The History of Mr. Polly

I have loved this film ever since I first saw it at approximately at the age of 6, 7 years on it's still one of my favourites. It's a heart warming tale that the whole family will love. Having never read the book I can't really compare but even so if the film's this good then I'm sure the book will be as good, if not better! I do not understand why the overall rating for this film is an average of 6.6. The people who vote obviously have no taste as this film is a masterpiece of acting. John Mills I credit as one of the best actors to have lived and one year after his death I don't think enough credit has been given to this man and his acting skills.

This is probably H.G.Wells' best story or at least his most human and charming one. It's a petty triviality, but in the small things you can find some golden traces of hidden treasures worth discovering, which is what Mr. Polly does. John Mills is perfect for the job, especially since he fails in all his official ones, while all he is good for is reading old tales of chivalry and dreaming of some faint ideal far beyond his reach. Accidentally he gets married, and she turns out to make the worst for him, so he plans to get away by suicide and fails completely even with that. But a great momentum is waiting for him.

Finlay Currie is equally perfect as the hooligan Uncle Jim, who is only good at making mincemeat of people and tries hard at it, (they were better partnered together just previously in "Great Expectations" as Pip and Magwitch,) but also he fails completely, leaving Mr. Polly out of breeches and in a strange situation with a lost body, which later turns up to most accidentally again save him from further trouble...

The small man finally finds his kingdom and the proper idylls to it, where he can at last get thorough in reading his tales of chivalry and enjoy some meditation and fishing.

It's an idyllic comedy with some hardship to it and a titbit as such, with excellent acting, enjoyable direction and tailor-made music to suit it all as well. I saw it the first time some 40 years ago but enjoyed the revenue even more.

HG Wells was one of the most successful novelists of the early 20th century, particularly famous for his science fiction. But earlier his tales of life among the ordinary people won him great success and eventually a wide reputation as a thinker and commentator as well as a writer. He wrote from personal experience - his mother was a domestic servant in a great house called Uppark, now one of the showplace of the National Trust. Mr Polly was a typical Wells characters - easy-going, unambitious, an innocent in a wicked world. John MIlls, one of the best-loved of British actors, captures perfectly the character of this harmless, well-meaning man, destined to be pushed hither and thither by a variety of females. But the film lack a strong story line and is often aimless and boring. THere are some hilarious scenes - the funeral of his father, which was more like a wedding party than a wake, with young women circling the newly rich innocent like sharks round a seal. Best of all was the scene where Mr Polly tries his hand at punting, struggling with his passenger and throwing them both in to the water. The music here was brilliantly written for the wind of the orchestra and played by a team of virtuosos with an outstanding clarinettist - who were they? The composer William Alwyn was probably the most prolific film composer of his or any generation. His work here saved the film from well-meant but earnest tedium. There should be a celebration of Alwyn's contribution to the art of film.

I was underwhelmed by the tale of a simple and weak character, Alfred Polly, played by the stalwart of the British cinema, John Mills, who has had enough of being henpecked, so leaves her and his shop to seek fresh pastures. It has several amusing scenes where Mills encounters the drunken, oafish Uncle Jim, played by the wonderful Finlay Curry, but overall the film is disappointing, for it seems to drift aimlessly from one scene to another without a clear and cohesive thread. I loved the music which gives the film a carefree and whimsical dimension but the real problem with the film is it's central character. It's very difficult to sustain interest in Mr Polly, a meek and mild character, who's simply wishing to see a quiet life.

John Mills prefers to read and dream rather than learn the haberdasher's trade, so he's fired. His father up and dies, and leaves him a nice sum of money. He enjoys bicycling around, saying he is "looking for a busienss to invest in", but marriage with his cousin, Betty Ann Davies, forces him to be a shop. It soon turns into a dull routine and marginal business. He burns it down for the insurance, then takes off. Soon he has settled down at a waterside inn run by Meg Jenks, punting the ferry and doing odd jobs.

Anthony Pelissier did not have a tremendously productive career as a writer-director, but he turned out fine screen transitions of literary works. In his first movie, he tackles H. G. Wells novel about a man who just wants to get by and not meddle in affairs that are none of his business.... and as it turns out, he does meddle and demonstrates that, as ridiculous as he appears fighting off Miss Jenks' drunk and vindictive uncle Finlay Currie, time and chance are on his side. What we are to make of this, except that people are ridiculous, I don't really know. But it does demonstrate that. With Diana Churchill, Sally Ann Howe, Juliet Mills, Moore Marriott, and Irene Handl.