For Better, for Worse

In the 50s British films tried to combat the growing influence of TV.One of the first sitcoms was on BBC and was called "The Grove Family" about what would then be called a working class family.This is an upmarket version of that set in Kensington in colour.However it all falls very flat as a comedy.Firstly there is a major problem with Susan Stephen ,as she is simply not very good.It is difficult to understand the couples circumstances,where Bogarde doesn't earn enough money,Stephen sits home all day and they employ Thora Hird as a daily woman.There are all sorts of well known faces coming and going through this film but alas they do not enliven what is a very forced farce.Bogarde would of course have a very successful career ahead of him whilst Stephen would soon slip into obscurity.

"For Better, For Worse" is a representative example of comfy cosy middle-class 1950s British cinema. Tony (Dirk Bogarde) and Ann (Susan Stephen) are an awfully nice young couple of newly-weds from upper middle-class families who find it expensive to set up home in the West End of London. They have to settle for a rented studio flat with furniture on hire purchase. Being much in love, Ann really doesn't mind living in a style decidedly more modest than that to which she is accustomed - but how does one host a proper dinner-party in such very trying circumstances?

There are various reasons for their finding themselves in this dilemma. Perhaps the most plausible is the housing shortage of the time. Then Tony, though educated at Charterhouse and Oxford, can find work only as a grade-three clerk on £5 10s per week. Strange this, given that the 1950s were not a time of especially high unemployment. Ann cannot take a job herself: "My fiancé thinks a woman's place is in the home". They are too proud to accept money from Mummy and Daddy, so they have to make do as best they can. "There are hundreds of us in the same boat," exclaims Tony. This nod in the direction of socio-economic criticism hardly convinces.

Genteel light comedy of this sort depends on its charm. Bogarde gives his usual proficient performance (on the lines of his Simon Sparrow in the 'Doctor' series). Susan Stephen seemed considerably less effective in the eyes of this viewer - not sufficiently appealing, to be frank - but what constitutes charm is always very subjective. Dennis Price and Peter Jones do their comic turns as an estate-agent and a second-hand car-dealer - rather like their roles in the later (and much funnier) "School for Scoundrels" - though even these apparently shady characters turn out be rather nice really. The working-class types (chief among them a charlady played by Thora Hird) are all predictably quaint.

British comedy films of the 1950s are commonly attacked as bland, complacent, shallow, and 'unduly bourgeois'. Often I would wish to rally to the defence. In the case of "For Better, For Worse", however, it would surely be far wiser not to give battle.

'Temporary' civil servant (Bogarde) and his nubile young fiancée (Stephen) move into a small bedsit ahead of their planned nuptials, but soon find that their neighbours and lack of space turn domesticity into havoc. When the rent and cost of living result in their furniture being scheduled for repossession, they stage a clumsy attempt to avoid the repo men, seeking sanctuary in the neighbouring apartment of Dennis Price and wife Pia Terri (who are also facing the ignominy of eviction) but due to a happy coincidence, mummy and daddy (Herlie and Parker) come to the rescue proving that independence comes at a cost.

Bogarde and Stephen deliver their dialogue with comedic precision, while Athene Seyler as the nuisance yet lonely old neighbour is a highlight among the talented supporting cast. James Hayter is amusing as the stubborn plumber summoned to unblock a troublesome sink-trap before they give their house warming dinner party, the lead-up to which is great comic farce. Fans of these types of B-movie English comedies will also rejoice at the appearance late in the film of Sid James' sarcastic and overly-enthusiastic repo man.

The script is witty and the storyline is well paced and economical, displaying keen observations of the challenges that young people often face as they embark on co-habitation and independence for the first time. Timeless, entertaining comedy, an early effort from noted British director J.Lee Thompson who went on to direct "The Guns of Navarone" and "Cape Fear" in a long and distinguished career.

Dirk Bogarde is a cold romantic in ' romantic ' roles, and he is in my opinion the major flaw in this sometimes very witty film. There seems to be little chemistry between him and the underrated Susan Stephen, and he delivers his lines professionally but without much feeling. Based on a play this is about a young couple getting married and having to cope with the relative poverty of the Post War years. Renting a room is almost out of their reach, and they are lucky enough to get a smallish room without what is discreetly called amenities. As the film progresses the room gets improbably larger but the point is made; the youth of the early Fifties had a hard time finding both jobs and accommodation. Viewed in 2022 it is quite relevant to many and could be enjoyed for the comedy turmoil they are in. This is basically the story, but it is the supporting actors who really make it work. Athene Seyler is fun as a too demanding neighbour, and so is Dennis Price as another resident. But it is Cecil Parker as Susan Stephen's father and the great Eileen Herlie who steal the film from the rest, and sadly Herlie was seen more on the stage than the screen. To be watched for its relevant fun, its often very astute dialogue and brilliant supporting actors to take our eyes off the dry and rather diffident Dirk Bogarde.

A British comedy far ahead of its time. A unique view of the hardships faced by young newlyweds in postwar London. This film marked the defining roles for several actors/actresses. A solid performance by Dirk Bogarde, possibly overshadowed by the debut of Pia Terri.