Here Come the Huggetts

Picture it: it is 1948, the war has been over for three years, and the cold winds of change are a blowin'. Britain's greatest hero, Churchill, has been so cruelly shunned by an ungrateful electorate, His Majesty King George VI looks to be ageing rapidly, and the variety circuit is fast becoming an anachronism, all heralding a new age, one of power cuts, freezing winters and nationalisation. The British film industry is finding its feet, with great offerings such as 'Great Expectations' (1945), 'Oliver Twist' (1946) and 'My Brother Jonathan'(1947). Wonderful though these films undoubtedly are, they are all backward looking, nostalgic, products of a bygone age. Now along comes 'Here Come the Huggetts'. Although introduced to a pre - war audience in the excellent 'Holiday Camp' (1938), they belong to a new age altogether, and the film breaks new ground, as instanced by Kathleen Harrison's hysteria at the installation of a telephone, still relatively rare in immediate post war Britain, a scene of utter delight, as she adjures that this dangerous device might 'go off', just like a recently discovered wartime bomb. Indeed, this fine, incredibly long lived character actress (1892 - 1995) was never more accomplished than here, in this superb film. The casting is perfect: each character is so expertly, finely delineated, utterly believable, from the quasi intellectual, pompously played to perfection by David Tomlinson, who was to acquire international recognition for his blustering, vulnerable father, George Banks, in Disney's blockbuster, 'Mary Poppins', to a delightfully cantankerous Amy Venness, as Jack Warner's tough - as - old - boots mother - in - law. Doris Hare plays a well drawn cameo, as a gossipy neighbour, Clive Morton is vaguely aristocratic as Jack Warner's boss, and John Blythe is a cadaverous garage owner, who bullies his junior mechanic, played by a vulnerable, much put upon Peter Hammond. Warner is as solid as a rock, and so is Jimmy Hanley, who nearly misses his wedding day, as he rescues his best man Hammond from a police cell after a drunken car crash. In this film Warner has three daughters, with the Rank Charm School much in evidence. They even keep their own Christian names, Sue (Susan Shaw), Jane (Hylton) and Pet, the nascent musical star Petula Clark, here happily among friends after appearing in that post war turkey, 'London Town'. Shaw is bright and breezy, a far cry from her troubled character in Noel Coward's 'This Happy Breed', Hylton is the splendidly neurotic bride - to - be, who, in Hanley's absence, becomes awkwardly enmeshed with Tomlinson, and Petula Clark chirps away splendidly in 'Walking Backwards', to Esma Cannon's eccentric conducting - a pity we couldn't have had more. Enter Diana Dors, to an incredibly risqué response from Warner. Dors shows that she really can act, as the malingering niece, lounging in bed and upsetting nail varnish on a vital order from at the factory where Warner works, earning him temporary demotion. The overall theme of the film is, appropriately, 'A new beginning', as the film builds up to its climax, Jane and Jimmy's wedding, which, to the relief of everyone (bar Tomlinson), goes without a hitch. A clever parallel is found in the backdrop of the Royal Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, contemporary (20th November, 1947) and highly topical, a seminal instance of lateral thinking in the film's denouement. A sparkling, expertly crafted script underpins the entire production, highlighting the subtle family relationships against the austerity of the times - Mabel Constanduros is much in evidence, as is Peter Rogers, a decade before the inception of 'Carry on' films. In essence, the Huggetts are our first real 'soap' family, forerunners of the Beals of Eastenders and the Dingles of Emmerdale. In their own ways, they all pull together, through thick and through thin, anticipating the next episode and the renewal of their contracts. A brave new world is inhabited by this likable lower middle class suburban Huggett family, for the war is over, and there's 'hope for years to come'. Subsequent Hugget films never reached these giddy heights, although Warner went on to play the eponymous Dixon of Dock Green, while Petula Clark reached international stardom - for them, at least, it was indeed a brave new world.

OK, so it's maybe a bit on the long side this film, but I always enjoyed the on-screen dynamic between Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison as "Joe" and "Ethel" as they take us through some fairly monumental family moments in the lives of their family. Though it wasn't in 1948, I do remember when we first got a telephone and yes - it was quite an event and equally, yes, my dad could never get near the thing. All "Joe" wants is to arrange a peaceful pint and a game of snooker! The UK is recovering from the travails of WWII and with HRH The Princess Elizabeth about to marry her dashing naval officer, the family quickly move on from the excitement of their new gadget to planning how and where they are going to see the procession. Their invitations to the abbey clearly lost in the post. Then there's a fire at the adjacent factory - poor old "Joe" can't even get a decent night's sleep... Oh yes, and underpinning this whole series of minor catastrophes is "Diana" (Diana Dors) who is the niece of "Ethel" and who has come to stay for a few days whilst her mother "Edie" (Dandy Nichols) is under the knife. Turns out she's a bit of a selfish lass who does nobody any favours, least of all her uncle when he rather foolishly gets her a job at his factory. Daughters "Jane" (Jane Hylton), "Susan" (Susan Shaw) and "Pet" (Petula Clark) are all having, to varying degrees, man trouble and by the end of this engaging story of ordinary Brits, their trauma around the telephone proves the least of their worries. It does run out of steam a bit towards the end, but there's still plenty of light-heartedness, grumbling, panic and entertaining dialogue to keep this observation of a lifestyle long since passed well worth a gander.

The Huggetts return from their holiday to all sorts of domestic strife in this sequel to 1947's Holiday Camp. They've lost a son somewhere along the way (and picked up another daughter I think), but nobody seems to notice. The arrival of shapely Diana Dors doesn't go unnoticed though, especially as she's responsible for Dad (Jack Warner) being demoted at work. The humour is fairly mild for the most part, but Kathleen Harrison's panicked reaction when the family's new phone rings for the first time is hilarious.

We were first introduced to the Huggett family in the wonderful movie Holiday Camp, and now, with a little recasting, they're back. This installment is pretty fair as movies go, but still quite interesting. Some lovely singing from Petula Clark, some hilarious moments from Kathleen Harrison when the family gets a telephone, but the standout performance is from Diana Dors (before she was bleached) as the Huggetts "little" cousin Diana - who certainly has grown up a LOT since she last visited! A nice sign of the times, including a trip out to see the royal wedding.

Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison Mr.&Mrs.Great Britain as the Huggetts were known are back from Holiday Camp where they made their big screen debuts with a whole lot of cast changes. Only Warner and Harrison and Jimmy Hanley are playing the roles that they played in Holiday Camp. In fact the Huggetts came home with two extra daughters and minus the son they had. Oh well, the Hardy family underwent several casting changes after their series debut at MGM.

Jane Hylton, Susan Shaw, and Petula Clark are the daughters and it was a nice change to see Petula in her younger days before she became an international star with Downtown in the Sixties. Hanley and Hylton fell in love at Holiday Camp and here they get married, but not without a few bumps along the way, one of them being David Tomlinson.

The Huggetts also get a distant cousin dumped on them as a border and while young Diana Dors is lovely to look at she's one spoiled brat who is quite aware of her attraction to the opposite sex. Most reluctantly Jack Warner gets her a job at his place of employment and she causes no end of trouble.

Funniest bit though was at the parade for the Royal Wedding where Warner gets into a scrape and the Huggetts miss the parade. How often do those things happen and Petula Clark is most disappointed of all.

Here Come The Huggetts continued in the tradition of Holiday Camp and this is a nice introduction to a family a lot of people in the UK identified with in those post war years.