Date with a Dream

Less than an hour long, Tempean Films' maiden production (shot in a tiny studio in Kensington called Viking) would have been substantially longer had the cast not seemed to be rushing to complete their lines before the camera ran out of film.

Moving at breakneck speed in a welter of whip pans and burst wipes, Monty Berman's photography is up to his usual high standard and while Terry Thomas (without the hyphen and at his least funny when actually doing his stand-up routine) and Jean Carson (without the "nie") play the leads, if you pay attention Norman Wisdom also makes a fleeting unbilled appearance apparently knocking himself out. For the teenagers, Thomas also shares a few scenes with Uncle Wally Patch (they were both later in 'I'm All Right Jack', but not together).

A Date with a Dream is directed by Dicky Leeman who also co-writes the screenplay with Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman and Carl Nystrom. It stars Terry-Thomas, Jeannie Carson, Len Lowe, Bill Lowe, Wally Patch and Vic Lewis. Music is by Vic Lewis and cinematography by Monty Berman.

A wartime band are demobbed and meet up a year later to reform their act. Only there's one or two problems in the way this time...

The very definition of the British support feature. Running at under an hour, plot is wafer thin and film really serves mostly to let the cast showcase some of their early stage craft. It's highly energetic and always engaging, while it's note worthy as a 1948 London period piece. Songs are foot tappers, with the wonderful "Unlucky" the stand out, and Terry-Thomas steals the show even as he breaks the fourth wall. Future star Norman Wisdom appears in his first film in a ten second role as a shadow boxer continually being knocked to the ground. 6/10

This is a film of little quality as a comedy musical. The main characters did not make me laugh and the musical numbers,apart from one in which the orchestra plays in the hall and staircase of a boarding house, are not memorable. The brightest spot is the few seconds in which Norman Wisdom is shown performing part of one of his stage routines. It is of some historical interest in showing the demob kitting out of ex-servicemen,in the shots of 1948 London,and in its portrayal of the attempts of demobbed servicemen to cope with civilian life.

With a military unit being demobbed it looks like the end of the road for the popular house band that was made up of soldiers within the unit. When none of the concert band manage to set the world alight with their attempts at post-army solo careers, they decide to reform the band and give it a stab in the real world.

Plot is not exactly the strong point of this film - basically the band reforms but have to win through an audition in order to get the gig, leading to lots of stalling until the band all arrive. Despite this the film works and is pretty enjoyable stuff in the way that it harks back to the days of the music hall, which can be now only seen in the spoof segment on The Fast Show. The sense of humour is therefore pretty archaic and playing to the working classes but it is very funny.

The film starts slow but then gets better after the demob. The strongest point of the film is the double act on stage at the audition. Strangely the weakest part of the film is Terry-Tomas' performance on the stage, I guess that he is not the type of comic who works well on the stage environment. The rest of the cast do really well but it is Bill and Len Lowe who steal the film right up until the ending (which is pure music hall). The music numbers are pretty good and have a light touch to them that don't take away from the comic feel of the movie.

Overall this is a very short film (less than 60 minutes) and it easily flies by. The plot isn't up to much but the knowing and self-aware sense of humour, fast banter and to-camera remarks all make the film fun. A brief cameo from Norman Wisdom is quite good but it is more interesting in thinking how Lee Evans updated the same routine in Funny Bones.

Pretty much average to poor with the exceptions of the few minutes where the Vic Lewis Orchestra is performing, but I could listen to recordings of them on YouTube without the long breaks in between...