No, My Darling Daughter

About 10 minutes in I realised I'd seen this last year but could remember little of the plot.very pointless plotting I suppose this was the start of teenagers being treated differently but wasn't really funny.

In this so-so British comedy Michael Redgrave plays the business magnate father of a socially awkward daughter who causes all manner of misunderstandings for her father and family friend Roger Livesey when she becomes friendly with the son of their American business associate. The plot is reminiscent of the kinds of things Walt Disney used to make at around this time, a fact brought home even more so by the fact that Juliet Mills (sister of Hayley, who was to appear for Disney that year in The Parent Trap after her success in Pollyanna the year before) plays the daughter.

Unfortunately, the chuckles (laughs would be an exaggeration) do not come all that frequently, and the picture as a whole somehow also seems to smack of a British establishment aura which would have made it perfect fodder for a Conservative party fund-raiser at the time. Nevertheless, it is all quite competent, and a reasonable enough diversion for 90 minutes or so.

I probably first saw this film when I was around 12 years old, and after several decades I still remember this as one of those pleasant mannered comedies that occasionally aired on local stations on Sunday afternoons. A nice little British romance from the early 60s. It evoked the same type of fondness in me as the first Gidget film. "Young girl falls for slightly older guy who apparently doesn't even notice her." This is the type if film that is rarely aired these days, if ever. While the plot may seem predictable, the actors and the characters are great. In my opinion the cast alone is a strong recommendation for viewing this gem. While the names Redgrave and Mills are both staples of the British stage and Cinema, Michael Craig was also a heavy hitter in the early 60s. I'd love to have this on DVD.

Rank churned out plenty of this type of 'hilarious' comedy in the late 50's and early 60's, but this is one of the worst. The story looks like something they found in a bottom drawer somewhere and Ralph Thomas directs it as though he just wants it finished as soon as possible. The film is padded out with bits of travelogue as everyone dashes around trying to look funny. Michael Redgrave and Roger Livesey must have been cringing having accepted their roles. Not good.

Juliet Mills is a delight in her first film role as an adult in this elephantine but engaging farce embellished with travelogue shots of London & Scotland and an enthusiastic supporting cast led by the always charming Roger Livesey.

It's all very dated, but that works in it's favour apart from the annoying trad jazz score by Norrie Paramor.