Dear Octopus (film)

Dear Octopus
Directed byHarold French
Written byPatrick Kirwan
R. J. Minney
Esther McCracken (adaptation)
Based onthe play by Dodie Smith
Produced byEdward Black
StarringMargaret Lockwood
Michael Wilding
Celia Johnson
CinematographyArthur Crabtree
Edited byMichael C. Chorlton
Music byHubert Bath
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • 20 September 1943 (1943-09-20) (UK)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Dear Octopus (also known as The Randolph Family) is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Harold French and starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding and Celia Johnson.[1][2] It was written by Patrick Kirwan and R. J. Minney from an adaptation by Esther McCracken of the 1938 play Dear Octopus by Dodie Smith.

Plot

Well-to-do couple Dora and Charles Randolph are celebrating their golden wedding, and three generations meet at the Randolph country home. As the relatives gather, each reveals his or her personal quirks and shortcomings. Caught in the middle is family secretary Penny Fenton, who has the unenviable task of sorting and smoothing out the family's deep-set hostilities and jealousies so that a good time can be had by all.[3]

Cast

Production

The film was a rare comedy from Gainsborough at the time in that it was not a vehicle for a specific comic.[4]

Lockwood made it after The Man in Grey in the spring of 1943. She wrote in her memoirs that "there had been some trouble over the script of this film. Neither Herbert [her agent] nor I had considered the part which was offered to me sufficiently good. After much arguing my part was built up, but even so I was not pleased with the film, and felt that for me it had been a backward step."[5]

Director Harold French later said "I'd liked the play and thought I could make a picture of it and I think I did some of it well." He called it "a lovely film to make, very harmonious cast. I was delighted to get away from war films and make something light and frothy. It was just what the public wanted."[6]

Reception

Box office

Kine Weekly listed this film among those which were "runners up" in its survey of the most popular films in Britain in 1943.[7]

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Production is conscientious and direction adequate, but the play – it remains a play photographed – is primarily an actors' piece."[8]

The Daily Film Renter wrote: "Middle-class opulence and contrasting village gaucheries. Obscure development and overplus of dialogue. Pleasing characters and nostalgic free-from-war atmosphere. Good title booking for discerning audiences."[9]

Kine Weekly wrote: "The story, or rather chapter of incidents, is a human, moving and amusing depiction of all that is best in English family life. Its sense of proportion is impeccable and excellent acting. Sensitive direction and flawless atmosphere make doubly sure that its many delicate and intriguing facets are gracefully and energetically illuminated. No British film, or for that matter American, has been better cast. Definitely a heartwarming, laughter-making mosaic. Excellent light booking for all classes, and the family and the women folk in particular."[10]

TV Guide described the film as a "routine English comedy of manners", but added, "it has its moments."[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Dear Octopus". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  2. ↑ "Dear Octopus". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
  3. ↑ "Dear Octopus". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  4. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (1 December 2024). "Forgotten British Film Moguls: Ted Black". Filmink. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  5. ↑ Lockwood, Margaret (1955). Lucky Star: The Autobiography of Margaret Lockwood. Odhams Press Limited. pp. 99–100.
  6. ↑ mcFarlane, Brian (1997). An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it. Metheun. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-413-70520-4.
  7. ↑ Lant, Antonia (1991). Blackout : reinventing women for wartime British cinema. Princeton University Press. p. 231.
  8. ↑ "Dear Octopus". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 10 (109): 99. 1 January 1943. ProQuest 1305805905.
  9. ↑ "Dear Octopus". The Daily Film Renter (4970): 6. 19 August 1943. ProQuest 2594594658.
  10. ↑ "Dear Octopus". Kine Weekly. 318 (1897): 48. 26 August 1943. ProQuest 2676984768.
  11. ↑ "The Randolph Family". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
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