The Weaker Sex (1948 film)
The Weaker Sex | |
---|---|
Directed by | Roy Ward Baker |
Written by | Esther McCracken Paul Soskin Val Valentine (additional scenes) |
Based on | the play No Medals by Esther McCracken |
Produced by | Paul Soskin |
Starring | Ursula Jeans Cecil Parker Joan Hopkins |
Cinematography | Erwin Hillier |
Edited by | Michael C. Chorlton Joseph Sterling |
Music by | Arthur Wilkinson |
Production company | |
Distributed by | General Film Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 84 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £175,200[1] |
Box office | £105,800[1] |
The Weaker Sex is a 1948 British
It was one of the most popular films at the British box office in 1948.[3] The film's subject was what The New York Times described as the "heroics of that valiant legion of women who stood, but did not wait, through the long war years and the now dreary post war years."[4]
Plot
Set near
During the run up to D-Day (1944), widowed Martha Dacre (Ursula Jeans) tries to keep house and home together for her two daughters and two servicemen billeted on her, including Geoffrey, a naval officer who was a friend of her deceased husband. Although her two daughters serve as Wrens, and her son is away in the Navy, she has chosen to stay at home as a housewife, but she also participates in fire-watching and works in a canteen for the armed forces. When she learns that her son's ship was damaged during the landings, she experiences regrets about not taking a more active role in the war.
Using occasional footage of actual events and with frequent reference to contemporary newspaper and wireless reports, the story moves forward from D-Day to VE-Day, the 1945 general election and on to 1948 when the film was made. Martha eventually re-marries to Geoffrey who has by now become a father-figure to her son and daughters.
Cast
- Ursula Jeans as Martha Dacre
- Cecil Parker as Geoffrey Radcliffe
- Joan Hopkins as Helen
- Derek Bond as Nigel
- Lana Morris as Lolly
- John Stone as Roddy
- Digby Wolfe as Benjie
- Thora Hird as Mrs. Gaye
- Bill Owen as Soldier
- Marian Spencer as Harriet Lessing
- Kynaston Reeves as Captain Dishart
- Eleanor Summerfield as Clippie
- Dorothy Bramhall as Mrs. Maling
- Gladys Henson as Woman in Fish Queue
- Merle Tottenham as Woman in Fish Queue
- Vi Kaley as Old Woman On Sea Front
- Marjorie Gresley as Shop Supervisor
Production
The film was shot at
Box Office
The film was popular at the British box office.[5] According to Kinematograph Weekly the 'biggest winner' at the box office in 1948 Britain was The Best Years of Our Lives with Spring in Park Lane being the best British film and runners-up being It Always Rains on Sunday, My Brother Jonathan, Road to Rio, Miranda, An Ideal Husband, Naked City, The Red Shoes, Green Dolphin Street, Forever Amber, Life with Father, The Weaker Sex, Oliver Twist, The Fallen Idol and The Winslow Boy.[6]
The film earned producer's receipts of £92,700 in the UK and £13,100 overseas.[1]
Critical reception
Critical reception was lukewarm, but the film had some defenders.
References
- ^ a b c Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 354. Income is in terms of producer's share of receipts.
- ^ "The Weaker Sex". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
- ^ "THE STARRY WAY". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 8 January 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Movie Review – The Weaker Sex – A British Import at Little Carnegie – NYTimes.com". The New York Times. 21 October 2021.
- ^ Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32, no. 3. p. 258.
- ^ Lant, Antonia (1991). Blackout : reinventing women for wartime British cinema. Princeton University Press. p. 232.
- ^ a b Mayer, Geoff (2004). Roy Ward Baker. Manchester University Press. p. 20.
- ^ "The Weaker Sex". Find and Watch.
Bibliography
- Murphy, Robert. Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48. Routledge, 2003.
External links
- The Weaker Sex at IMDb