatively well filled. Trying to avoid anything controversial, Paris forbids any discussion of [[politics]] or [[religion]] and begins with some innocuous questions about [[cows]] chasing after trains and if the Moon is inhabited. Things soon become heated when Mr Byres, the local MP, takes offence at comments directed at him and threatens to start a fight. Having only just averted this, a question about marriage from Killigrew reveals the fragility of the Prouts' marriage. Fearing any controversy, Paris quickly announces that it is time for the interval.

As word spreads around the camp of the goings-on, the second half begins with the room completely packed. Paris tries to steer the debate back to harmless questions about bluebottles, but Killigrew interrupts and demands an answer to her earlier question about marriage. As the Prouts begin arguing once again, Mrs Prout admits that the Professor is her "lover". At this, the whole event threatens to descend into anarchy despite Paris' attempts to maintain order. Desperate to restore a sense of propriety, he draws the proceedings to a close, and announces that next week they will return to classical music with a [[string quartet]]. A soldier stands up and thanks the chaplain for providing such entertainment and asking if the 'brains trust' can be made a regular feature, to rapturous applause.

Worried about Mr Prout, who has disappeared and has been drinking heavily, the others follow him back to his house, where they mistakenly come to believe that he is going to throw himself over the cliffs, whereas he is merely planning a bit of quiet painting. Meanwhile, the Professor has revealed himself to be an inherently selfish man, while Mr Prout is suddenly far more reasonable. He and Mrs Prout soon resolve their differences, and he tries to be a little more considerate to her.

The film ends with the string quartet playing once more and Paris sitting in an almost empty theatre.

==Cast==
* [[Alastair Sim]] - Captain William Paris<ref>{{Citation|title=Folly to Be Wise (1952) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044626/fullcredits|access-date=2020-08-06}}</ref>
* [[Elizabeth Allan]] - Angela Prout
* [[Roland Culver]] - George Prout
* [[Colin Gordon]] - Professor James Mutch
* [[Martita Hunt]] - Lady Dodds
* [[Janet Brown]] - Private Jessie Killegrew
* [[Peter Martyn (actor)|Peter Martyn]] - Private Walter Glekie
* [[Miles Malleson]] - Doctor Hector McAdam
* [[Edward Chapman (actor)|Edward Chapman]] - Joseph Byres MP
* [[Cyril Chamberlain]] - Drill Sergeant
* [[Michael Ripper]] - Drill Corporal
* [[Robin Bailey]] - Intellectual Corporal
* Michael Kelly - Staff Sergeant
* [[George Cole (actor)|George Cole]] - Audience spokesman (uncredited)
* [[Maria Charles]] - WRAC Corp soldier (uncredited)
* [[Martin Boddey]] - Brigadier (uncredited)

==Production==
The film was shot at [[Shepperton Studios]] and made by the [[British Lion Film Corporation]]. James Bridie wrote the screenplay, adapting it from his own play. Alastair Sim had previously produced the play in a 1944 run at the [[Westminster Theatre]] and was a driving force behind bringing it to the screen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/Folly-to-Be-Wise |title=Folly to Be Wise | Britmovie | Home of British Films |publisher=Britmovie |access-date=2012-07-15}}</ref> Launder was encouraged to make the film by [[Alexander Korda]].<ref>Harper & Porter p.98</ref>

The play was broadcast live by BBC Television on 25 June 1946.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bufvc.ac.uk/screenplays/index.php/prog/1139|title=It Depends What You Mean · British Universities Film & Video Council|website=bufvc.ac.uk}}</ref>

==Reception==
A contemporary [[New York Times]] review described the film as a "cheerful British import". While noting that the film did not "succeed in building into towering proportions the fragile theme of what makes a marriage tick" the cast had made it "all worth while". The review praised the performance by Alastair Sim in particular.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F02E1DD123EE53BBC4051DFB4678388649EDE|title=Movie Review - - Article 2 -- No Title; ' Folly to Be Wise,' Cheerful British Import, Has Its Premiere at Art and Beekman Theatres - NYTimes.com|website=movies.nytimes.com}}</ref>

Sim was nominated for a [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role|Best Actor BAFTA]] for his role as Captain Paris, but lost to [[Ralph Richardson]] for his performance in ''[[The Sound Barrier]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1953/film/british-actor|title=BAFTA Awards|website=awards.bafta.org}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

===Bibliography===
* Harper, Sue & Porter, Vincent. ''British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference''. Oxford University Press, 2003.

