It Always Rains on Sunday

Dynamic British romantic thriller with a cracking script and an outstanding final reel, crammed full of delectable performances from a fine group of character actors. Above the title are the ever-excellent Googie Withers and charismatic Australian hunk John McCullum: they married soon after shooting was over, which certainly goes some way to explaining their on-screen chemistry. With them is dear old Jack Warner, whose folksy old copper in the TV series DIXON OF DOCK GREEN used to irritate me when I was a child, but here he's playing a detective with a bit of grit in him, and it's a pleasure to discover that Mr Warner was perfectly up to the task. Of the supporting cast, Edward Chapman deserves mention for his self-effacing but nevertheless affecting performance as Ms Withers' husband.

There is a certain amount of caricature in the writing (and perhaps in the playing too) of a couple of roles, but on the whole the script succeeds in delineating personalities rather than types, unusual in a film of the period presenting a mainly working- and lower-middle-class milieu, a good deal of it filmed (by the great Douglas Slocombe) on location.

Director Hamer's final reel is a daring chase followed by a strangely affecting coda. The chase is slightly marred by the intrusion of a couple of model shots which the sequence could easily have done without. But it says something about the power of Hamer's vision that he imagined long shots at those points: it was just unfortunate that the only way to achieve them was by using miniatures.

Highly recommended.

The film was made and set in the bleak environment of post-war east London and shows Robert Hamer to be an extremely talented and sophisticated film maker. Unlike Dearden and Relph, Hamer does not impose a moral framework on his characters. The film shows two sides of adultery between Googie Withers and the escaped convict and between her daughter and a Jewish shopkeeper. What makes this film stand out is its intentioned 'realism' and complex character portrayals. This little known classic is probably one of Ealing's finest films.

A rather splendid 1947 b/w film from the Ealing Studios. I find a lot of these films a little too sentimental and the acting a bit too stagey but this is a real surprise. Great dialogue, convincingly conveyed and together with super cinematography combine to make this a truly enjoyable if nostalgic view. The locations are more Camden than the East End, except for glimpses of Whitechapel at the start but no matter, it all looks good and the views of the railway marshalling yard at the end quite stunning. There is a central story but is is intercut with others and the whole thing bounces along nicely. Even the kids are all right and the amusing bits still amusing. Really though this is a very believable view of London's East End just after the war. Bomb sites, rationing and everyone trying to make the most of what they had. Also there was a feeling that the cops and robbers weren't really that different from each other, just on different sides and the important thing was to survive. Well worth a watch.

A superb study by Ealing studios, of a working class family, in the east end of London, after the 2nd World War. Googie Withers plays a harassed housewife, who during one Sunday lunchtime, discovers that her old boy friend, Tommy Swan, has broken out of jail and is in need of help.Local policeman Jack Warner is given the task of hunting him down. This film gives the viewer a fascinating look at life in England, in the late 1940's and early 50's. Look out for one scene, featuring the milkman, delivering milk, and his horse, walking up the centre of the street, and knowing just when to stop and when to go. Well worth watching.

i have to disagree with the other reviewer. this a good, solid drama that captures the mood of post war london expertly. the stories mesh together well and the performances, with one notable exception, are first rate. the atmospheric photgraphy adds to the overall feel of the piece and the climax is very exciting.