I've seen only a handful of films starring Seymour Hicks, they've all been pleasant but I still haven't grasped what made him such a "distinguished" British actor. Of course he may have been coasting in here, at 64 years old playing the 62 year old main character who was playing 45. I've seen this film a couple of times since I taped it from UK Channel 4 on 1st April 1992 – thankfully and amazingly someone else in the UK taped (and digitised) it because my VHS copy recently bit the dust.
The story of fairly old man but extremely young at heart, married to and in a loving relationship with a woman young enough to be his granddaughter and with a baby, maintaining the pretence to her that he's 45 with two little boys until his aged and sharp tongued mother arrives and who relishes having a heart-to-heart with the wife. Ferocious and farcical complications arise! Hicks' two middle-aged sons are Miles Malleson and Kynaston Reeves both looking ancient even then and deliberately made up to emphasise the contrast. Eva Moore was unforgettable a few years before as the cracked Rebecca Femm in the Old Dark House, she was merely borderline sinister here. The acting is OK while the sets and photography are surprisingly good for a film careful of its budget.
So is it worth valuable time? I admit I like it – it's a charming window on a dead world of forgotten people performing a creaky talky story at 20 mph. It was made while Julius Hagan was in charge of Twickenham Studios who was determined to produce better quality British films than the usual quota quickies on show and believe it or not, this is class compared to most British films from 1935! It won't be everyone's cup of tea but remember to give it the proper respect due to age.
The story of fairly old man but extremely young at heart, married to and in a loving relationship with a woman young enough to be his granddaughter and with a baby, maintaining the pretence to her that he's 45 with two little boys until his aged and sharp tongued mother arrives and who relishes having a heart-to-heart with the wife. Ferocious and farcical complications arise! Hicks' two middle-aged sons are Miles Malleson and Kynaston Reeves both looking ancient even then and deliberately made up to emphasise the contrast. Eva Moore was unforgettable a few years before as the cracked Rebecca Femm in the Old Dark House, she was merely borderline sinister here. The acting is OK while the sets and photography are surprisingly good for a film careful of its budget.
So is it worth valuable time? I admit I like it – it's a charming window on a dead world of forgotten people performing a creaky talky story at 20 mph. It was made while Julius Hagan was in charge of Twickenham Studios who was determined to produce better quality British films than the usual quota quickies on show and believe it or not, this is class compared to most British films from 1935! It won't be everyone's cup of tea but remember to give it the proper respect due to age.