Dry Rot (film)
Dry Rot | |
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Independent Film Distributors | |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Dry Rot is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey, and starring Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Peggy Mount, and Sid James.[1] The screenplay is by John Chapman, adapted from his 1954 Whitehall farce of the same name.[2]
The plot concerns the practice of gambling, which was illegal in the United Kingdom at the time, other than at racecourses.
Plot
Three dodgy
The title Dry Rot refers to the rotten wood on the hotel stairs, which regularly catches every character unawares.
Cast
- Ronald Shiner as Alf Tubbe
- Brian Rix as Fred Phipps
- Peggy Mount as Police Sergeant Fire
- Lee Patterson as Danby
- Sid James as Flash Harry
- Joan Sims as Beth Barton
- Heather Sears as Susan
- Michael Shepley as Colonel Wagstaff
- Joan Haythorne as Mrs. Wagstaff
- Miles Malleson as yokel
- Christian Duvaleix as Polignac
- John Roy Chapman as Claude
- Joan Benham as blonde
- Raymond Glendenning as himself
- Fred Griffiths as bookie
- Wilfrid Brambell as tar man
- Shirley Anne Field as waitress (uncredited)
Locations
The horse-racing sequences were filmed at Kempton Park Racecourse, Sunbury-on-Thames.[3]
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Despite the determined efforts of cast and director, this well-worn material finally proves intractable and one is left with a theatrical farce full of simple slapstick and comic yokels. Ronald Shiner tends to overplay as the wily Alf; the remainder battle valiantly against heavy odds."[4]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Amazingly bungled version of runaway stage farce; very slow."[6]
The Radio Times wrote, "This tale of crooked bookies plods along more slowly than a doped horse, but there is the compensation of the polished performances of expert farceurs Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, and Sid James."[7]
Leslie Halliwell said: "Flat filming of a long-running theatrical farce."[8]
References
- ^ ""Dry Rot"". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ "Production of Dry Rot | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
- ^ "Reelstreets | Dry Rot". www.reelstreets.com.
- ^ "Dry Rot". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 23 (264): 154. 1 January 1956 – via ProQuest.
- Kine Weekly. 474 (2567): 16. 25 October 1956 – via ProQuest.
- ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
- ^ "Dry Rot | Film review and movie reviews". Radio Times. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ISBN 0586088946.
- ^ "Dry Rot - Sky Movies HD". Skymovies.sky.com. 23 May 2002. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
External links
- Dry Rot at IMDb
- Dry Rot then-and-now location photographs at ReelStreets