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0044626}}

{{Launder and Gilliat}}
{{Alexander Korda}}

[[Category:1952 films]]
[[Category:1952 comedy films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Frank Launder]]
[[Category:British Lion Films films]]
[[Category:Military humor in film]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s British films]]

Lady Godiva Rides Again

2022-10-18T09:29:57Z

112.206.1.170:

{{for|other films titled ''Lady Godiva''|Godiva (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Lady Godiva Rides Again
| caption = retitled reissue pressbook cover
| image = Lady Godiva Rides Again FilmPoster.jpeg
| director = [[Frank Launder]]
| producer = [[Sidney Gilliat]]
| writer = Frank Launder [[Val Valentine]]
| starring = [[Pauline Stroud]] [[Dennis Price]] [[Diana Dors]] [[Stanley Holloway]]
| music = [[William Alwyn]]
| cinematography = [[Wilkie Cooper]]
| editing = [[Thelma Connell]]
| studio = [[London Films]]
| distributor = [[British Lion Films]]
| released = 25 October 1951
| runtime = 90 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = £117,891 (UK)<ref>Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'', Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p495</ref>
}}
'''''Lady Godiva Rides Again''''' is a 1951 [[British comedy]] [[Comedy film|film]] starring [[Pauline Stroud]], [[George Cole (actor)|George Cole]] and [[Bernadette O'Farrell]], with British stars in supporting roles or making cameo appearances. It concerns a small-town English girl who wins a local [[Beauty pageant|beauty contest]] by appearing as [[Lady Godiva]], then decides to pursue a higher profile in a national beauty pageant and as an actress.

The film was released in the United States under its original title in 1953 by Carroll Pictures, then was re-released in the United States as '''Bikini Baby''', to capitalize on the profile of supporting player [[Diana Dors]], who was given star billing with the new title.

It also features [[Joan Collins]] in her film debut as an uncredited beauty contestant. [[Ruth Ellis]], the last woman to be [[Capital punishment in the United Kingdom|executed in England]], also appears as an uncredited beauty queen. Ruth, who was four months pregnant at the time, had dyed her hair black and had styled it into a [[Bob cut|bob]]. Other young starlets in the film included Diana Russell, [[Dana Wynter]] (billed as Dagmar Wynter), [[Anne Heywood]] (billed as Violet Pretty), Yvonne Brooks, [[Simone Silva]], [[Jean Marsh]] and Pat Marlowe. It also featured [[Sid James]] in one of his first film roles. [[Trevor Howard]] has an uncredited cameo as a cinema patron.

==Plot==

On a rainy Sunday afternoon in [[Coventry]] Johnny takes his girlfriend to the cinema. In the intermission between films, as Johnny gets an ice-cream, she sees an advertisement on-screen asking for girls to compete for the position of [[Lady Godiva]] in the annual street festival. She decides she will enter.

==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
*[[Pauline Stroud]] as Marjorie Clark
*[[Bernadette O'Farrell]] as Janie
*[[George Cole (actor)|George Cole]] as Johnny
*[[Stanley Holloway]] as Mr. Clark
*[[Gladys Henson]] as Mrs. Clark
*[[John McCallum (actor)|John McCallum]] as Larry Burns
*[[Dennis Price]] as Simon Abott
*[[Diana Dors]] as Dolores August
*[[Eddie Byrne]] as Eddie Mooney
*[[Kay Kendall]] as Sylvia Clark
*[[Cyril Chamberlain]] as Harry
*[[Lyn Evans (actor)|Lyn Evans]] as Vic
*[[Dora Bryan]] as Publicity Woman
*[[Sid James]] as Lew Beeson
*[[Richard Wattis]] as Casting Director
*[[Renee Houston]] as Beattie
*[[Arthur Howard]] as Soap Publicity Man
*[[Michael Ripper]] as Joe - Stage Manager
*[[Dana Wynter]] as Myrtle Shaw
*[[Leslie Mitchell (broadcaster)|Leslie Mitchell]] as TV interviewer
*Tommy Duggan as a Compere
*[[Felix Felton]] as a Councillor
*[[Anne Heywood]] as Dorothy Marlowe, beauty pageant contestant
*[[Alastair Sim]] as Hawtrey Murington (uncredited)
*[[Googie Withers]] as Susan Foster (uncredited)
*[[Trevor Howard]] as a cinema patron extra (uncredited)
*[[Joan Collins]] as beauty pageant contestant (uncredited)
*[[Ruth Ellis]] as beauty pageant contestant (uncredited)
*[[Jean Marsh]] as beauty pageant contestant (uncredited)
{{div col end}}

