Please Turn Over

The movie started out as a rather genteel suburban comedy, but got surprising a lot better. A clever plot for its day, with a good cast. Not up there with the Ealing comedies, but far superior to the Carry On films.

Please Turn Over is one of those films outside of the Carry On franchise, but one that still "bares" the early hallmarks of that series. Brought to the screen by Peter Rogers and Norman Hudis, it's adapted from the Basil Thomas play, "Book of the Month" and stars Ted Ray, Jean Kent, Julia Lockwood, Leslie Phillips and Lionel Jeffries. Plot finds Lockwood as a teenaged writer who upturns the lives of the local residents when she has a steamy novel published. The kicker being that the characters in her book appear to be based on them! Suddenly everyone is viewing everyone else in a different light.

A sort of comedic take on Peyton Place, it's a film that meets the expectations of those who are familiar with the cast and production team. Without being smutty or bawdy, it's more a gentle farce with some seamy undercurrents. The fun is mostly mined by the alternative world created by Lockwood when the townsfolk turn into adulterers and egotists. Rogers fills out the cast with performers he would come to rely on, where the likes of Joan Sims and Dilys Laye steal scenes, while Ray and Phillips turn in jolly good shows. Nice crisp B&W photography by Ted Scaife as well.

Not essential but a pleasant enough experience with a glass of Port on a Sunday afternoon. 6/10

Produced by Peter Rogers and directed by Gerald Thomas, the legendary duo responsible for the Carry On series, this comedy is as mildly racy and as funny, but of greater subtlety. It concerns Jo Halliday, a seventeen year-old girl from a commonplace English suburban background who writes a scandalous novel that seems to depict the Halliday family -- and not in a favorable light. In it her accountant father becomes an embezzler and a sugar daddy to his secretary, her mother is having an affair with a retired military officer who is a family friend, and her lovelorn aunt is pining for her employer, a doctor who carries on with all his women patients. The book, of course, is a best seller and the whole town is gossiping about the girl's poor family and creating considerable problems for each member. The comedic complications unwind deftly, with an hilarious sequence depicting the characters as they appear in the way over-the-top book. The acting is superb, but we expect that with British films from the '50's. Ted Ray anchors the family and the film as the father. Jean Kent, an outstanding dramatic actress who had starred in such films as The Browning Version and The Woman in Question, shines as well in comedy and is wonderful as the slightly daffy mother. Joan Sims, of Carry On fame, is a riot as the maid. Also featured are familiar comedic actors Leslie Phillips as the doctor, Dilys Laye as the secretary, June Jago as the aunt. Lionel Jeffries as the family friend (whose efforts to teach the Jean Kent character to drive a car are simply hilarious), and Colin Gordon, Charles Hawtrey, Ronald Adam, and Joan Hickson. Best of all, though, is the leading actress who plays Jo, Julia "Toots" Lockwood, the young daughter of film great Margaret Lockwood. She is thoroughly charming and immensely appealing and at the same time plays her part with great sensitivity and conviction. Unfortunately, Toots didn't have a big film career, although she worked on the stage and on TV until she retired in the mid '70s. But she's a standout in this film, which is a must see for those who like British comedy of the period.

I started to watch a noir but knew I wasn't in the mood and searched for something comedic - good choice as it happens. It's a shame as these old films drift further and further back into oblivion that they fade away from view as during troubling times a lighter than air comedy provides a momentary escape from worry and cares.

This production should not be associated with carry on films despite the director being one Gerald Thomas - I personally found it operated on a different level and it was rather more 'sophisticated' than any Carry On production - in this film the characters are depicted as 'real' in real life settings whereas in Carry On films there's a nod to reality but not much more than that... the fun and laughs for me came when the 'book characters' are revealed and where there were truly funny moments - it's worth watching the whole film just for those segments. The comedic acting in all of these was I felt, good too - you can pick your own favourite from them but the one with 'mother and uncle' was, I thought, sublime - really all those segments were very amusing with some laugh out loud moments. I'm glad I found this film never having seen it previously and I feel the story stands up well for the times we live in seeing as it involves publicity about less than admirable behaviour - something we are confronted by constantly these days because of online content about peoples crimes and misdemeanors ... Finally, it's always really charming to see England as it was back in the day - car-less roads, small shops, smart attire; you could do a lot worse than spending an hour and a half watching this - you never know, it may make you laugh and forget any cares for that time.

This film shows why we were good at making comedy a classic film with a great cast I love watching as it takes me back to a quiet time not like today where life is fast