Edie Martin Movies

In another standard British comedy of the absurd with the usual eccentric characters who play off each other like tennis pros on a court, A Weekend with Lulu centers on the misadventures of the occupants of an ice cream truck and its rundown trailer. Because of a mix-up, the four inside the truck -- two men at odds with each other, a harridan, and her voluptuous daughter -- do not end up at the seashore as they planned. Instead, they are rattling merrily through France, chased by a wild variety of irate groups -- racing cyclists, rogues, and distraught police. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Set in the 1950s in Britain, this award-winning social comedy by director and co-writer John Boulting features Ian Carmichael as the inept Stanley Windrush, a hopeless twit with -- we are to believe -- an Oxford degree. Unlike others in his social circle, Stanley wants to work. When he tries out for jobs in industry with the full expectation of working his way into a management position, he sets off disasters and alienates his interviewers. So his uncle gives him a job in his munitions factory, knowing what an idiot he is, and relying on him to eventually cause a strike (the uncle needs this for his own reasons). Fred Kite (Peter Sellers in a performance that would launch him as an international star) takes Stanley under his wing yet that does not exactly turn out as expected either. Stanley screws up by accidentally being too efficient, and the entire British work force is affected. If one can accept a portrayal of factory workers as shiftless men unwilling to work, and managers as good 'ole boys whose jobs are gained only by networking, then this film will be all the more entertaining. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Sailor Beware was originally released in England as Panic in the Parlour. The panic begins when a sailor named Albert (Ronald Lewis) plans to get married to a gal named Shirley (Shirley Eaton). On the day of the ceremony, Albert gets cold feet when he discovers that Shirley's gorgonlike mother Emma (Peggy Mount) has bought a house just three doors away from their honeymoon cottage. The question now is: how long will it be before the worm turns and Emma is put in her place by both her prospective son-in-law and her henpecked husband? Based on a popular stage comedy, Sailor Beware is worth watching today to spot an unbilled Michael Caine in a bit part as one of Albert's fellow seamen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not quite a full-fledged musical, As Long as They're Happy can be described as a romantic comedy with song-and-dance interludes. Adapted from the London stage hit of the same name, the film stars Jack Buchanan as stockbroker John Bentley, whose household is thrown into a tizzy when popular singing star Bobby Denver (Jerry Wayne) visits his home. Bentley's three daughters Gwen (Janette Scott), Pat (Jeannie Carson) and Corinne (Susan Stephen) are immediately smitten by Bobby, though each reacts to his presence in a different manner. Mrs. Bentley (Brenda de Banzie), hoping to loosen up her staid hubby, pretends to be likewise enamored with the singer. The film did the most amount of good for recording artist Jeannie Carson, who landed her own American TV sitcom as a result of her appearance herein. Also well cast in As Long as They're Happy are sex-symbol Diana Dors in an extended cameo role, and "Carry On" regular Joan Sims as a comic maid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

What was the lady-like Dame Anna Neagle doing in something called Bad Girl -- or, as it was renamed in certain regions, Teenage Bad Girl? In point of fact, the film was originally and more tastefully titled My Teenage Daughter when Neagle signed on. Neagle plays Valerie Carr, the editor of a fiction magazine aimed at the youth market. Though she considers herself "hep" to the world of the young, she has no concept of what her own teenaged daughter, Janet (Sylvia Syms), is all about. When Janet falls into bad company, her mother does what she can to help. But Janet won't pay Mom any heed until her shenanigans land her in jail. Not at all exploitational, Bad Girl is constructed more along the lines of a 1940s "woman's picture" -- tears, renunciations, reconciliations. The film was produced and directed by Neagle's husband, Herbert Wilcox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lease of Life was the next-to-last film in the relatively short cinema career of actor Robert Donat. Written for the screen by Eric Ambler, the story is set in a small rural community, where William Thorn (Donat) serves as parson. Upon learning that he has only a year to live, Thorn begins to see his parishioners, and his purpose on earth, in a whole new light. The plot is thickened when a dying villager puts his money into the parson's care; in dire need of cash to pay for his daughter's school tuition, Thorn is sorely tempted to dip into the funds himself. Exceptionally well cast, Lease of Life features Kay Walsh as Thorn's wife, Adrienne Corri as their daughter and Vida Hope as the wealthy villager's grasping missus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

