Fast and Loose

A young married couple, Peter (Brian Reece) and Barbara (June Thorburn) are taking the train to visit friends in the English countryside for the weekend. Leaving Barbara in the train on the platform Peter pops out to buy a newspaper, meeting old "friend" Carol (Kay Kendall) at the news stand. Naturally the train leaves while they're still catching up! Peter takes Carol back to his apartment, and dubious family maid Rawlings (Dora Bryan), while arranging a car to take them to the country. By now Barbara has contacted her parents, formidable Mrs. Crabb (Fabia Drake) and tippler Mr. Crabb (Stanley Holloway), with the news that Peter has "run off" with another woman. Their suspicions confirmed by Rawlings they set off in pursuit. Unfortunately Peter and Carol have been stranded with a broken car and take shelter in a small inn ran by Gladys (Vida Hope). Needless to say there is only one bedroom available and needless to say Gladys has strong religious principles against unmarried cohabitation! Signing the register, as a married couple, Peter and Carol have a close call with the passing Reverend Tripp-Johnson (Reginald Beckwith), who married family friend Carol but can't quite remember her husband. Peter spends a restless night trying to find somewhere to sleep, under the suspicious eye of Gladys, and to sneak Carol's dog in from the rainy barn. As to be expected Barbara and her parents arrive, followed closely by the Reverend and ultimately Carol's husband, Member of Parliament Claude (Alexander Gauge). Someone once said that English comedy is the "comedy of embarrassment" and this is shown in the subsequent interactions.

I have always been enjoyed British comedies from the 40s to the early 60s. They benefit from the fantastic array of British character actors, a more literate or at least verbal comedy than their American cousins and an air of innocence long lost. This film has all three. Brian Reece is a bit "wet" for my taste but all other actors are strong. The key attraction is the sadly missed Kay Kendell. At the end, as Carol's husband is bombarded by accusations from Mrs. Crabb against her and Peter, she simply wraps her husband around her finger with wit and charm. Its amazing that people not even born when she died are grandparents. However her charm, style, wit and knowing look are more "modern" then ever.

This amusing situation comedy is wholly based upon the world of England in 1953. No one under thirty, or possibly forty, will believe that such people ever existed, but every character in this farce is etched true to life, which is what gave it its 1950s appeal, as all viewers in England then would have recognised every character as a type, mostly of their acquaintance. In fact the rough countryman with the Somerset accent still survives in obscure hamlets in the West Country, looking and sounding just the same, though extinction of this species is predicted within ten or fifteen years. The other species are already long gone: the glamorous woman of 1953 (Kay Kendall), the thundering moralist of an inn-keeper with her hatchet face (Joan Young), the terrifying bullying mother-in-law (Fabia Drake), the sweet young housewife with a tear in her eye and a throb in her throat (June Thorburn), the delightfully dotty and rambling vicar on a motorbike (Reginald Beckwith), and above all the amazing Stanley Holloway, of whom tens of thousands lived in Surrey at that time. These people were still around in old folks' home in the late 1970s and could be seen and inspected, and their reality ascertained. This leaves the main character, Peter, payed by Brian Reece. He is very much a type of the Edwardian period who lingered on well into the 1950s, a whimpering unmanly eunuch known to the upper classes as 'a rig'. 'A rig' is a term used in the horse world for a stallion who sniffs round the mares but won't do it. He isn't gay, but he is useless. A typical example of an Edwardian rig is Algy Longworth in the Bulldog Drummond films. In 1953 it was evidently considered acceptable for a husband to be a rig, and his escapades were hilarious despite him being more laughable than his escapades. Believe it or not, these types all really once existed! Strange but true! Many of the lines in the script are extremely witty, though they are mostly delivered in such a low-key manner that if you haven't got your ears out on stalks, you can easily miss them. They are not delivered by the actors, they are dashed off and half-swallowed in pursuit of British Understatement, where you never then called attention to a good joke. The film is enjoyable if you can look at it from the point of view of a 1950s viewer. Anyone who does not have the patience for that and is not interested in 'how things used to be' would be annoyed. But it certainly is good harmless fun.

A rather stupid husband is going on a trip with his wife. However, as she waits for him on the train, the idiot meets his ex-wife and they start talking and both end up missing the train. They arrange for a car to take them to meet their respective spouses but the vehicle breaks down and they are stuck in the middle of no where--and are forced to share a room at an inn. When the man's in-laws learn that he missed the train because he was talking to another woman, they go in pursuit.

"Fast and Loose" is a British comedy of manners that tries very, very hard to be kooky but ends up being very, very annoying. Simply put--the characters seem like one-dimensional caricatures and aren't the least bit believable. The mother-in-law is a battle axe and nothing more. The innkeeper a religious nut. And so they go--all caricatures and not complete people. In addition the humor is very forced and little of it is particularly funny. As the film progressed, I thought it would get better. It didn't.

I'm glad I've been able to track this film down. I saw it as a schoolboy, with a crush on both June Thorburn and Kay Kendall. Looked at now it may seem a bit dated, after all which hotels operate a "married couples only" policy these days, but it was the sort of film I like, it entertained, didn't preach or moralise and carried no "message." It should be shown on terrestrial TV, soon please.

Brian Reece was PC49 on radio. He was the typical slightly upper middle-class gent. I had forgotten Stanley Holloway and all those other fine British stars were in it, such was the strength of Kay Kendall. She was gorgeous, as usual, and beautifully played the "other woman." As stated elsewhere she had her hubby jumping through hoops in no time. And of course once all the misunderstandings were cleared up everyone lived happily ever after. Poor Brian Reece had to put up with delicious June Thorburn, it's a hard life but someone had to do it!

Peter meets old flame Carol at the train station where he's off for a pleasant weekend with wife, Barbara. Only he misses the train and while Barbara is whisked away, he's left stranded with Carol.

Somehow everything gets mixed up and they end up sharing a hotel room while Barbara has since gone home and told her parents, who immediately start off after the 'adulterous' pair.

The whole scene in the hotel would work marvelously as a stage play. It's fantastic to see poor Peter looking so befuddled and embarrassed as Carol waltzes around in a silk negligee. Many of the hilarious moments are supplied by Carol's dog, Kichi, albeit unintentionally. It's a wonder poor Kay Kendall was able to give such a fine performance with that little devil squirming in her arms every thirty seconds!