==Production==
The film was inspired by the Miss Kent 1950 beauty competition held at [[Leas Cliff Hall]] in [[Kent]]. [[Frank Launder]], joint producer of the film with Leslie Gilliatt, was one of the judges in the competition. [[Audrey Hepburn]] tested for the title role but was judged too thin.<ref>{{cite book |last=Paris |first=Barry |title=Audrey Hepburn |publisher=Penguin |date=1 September 2001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1STPjX_1UmcC&pg=PT75 |isbn=978-0425182123}}</ref>

The film was originally called ''Beauty Queen''.

The filmmakers reportedly tested over 500 women to play the lead role including [[Joan Collins]] and [[Audrey Hepburn]]. The actor picked was Pauline Stroud.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50108387 |title=No title |newspaper=[[The Courier-Mail]] |issue=4491 |location=Brisbane |date=20 April 1951 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Her only previous film experience was as Vera-Ellen's stand-in in ''Happy Go Lovely'' (1951). Collins was given a bit part.

It was the first time John McCallum, who was Australian, played an Australian in a British film.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230067408 |title=McCallum will play Australian in movie |newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]] |issue=12,867 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 April 1951 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=38|edition=LATE FINAL EXTRA |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Kay Kendall was cast as Stroud's sister after Launder saw her in a BBC play; the film helped revive Kendall's career after ''London Town''.<ref>{{cite news|title=THE GIRL THEY ALL FORGOT: Meet Kay Kendall|author=Samson, Leonard|work=Answers|location=London|volume=121|issue=3138|date=Jun 21, 1952|pages=1–2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=GENEVIEVE'S' KAY KENDALL CLICKS|author=MORGAN HUDGINS|work=New York Times|date=31 July 1955|page=X5}}</ref>

Filming took place in June–July 1951. The production filmed on location in [[Folkestone]], [[Kent]]. [[Leas Cliff Hall|The Leas Cliff Hall]] was used as the location for the beauty competition, and The Metropole was the setting for the seaside hotel hosting the Fascination Soap Pageant. Folkestone West station features in the film for the railway scenes where Marjorie Clark (Pauline Stroud) arrives and meets Dolores August (Diana Dors) and her consorts, Larry and Vic. The now closed Rotunda Amusement Park was also used for the scenes where Larry (John McCallum) and Marjorie visit and go on rides.<ref>{{cite web|author=Kent Film Office|url=http://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/1951/09/lady-godiva-rides-again-1951/|title=Kent Film Office Lady Godiva Rides Again Article}}</ref>

Diana Dors appeared in a swimsuit in one scene. She shot two versions – one in a bikini for release in Europe, another in a more conservative swimsuit for release in America.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246262061 |title=Fixing Macbeth's Accent for U.S. |newspaper=[[The Herald (Melbourne)|The Herald]] |issue=23,112 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=21 June 1951 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> American censors objected to the content of the film, including the revealing nature of outfits worn by Diana Dors.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248725782 |title=Film that shocked US |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |volume=XVII |issue=49 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=19 May 1952 |access-date=20 July 2020 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Reception==
''Filmink'' said Dors "livens up every scene she appears in and her part is too small (she disappears in the second half); once again, the movie would have been better had Dors played the lead."<ref name="bomb">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|title=A Tale of Two Blondes: Diana Dors and Belinda Lee|date=September 7, 2020|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/a-tale-of-two-blondes-diana-dors-and-belinda-lee/}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0043719|title=Lady Godiva Rides Again}}
*{{BFI|4ce2b6ae6a19c|Lady Godiva Rides Again}}
*{{TCMDb title|80644}}
*[https://letterboxd.com/film/lady-godiva-rides-again/ Lady Godiva Rides Again] at Letterbox DVD
{{Launder and Gilliat}}
{{Alexander Korda}}
{{Lady Godiva}}

[[Category:1951 films]]
[[Category:1951 comedy films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Frank Launder]]
[[Category:Lady Godiva]]
[[Category:Films set in England]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films shot in Kent]]
[[Category:Films shot at Shepperton Studios]]
[[Category:Films scored by William Alwyn]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films about beauty pageants]]
[[Category:British Lion Films films]]
[[Category:London Films films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s British films]]