The Love Match is a 1955 British black and white comedy film directed by David Paltenghi and starring Arthur Askey, Glenn Melvyn, Thora Hird and Shirley Eaton.[2] A football-mad railway engine driver and his fireman are desperate to get back in time to see a match. It was based on the 1953 play of the same name by Glenn Melvyn, one of the stars of the film.[3] A TV spin-off series, Love and Kisses, appeared later in 1955.[4]
| The Love Match | |
|---|---|
.jpg) British quad poster | |
| Directed by | David Paltenghi |
| Written by | Geoffrey Orme (screenplay) Glenn Melvyn (additional dialogue) |
| Based on | play The Love Match by Glenn Melvyn |
| Produced by | Maclean Rogers |
| Starring | Arthur Askey |
| Cinematography | Arthur Grant |
| Edited by | Joseph Sterling |
| Music by | Wilfred Burns |
Production companies | Beaconsfield Productions Group 3 |
| Distributed by | British Lion Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £174,991 (UK) [1] |
Cast
edit- Arthur Askey as Bill Brown
- Glenn Melvyn as Wally Binns
- Thora Hird as Sal Brown
- Shirley Eaton as Rose Brown
- James Kenney as Percy Brown
- Edward Chapman as Mr. Longworth
- Danny Ross as Alf Hall
- Robb Wilton as Mr. Muddlecombe
- Anthea Askey as Vera
- Patricia Hayes as Emma Binns
- Iris Vandeleur as Mrs. Entwhistle
- William Franklyn as Arthur Ford
- Leonard Williams as aggressive man
- Peter Swanwick as Mr. Hall
- Dorothy Blythe as Waitress
- Reginald Hearne as Police Constable Wilfred
- Maurice Kaufmann as Harry Longworth
- Janet Davies as motorist
Release
editBox Office
editAccording to the National Film Finance Corporation, the film made a comfortable profit.[5][6] According to Kinematograph Weekly it was a "money maker" at the British box office in 1955.[7]
Critical reception
editIn British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Good, noisy north country comedy. Old jokes notch remarkably high scoring rate."[8]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Although this is an admirable enough comedy, it is also one of those unforgivably patronising pictures that bourgeois British film makers believed presented an authentic picture of working-class life. Arthur Askey stars as a football crazy railway employee whose passion for a team of no-hopers lands him in all sorts of trouble. Struggling against a shortage of genuinely funny situations, the cast does well to keep the action alive. The highlight is Askey's heckling of the referee, a wonderful moment of football hooliganism."[9]
TV Guide noted a "highly enjoyable farce."[10]
Britmovie called it a "boisterous Lancashire comedy with a rapid succession of old jokes."[11]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p504
- ^ "The Love Match (1955)". BFI. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009.
- ^ Goble, Alan (8 September 2011). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. ISBN 9783110951943.
- ^ "Love And Kisses (Cast)". phill.co.uk.
- ^ U.S. MONEY BEHIND 30% OF BRITISH FILMS: Problems for the Board of Trade The Manchester Guardian 4 May 1956: 7
- ^ Harper, Sue; Porter, Vincent (2003). British Cinema of The 1950s The Decline of Deference. Oxford University Press USA. p. 29.
- ^ "Other Money Makers of 1955". Kinematograph Weekly. 15 December 1955. p. 5.
- ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 340. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
- ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 565. ISBN 9780992936440.
- ^ "The Love Match". TVGuide.com.
- ^ "The Love Match". britmovie.co.uk.
External links
edit
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