Curtain Up

Yes the love interest bit between two of te characters is tacked on. Yes it is rather small and cramped in it's setting. But this picture is great fun.

Margaret Rutherford does what she does best, and watching this film I couldn't help but lament at the current lack of any good female character actors. Women who are over 40 and don't mind showing it.

I loved this film, as much for it's humour, which is as funny today as it was then, as for the gorgeous touch of nostalgia it inspired. Surprising considering i was not even thought of in 1953 and i am not english.

See it it's fun, unoffensive and unashamably silly.

If the word "farce" hadn't existed before 1952, it would surely have been coined with this movie, or with the 1949 play on which it is based. Philip King (1904-79) wrote the play, called "On Monday Next." King was a playwright and actor, whose beginnings were very similar to the setting of this film. King lived in Brighton on the English Channel where he wrote most of his plays. He acted in some of his own and others, and his plays were often first performed in nearby Worthing.

This is a wonderfully wacky British comedy about theater in the old-time repertory companies of what one might call the "off-West End" or fringe theater of England (similar to America's off-Broadway). A stellar cast of comedy actors of the day adorn this film and give a hilarious peek at what staging a play might have been like in the towns and neighborhoods away from London's West End. That is, if the characters were like these. And, with leads, Robert Morley as W.H. Derwent Blacker, and Margaret Rutherford as Catherine Beckwith (pen name, Jeremy St. Clair), one knows to expect some fun.

Beckwith has spent seven years writing a play, and her nephew sits on the board of directors of the local theater. So, guess whose play is to be staged next? Only the assigned director for this play, Harry Blacker, thinks it stinks. But, he has no choice but to make something out of it. The cast has one week in which to learn, rehearse and put the play on. Morley's Blacker and Rutherford's Beckwith/St. Clair start out just a bit at odds. But, by film's end they are like two tornadoes colliding. I don't think I've ever seen another comedy in which the two leads have had a prolonged shouting match hurling insults back and forth. It is riotously funny.

The rest of the cast add to the humor and turmoil, and give good performances. Kay Kendall, Michael Medwin, Olive Sloane, Liam Gaffney and Lloyd Lamble head the supporting cast. Joan Hickson has a cameo appearance about midway as Harry Blacker's landlady. The film is all Morley and Rutherford, with Morley dominating the first two-thirds and Rutherford meekly going along. Morley's frequent understatements are a hoot. But the last third is mostly Rutherford as Beckwith/St. Clair takes over direction of her play when Harry falls off the stage and breaks his arm.

Watching this film, one has to wonder how this troupe could ever put on a play within a week. But the movie ends with the stage play being a hit. As they say in the theater, "The show must go on." And this one resembles a circus, from whence that phrase originated.

People who enjoy goofy, crazy and farcical comedy should enjoy this film immensely. Anyone who has worked in theater should get many laughs. Those who can't stand absurd silliness at times probably won't care for it. All others who don't fit in these three camps should enjoy it just for the occasional antics and funny lines peppered throughout. Here are some favorite lines.

Harry Blacker: When Mr. Bellamy forced me to stage your travesty... Catherine Beckwith/Jeremy St. Clair: Tragedy! Blacker: It may well prove so, madam.

Harry Blacker: When he forced me to stage "Tarnished Gold," we had a little chat. I told him what I thought about it. He told me what he thought about it. Oddly enough, our views differ. However, he did agree that if I should find a major fault, I should do my best to rectify it.

Beckwith/St. Clair: Well, that was a very kind thought of you. And did you find a major fault? Harry Blacker: So far, madam, only one. Beckwith: Good. What? Blacker: The first 27 pages.

Harry Blacker: I would have expected better of you, Jacko. Are you a stage manager or a fifth columnist?

Harry Blacker: Are you presuming to criticize my methods of production? Jackson: I can't. I've never seen them.

Harry Blacker: The audience, madam, will have left in a body after the first act. Forgive me, I shouldn't have said that. I'm overwrought. It's all gabble, gabble, gabble. Why do people have to write plays? Why do I have to direct them?

Harry Blacker: I was such a happy little boy.

Beckwith/St. Clair: Mr. Blacker, I have reached the limit of myself. I shall telephone my nephew. Harry Blacker: Ask him if he knows anything for the two-thirty, will you dear?

Sarah Stebbins: I do hope I'm not interrupting. Harry Blacker: Oh, not at all. This is strictly visitor's day.

Harry's Landlady: (after entering the theater, stomping up on stage and removing the lampshade which Blacker had retrieved from his apartment house) I've told you about this before. Harry Blacker: I can afford to ignore such vulgar interruptions. Strike my landlady off the "Free" list, and carry on.

Along with gems alike "Withnail & I," "A Midwinters Tale," even "Noises Off" Curtain Up is a film every live theatre worker should see. Based on the idea that 'it'll be alright on the night!' the film is infused with clichés from the theatre world. From the first time author in awe of her creation, the could-have-been-famous-but-if-only-it-weren't-for-xxx-reason actress, the drunken actress in mid-life crisis who insists on being nude, the juvenile lead whose best audience is his mirror to the jaded director/producer who plows on regardless of others' emotions they are all lifted directly from the people who still work in the live industry today. The cast, lead by Morley and Rutherford, are excellent in portraying these highly-strung individuals that even though work for selfish reasons, pull together to finish the play before 'Curtain Up' Today however the film is very dated. Even for the fifties, regional theatres in England weren't often in the position to have a weekly-rep company employed fulltime. This film documents an institution eroded by film and television and to view today seems odd, old-fashioned and perhaps far fetched. Its a jolly giggle that gives tribute to the live theatre and as such many in-jokes may be missed by a layman. So when watching this well roasted chestnut use a little forgiveness. It was released in a different time for a different market, however for any actor, technician, director or the like its a must.

Margaret Rutherford as a woman who has written a play under a man's name comes to the first rehearsals of her play. Robert Morley is the reluctant director and they have perfect chemistry, and genuinely witty lines to go with it. They spar over details, and the repertory company cast at the obscure theatre they are playing in join in. As for the actors who play the actors Olive Sloane stands out; an ageing actor who once knew success and resigns herself to a life that she had not hoped for. Kay Kendall also stands out, and in just a few scenes made me want to beg for more, and long before this film British Cinema should have begged for more. ' Genevieve ' another great comedy made her a household name and her brief life allowed her to make other fine films and I for one still miss her. As for the rest of the cast they are all perfect in their parts, and as actors playing actors they are utterly convincing. The whole film concentrates on rehearsals of a mediocre play, and no more spoilers. British repertory theatre ( a play each week ) has long since gone, so this cinematic experience of how important and touching they were is a history lesson in itself. A Perfect gem that is well worth watching out for.

Curtain Up is one of my favourite British films of all time. It contains so many wonderful British actors - Robert Morley, Margaret Rutherford (who repeated their coupling in the original Miss Marple films) and Michael Medwin, and of course, Kay Kendall. The story is simple but oh so English and delights in its old fashioned charm.

This film does not appear to have been released on VHS or DVD and only very occasionally appears on TV. I taped it many years ago, but the family have wiped it and I am longing for it to appear again. Anything with the adorable Margaret Rutherford is worth watching and this film is a little gem.