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	~~{{for\|other films titled ''Lady Godiva''\|Godiva (disambiguation)}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=May 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Lady Godiva Rides Again		\| name = Lady Godiva Rides Again
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	*{{TCMDb title\|80644}}		*{{TCMDb title\|80644}}
	*[https://letterboxd.com/film/lady-godiva-rides-again/ Lady Godiva Rides Again] at Letterbox DVD		*[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 films]]

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112.206.1.170 at 09:29, 18 October 2022

2022-10-18T09:29:57Z

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{{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<br />[[Val Valentine]]
| starring = [[Pauline Stroud]]<br />[[Dennis Price]]<br />[[Diana Dors]]<br />[[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]]

Lady Godiva Rides Again - Revision history

Kurt at 22:07, 23 January 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

112.206.1.170 at 09:29, 18 October 2022