Where There's a Will

When the farm owner gets blown up without a will, his lower-class London relatives show up for their share of the loot. Most of them want to sell out for some quick money, but Leslie Dwyer wants to turn farmer.

My mother was fond of Delderfield's novels, judging by their presence in her bedroom. I found this movie version harsh on the rather stereotyped Cockneys, except for Leslie Dwyer, who longs to get away from working in a Turkish bath and become a farmer, and niece Ann Hanslip, who wants to get away from her horror of a mother and dull city routine. Edward Woodward is competent but unrecognizable as the juvenile lead in his first screen appearance.

I found after a brisk opening -- I thought I was looking at a Monty Python skit when it opens with the old man getting blown up by a land mine. It's certainly a way of getting a movie off with a bang --t hat it sagged a bit in the middle, with Dwyer's horrid relations trying to play both ends against the middle, while Dwyer tries to figure out how to honorably keep the farm. But the pace picks up again to result in the foreordained happy ending.

WHERE THERE'S A WILL opens with a man walking along a road, then poking the ground and blowing a mine. He dies apparently intestate and that starts a rollercoast of inheritance-related developments.

Leslie Dwyer plays Alfie Brewer, a London-based Turkish bath assistant who is more in line to inherit than any other family member, and is actually enthusiastic about farm work.

In contrast, his nephew George Cole is a scheming fraudster, and niece Thelma Ruby opens a near-Romeo and Juliet situation when she falls in reciprocated love with the son of an unfriendly neighbor who has bought the property's mortgage.

Best of all, Norman MacOwan pointing out how much better life was when he did not work and could just live off the environment, whereas earning a salary, paying taxes, health care, and all manner of rates depleted him of time and all the things that he used to enjoy in life.

Competent cinematography, strong screenplay with British humor at its best - recommended viewing.

Adapted by R.F.Delderfield from his own stage farce and directed without much enthusiasm by Vernon Sewell. Despite quite a few shots of a wintry-looking Devon it still manages to feel studio-bound.

Full of vaguely naughty references to things like illegitimacy, chamber pots and the 'News of the World'. Interest is provided amidst a cast of veterans by two newcomers in their twenties: Edward Woodward (leaner and with a a higher hairline than he had twenty years later) repeating his stage role, and a caustic young Thelma Ruby, now at 95 the final surviving member of the cast.

This film has no connection with the Will Hay film, WHERE THERE'S A WILL (1936). This is an amusing fifties British comedy, for those who like such things, and the exteriors were really shot on a run-down, scruffy farm, not just in a studio. The story concerns the inheritance of a farm by the relatives of a childless farmer who apparently dies intestate. The relatives are all London cockneys, and there are numerous jokes and sight gags (endlessly tromping through mud and stroking pigs) about how ill at ease they are in a farmyard setting. The deceased farmer's housekeeper is charmingly played in a fey manner by Kathleen Harrison. She has lived there for 25 years and had expected to inherit the place herself, but as no will can be found, she soldiers on as the housekeeper for the new and rowdy incomers. Later on, the will is found is an unexpected place. However, I will not spoil the story by explaining all the ins and outs, and how they are all surprisingly and unexpectedly resolved. This is a very light film, the humour is gentle and slow, and there are no Hollywood-style wisecracks, nor is there much pace. It is mildly amusing, not riotously funny. Those who are interested in knowing more about fifties Britain can always profit by seeing such films as these, hearing the topical subjects of the day mentioned in passing, seeing somebody make her way to the outhouse with a lamp in her hand, understanding how few comforts there were at the time and how little anyone expected any, and gathering from the behaviour of the characters what things tended to be like then, allowing of course for all the exaggerations necessary for a film comedy. The film was directed by Vernon Sewell, who was not noted for anything in particular, though he directed 39 films between 1933 and 1972. If this film drags a bit and does not seem to be written for the screen, that is because it was not written for the screen. It is based on a play by R. F. Delderfield (1912-1972), who adapted it for the screen himself, but not very well, so that it is rather stagey and you can imagine a proscenium just out of shot. Delderfield is best known for his Horseman Trilogy of novels, the initial parts of which, dealing with the period ending in 1919, were made into a 13-part TV series in 1978 entitled A HORSEMAN RIDING BY, of which I have an old video and I expect I will watch and review it one of these days. (The latter part of that trilogy was never filmed.) This film contains the first screen performance by the actor Edward Woodward (1930-2009), who later rose to prominence and appeared in 99 films. Leslie Dwyer (1906-1986) is the amusing and engaging lead, and he eventually appeared in 120 films. Hence, many favourites of future British films and TV series, including Dandy Nichols, are to be found in this sleepy offering which is suitable for a rainy afternoon by the fire, for those of a homey disposition who might be inclined to have a full teapot nearby snuggling under its cosy and a slice of homemade Victoria Sponge cake ready to hand.

This Britsih B film from the 50s has a fantastic cast.Firstly there is Kathleen Harrison.She always plays the same part,a soft hearted put upon and often self sacrificing woman.Then Edward Woodward in his film debut.There are 3 actors who would become famous in years to come on TV.Leslie Dwyer(Hi De Hi),Dandy Nichols(the silly moo in Till Death Us Do Part)and Geoorge Cole ,here in his "Flash Harry" guise but of course most famous for Arthur Daly.In the supporting cast there is Sam Kydd and Bill Shine.The film itself is one of those films where the plot surrounds a missing will.It is eventually found in the most unlikely place you could think of.So whilst the film is rather unoriginal much pleasure is gained by watching all these familiar faces at work.