Fate Takes a Hand

Fate Takes a Hand
Fate Takes a Hand
	Australian 1-sheet poster
Directed by	Max Varnel
Written by	Brian Clemens
Produced by	The Danzigers
Starring	Ronald Howard; Christina Gregg;
Cinematography	Jimmy Wilson
Edited by	Spencer Reeve
Production; company	Danziger Productions Ltd.
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	February 1962 (UK)
Running time	72 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Fate Takes a Hand is a 1961 British anthology drama film directed by Max Varnel and starring Ronald Howard and Christina Gregg.^[1]

Plot

The recovery of a post bag stolen in a robbery fifteen years earlier has varying consequences for the lives of five of the recipients of the letters when the Post Office decides that the post should be delivered. Several lives are changed, as witnessed by a newspaper reporter and a Post Office security guard who follow up on several of the letters.

Cast

Ronald Howard as Tony
Christina Gregg as Karon
Basil Dignam as Wheeler
Willoughby Goddard as Rollenshaw
Jack Watson as Bulldog
Peter Butterworth as Ronnie
Mary Laura Wood as Sandra
Noel Trevarthen as Bob
Sheila Whittingham as Jenny
Michael Peake as Ross
Laidman Browne as Maxwell
Derek Blomfield as Briggs
Valerie Gearon as Peggy
Valentine Dyall as Wilson
John Gabriel as Matt Little
Brian Cobby as Mark
Peter Swanwick as Preeny
Bruce Beeby as Inspector Phillips
Arnold Bell as Finch
Michael Anthony as Fuller
Carl Duering as Mike
Liza Page as Lola
Reginald Hearne as warder
Peter Bennett as Max
Angela Douglas as secretary
Robert Webber as Wayne
Eric Dodson as janitor
Gilda Emmanueli as Sally
Larry Noble as tough
Andrew Kane as young boxer
Martin Wyldeck as doctor

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Extravagantly unlikely omnibus film made up of five widely assorted vignettes with twist endings. The script is pat and the production values unremarkable, but the blend of comedy, drama and sentiment is bearable in an ingenuous kind of way."^[2]

AllMovie called it "a throwback to the British "portmanteau" films of the 1950s."^[3]

TV Guide gave the film two out of four stars, and writes that "the effect of the late letters' delivery to the recipients makes for five delightful little tales. Good performances all the way around."^[4]