78-year-old British leading actor Finlay Currie appears in this unexpected latter-day vehicle. He plays a retired factory worker, living with his son and daughter-in-law. They treat the old man like an intrusion, leading Currie to consider himself spent and useless. His family contemplates sending him to a home for the ageing, but a last-minute turn of events brings everyone to their senses and sensibilities. While the finale of End of the Road seems unrealistic, the rest of the film is an unsettling study of how society shrugs off and casts away its elderly citizens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The plot of the thoroughly captivating British comedy Genevieve can be summed up in a sentence: Two young couples participate in the Vintage Car Rally, a yearly race from London to Brighton. The title "character" is the 1904 Darracq auto owned by John Gregson and Dinah Sheridan. The couple's friendly rivals are Kenneth More and Kay Kendall, the latter graduating to stardom on the basis of this film. At first treating the race as a lark, the two couples become increasingly--and hilariously--competitive as they near the finishing line. Among the film's plethora of small pleasures are Joyce Grenfell as a wry hotel proprietress and Arthur Wontner as an elderly car fancier. Despite the many technical gaffes and continuity errors overlooked by director Henry Cornelius, Genevieve is a uniquely British delight from beginning to end, its charm enhanced by the uncredited harmonica score of American expatriate Larry Adler. The film was a moneymaker in every country that it played, and a multi-award winner in England and abroad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Time Gentlemen Please is a phrase that is all too familiar to British pub patrons; it means that it's closing time, and everyone is invited to go home. Actually, the film has less to do with elbow-bending than with the vagaries of British traditions. A tiny English village is thrown into a panic when the Prime Minister announces an impending visit, to honor the community for 100-percent employment. Alas, Irish reprobate Dan Dancer (Eddie Byrne) steadfastly refuses to get a job. In trying to force Dan into seeking work, the locals lock him up in the local almshouse -- where, thanks to an archaic law, Dan finds himself in line for a yearly income of 6000 pounds! Time Gentleman Please is based on R. J. Nimmey's novel Nothing to Lose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

British film-favorite Anna Neagle, having previously played such great historical personages as Queen Victoria and Edith Cavell, tackles the role of Florence Nightingale in Lady with the Lamp. Based on a play by Reginald Berkeley, the film traces the indefatigable Nightingale's efforts to minister to the thousands of casualties of the Crimean War. Opposed in the uppermost circles of British government because she is "merely" a woman, Nightingale is championed by the Hon. Sidney Herbert (Michael Wilding), minister of war. Herbert pulls strings to allow Nightingale and her nursing staff access to battlefield hospitals, and in so doing changes the course of medical history. Lady with the Lamp was, as usual, produced and directed by Anna Neagle's husband Herbert Wilcox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alec Guinness has one of his finest comic roles in this Ealing satirical comedy about a much patronized amateur scientist whose latest invention creates an uproar in the British textile industry. In the British manufacturing country of Northern England, factory owner Michael Corland (Michael Gough) is showing competitor Alan Bimley (Cecil Parker) around his plant, hoping to borrow some money and marry off his daughter Daphne (Joan Greenwood). They come upon a curious contraption that turns out to be an experiment by employee Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness). Being a lower class worker, Sidney is summarily fired from his job. Sidney ends up working at Bimley's factory, where he is befriended by militant worker Bertha (Vida Hope). Daphne spots Sidney at the factory and he explains to her the results of his experiment -- a material that is indestructible and impervious to dirt. Bimley discovers this project and throws Sidney out. But Daphne, impressed by his experiments, funds Sidney, installing him in his own laboratory. After a few false starts, Sidney develops a pure white material that can't be dirtied or ruined. But it seems Sidney's invention is too brilliant and effective; if a material is marketed that will last forever, textile mills will go out of business and workers will lose their jobs. Suddenly, poor, luckless Sidney has both management and labor banding together to combat his new invention. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Anticipating The Defiant Ones by nearly ten years, the British My Brother's Keeper concentrates on the exploits of two handcuffed-together escaped convicts. The protagonists are career criminal George Martin (Jack Warner) and terrified "first timer" Willie Stannard (George Cole). The film is one long chase, with a brief respite to establish the relationship between Martin and his girlfriend Nora Lawrence (Jane Hylton). Despite the fact that they're polar opposites, George and Willie develop a grudging friendship and dependence upon one another, broken only by the events in the final scenes. Director Alfred Roome's utilization of actual exterior locations adds a great deal of credibility to the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fans of British film star Anna Neagle had a field day with her bravura Technicolor vehicle Elizabeth of Ladymead--though not enough fans showed up back in 1948 to make the film a success. Neagle portrays four different characters from four different historical periods, each named Elizabeth. The first, Beth, lives in 1854 London, as the Crimean War rages thousands of miles away. The second, Elizabeth, lives in 1903, just after the Boer war. The third, Betty, is a girl of 1919, the year after World War I. And the fourth, Liz, is a contemporary lass of post-World War II London. We watch as each of the four Elizabeths emerges as a woman of independence while the menfolk are off to war. Whenever the film becomes too repetitious, Elizabeth of Ladymead scores on the charm of Anna Neagle and her attractive deportment while wearing period costumes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide