Meet Mr. Lucifer

Another in a long line of great black and white British films of the 1950's. When Mr Pedelty (Joseph Tomelty) leaves his firm, he is given a TV set as a retirement present. At first he enjoys all the attention from his neighbours,but soon the attraction wears off, and he sells it on to the young married couple (Jack Watling and Peggy Cummins) living in the flat above him. They soon encounter the same problems,and again the set is passed on to several different charatures all with the same results. A very enjoyable story with a strong cast including Kay Kendall, Barbara Murray, and as the pantomime devil Stanley Holloway.

This film ,made in 1953,is largely forgotten.It is a misfiring satire.At the time this film was released TV was about to make a substantial impact on cinema audiences as a result of the Coronation.By 1960 cinema audiences had dropped by two thirds from their post war high and thousands of cinemas were closing.Also,just 3 years after this film was made Ealing studios themselves were closed and purchased by the BBC.Also those music halls that had managed to struggle on finally closed their doors in the late 50s.So i am afraid that Michael Balcon was just spitting in the wind by trying to tell people that television was a bad influence.The film is quite entertaining ,particularly Gordon Jackson playing very much against type.

This film resonated with me being born in 1946 whose family first had a Murphy t.v.set in 1954 with its single BBC channel.Previously, my father had to drive us to his sister's house she shared with my paternal grandmother whose family already had bought a TV in 1953 on which we all saw the Queen's coronation that year.In the early part of 1954 we too had a roomful of neighbours & friends who did not possess a t.v. but who wished to view the novelty of watching t.v.

London Live t.v. channel in the London area where I live are currently transmitting a collection of Ealing films mainly from the 40s & 50s and although I watch new ones whenever possible, "Meet Mr. Lucifer" had passed me by previously.This film had a galaxy of well known film stars which you can glean from the full cast list on IMDb.com.My favourite was seeing the late Kay Kendall playing "Miss Lonely Hearts Club" although I suspect it was not her voice that was dubbed onto the soundtrack.Very enjoyable I rated it 7/10.

Just seen it again after many years, and what now impresses me is a a surprisingly good and sharp script. The script's critique of the negative effects of TV addiction is excellent and prescient for its day, considering how early this film was made into the march of TV (1953) which would eventually supplant film as the medium for our diet of social media.

Incidentally, my parents had a set for the 1953 British Coronation, amongst the first in their neighbourhood and thus became that day a focal point for all those who did not yet have a TV.

The Miss Lonelyhearts segment would work today in the way it could manipulate all those Mr. Lonelyhearts out there. Kay Kendall was never so alluring.

Having said that, TV is today as important to me as it is to anyone else, at least where news and documentaries are concerned. There are, probably, some good effects in the ubiquity of TV, but I personally wonder what the final balance is. It is interesting that the science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke observed how, along with Marshall Mcluhan, the Canadian media commentator, that TV has created a 'global village' and even the poorest of households will own a TV, even in the worst of slums or favelas, as they are known in South American. Indeed, I suspect that the social glue holding Latin American countries together are its soaps. That may hold good for the West, too.

But back to the film; the ensemble acting is excellent, with Stanley Holloway as its focal point, but, goodness me, how gorgeous a young Barbara Murray and Peggy Cummings are, how they brighten the dreariness and blight of a post-war Britain all too slowly recovering from its wounds.

Good black and white film from 1953 when television came out i was aged three at the time all goes to show how we all love TV. Now it has become part of our life style interesting formula enjoyed watching the film.