Lilacs in the Spring

Late Flynn, when he took almost any work he could get to pay off alimony. He turns in a sincere, believable performance, occasionally lampooning himself, and does a creditable song and dance number. Other points of interest include Peter Graves as Prince Albert (if you didn't know, you'd never guess) and Sean Connery is supposedly in there somewhere as an extra, but I haven't found him.

When the producing/acting team of Herbert Wilcox and Anna Neagle got Errol Flynn he was willing to work for just about anything in Lilacs In The Spring. He owed the US government a lot of back taxes and was abroad so he couldn't be arrested for same and his epic William Tell had gone belly up. So the Wilcoxes were able to get Flynn for a fraction of his asking price from a decade ago for this Neagle film.

In it Anna Neagle plays a musical comedy star and her own daughter, in addition to reprising two of her previous screen roles in dream sequences, Queen Victoria and Nell Gwynn. The frequent use of flashbacks and imaginary sequences is going to leave the viewer quite a bit confused.

As for Errol Flynn he's both husband and father to Anna Neagle in her two different guises. The young Anna Neagle is caught between two suitors, producer David Farrar and stagedoor johnny Peter Graves. That is not the Peter Graves of Mission Impossible.

Neagle sings beautifully of course, she was one of the United Kingdom's premier musical comedy stars as well as a film star. As for Flynn he does a nice song and dance to Lily Of Laguna, but compare it to the number he did in Thank Your Lucky Stars with Warner Brothers during World War II, That's What You Jolly Well Get. Errol's aged quite considerably and it shows.

I wish both of these stars had teamed years earlier because they're a bit long in the tooth for this material, especially Flynn.

"Lilacs in the Spring" is a very confusing and, in my opinion, ill-conceived film. There's plenty of stuff to like in the movie (such as seeing Errol Flynn dance for, I think, the second time in a movie)....but the sum total just didn't work for me.

The film begins during the later portion of the Blitz in London...1944. The story follows Carole Beaumont (Anna Naegel) through a story and multiple flashback scenes. After getting bumped around by a bomb explosion, Carole believes she's back in the time of Charles II of Britain. The man playing Charles in this flashback is her boyfriend, Charles. Later, she has another flashback during which she's Queen Victoria hanging out with her husband, Albert....who is played by another one of Carole's boyfriends. Later, there is a LONG flashback, though from whose viewpoint, I have no idea! You see Carole's parents dating (played by Flynn and Naegle) which is confusing, as Flynn plays both father AND lover to two different characters played by Naegle (the mother and then daughter)! It's a bit creepy...and confusing...and it doesn't fit in at all with the previous two flashbacks. In fact, this flashback really is like a whole separate movie!

The bottom line is that the script just seemed like a mess. The singing, dancing and story (at times) were nice but the whole package was just strange and confusing...like it needed a revision to the script. It also would have helped to have two different actresses play Carole and her mother. A misfire.

I was too young to be an Anna Neagle fan, but after seeing her in ' Lilacs in the Spring ' I can well understand that she had a number one following in the UK for many decades. She danced superbly, and her flirtatious charm showed how elegant and sophisticated she was on stage and screen. Her films are rarely shown, and despite her reputation she has fallen into that eclipse called time. We live in another world now, far away from her death in 1986. As for this film, found second hand on DVD I will treasure it if alone for the ' Lilacs in the Spring ' song by the great Ivor Novello at the end, where she is dancing and singing to troops in Burma towards the end of World War 2. Herbert Wilcox, her husband directed and he was not the best of directors, and sadly she worked with almost only him on film. And yet her presence surmounts any doubts about her own greatness. Now the plot. Suffering from concussion after a Blitz attack she dreams of other times, and again takes on her former roles as Queen Victoria and Nell Gwynne. Her mother another actor is played by herself and a feat in itself. She is loved by an actor played by Erroll Flynn. The chemistry between them works well, and I gladly give this film a 9. A past age, and one we risk forgetting. If the plot seems complicated it isn't. I recommend a UK television showing of many of her films.

Most of the reviews imply that Errol Flynn carries "Lilacs In The Spring".Not so.The film belongs to the one and only Dame Anna Neagle.Her's is a tour de force performance and her age(around fifty at the time) in no way detracts from her convincing,multi-layered portrayal of the daughter-mother-daughter characters.This lady is pure class and with her peaches and cream complexion,gracious presence and incredible versatility,she is a delight in every scene.The somewhat confusing plot has been expertly explained by the other reviewers (thank you) and like them,I have only been able to acquire a murky,poor quality video print.I remember seeing it the cinema in 1956 and it was magic all the way. Looking at the film now,I'm astounded at Anna Neagle's dancing skills.Whether dancing the tango,waltz or,best of all,her 1920's 'Dance Little Lady' number,she's enchantment all the way.Arguably a better dancer than a singer,she nevertheless delivers two lovely renditions of 'We'll Gather Lilacs' and she's ravishing dancing to the orchestral version. Errol Flynn fans may only show interest in his contribution but by the time he appeared in this film he was clearly past his prime (the kindest thing I can say).Fortunately,he had the amazing Anna Neagle to prop him up in all their scenes together.Bravo,Dame Anna!