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.

When I read the description of "Meet Mr. Lucifer" on our onscreen TV listings guide I knew I wanted to watch it. I saw it on the Talking Pictures Channel, which was appropriate as the channel features British films and documentaries about life in Britain in the past decades. "Meet Mr. Lucifer" is a delightful satire on television in the days when the new medium was beginning to make an impact and helping to dwindle audiences for cinemas and variety theaters. I imagine the screenwriter and the producers enjoyed making barbs at their new rival including showing television as the actual work of the Devil, Lucifer's latest device to make people miserable. The film also explores how people are affected by new technology. One major character, Mr Pedelty, doesn't even own a radio. A spellbound drinker at the pub marvels that the miracle of television makes it possible for him to see a famous person live while his sister in Eastbourne can also see the famous person live at the same time, so surely he can see the spirits of his late father and other relatives, as they are also apparitions. American viewers may wonder why the satire doesn't include spoofs of the constant TV commercials that are sent up in movies of the 1950s such as The Seven Year Itch and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter. "Meet Mr Lucifer" was made before the advent of commercial television in the UK; ITV, the country's first commercial television provider, began in 1955. The film captures a period when the BBC had no rival stations and literally was the only show in town. The Lonely Hearts singer can only hint at a product that is paying her for her endorsement elsewhere, as the BBC prohibits advertising. The reactions of the characters to Mr Pedelty's set show how novel the programmes must have appeared, even genres that were long established on radio, such as horse racing, panel games, and variety musical programmes. Mr Pedelty replies "good night" to the news announcer as he bids the viewers good night, the young married woman from upstairs and her friends sit spellbound through a lecture about physics and gasp in wonder at the shots of hand drawn graphics, when a square dancing programme starts they stand up and begin to dance along, accompanied by children on the street who watch the screen through a window. One of the film's funniest and most touching sequences show a bachelor becoming so infatuated with the "lonely hearts" singer he hangs her portrait on his bedroom wall and at work, then when his enjoyment of the programme is interrupted by noises outside his room, seizes his landlady's offending vacuum cleaner, his neighbour's hammer, and part of the motor of a motorcycle revving in the street outside. The shots of the huge offices full of clerks typing and sending seemingly personal responses from the singer to fans of the show are a nice look at how TV was already hatching schemes to increase ratings. I also smiled when the young husband objected at the idea of having the TV in the bedroom- there were already quips back then that having a set in the bedroom wasn't good for a marriage. I agree with the reviewer who said the film needed to have more scenes with Stanley Holloway. It would have benefited from showing a larger range of characters than the residents of a single London house, and would have been much sharper if its satire was more stinging. The man running the show was Lucifer, after all. Overall it's a gentle satire of the days when people were amazed at pictures in their living room and the new medium was beginning to take form.

Before going on stage, an actor playing Lucifer (Stanley Holloway) comes back to the theatre drunk after having a discussion in a pub about the scourge of television. After he knocks his head he is introduced to Lucifer himself (also played by Holloway) who shows him a story about a TV set and how it causes misery to its various owners.

An interesting minor Ealing comedy about the then very real threat of television on cinema, as cinema itself had done previously with the theatre. It's patchy, but also highly enjoyable. The film is peppered with well known names in this otherwise very topical film. Holloway of course appears in a couple of roles, but his voice as Lucifer was dubbed by Geoffrey Keen. Based off a play by Arnold Ridley, the future Private Godfrey in 'Dad's Army'.

Meet Mr. Lucifer is directed by Anthony Pelissier and adapted to screenplay by Monja Danischewsky from Arnold Ridley's (later to play private Godfrey in the long running situation comedy) Dad's Army) play (Beggar My Neighbour). It stars Stanley Holloway, Peggy Cummins, Jack Watling, Barbara Murray, Joseph Tomelty, Humphrey Lestocq and Gordon Jackson. Music is by Eric Rogers and cinematography by Desmond Dickinson.

Out of Ealing Studios, Meet Mr. Lucifer is one of that great studio's lesser lights. Homing in on a sort of fear of the new home entertainment of the 50s, that of the TV set, plot features a television set that moves from owner to owner and causes nothing but trouble for said owners. This of course is the work of Old Nick himself, here essayed with a glint in his eye by Holloway. Sadly the attempts at satire miss the mark, leaving us with a somewhat uneven mix of comedy and seriousness. On the plus side it opens the eyes to the iffy quality on the TV in the early 50s, while there's a roll call of fine British actors in the supporting (cameo) slots.

Interestingly the Ealing hierarchy were very wary of the themes at the core of the picture, which explains why Pelissier was fetched in to direct. Knowing they themselves were uncommitted to the production goes some way to explaining the flat feel to it all. 5/10

Just discovered this gem via Talking Pictures. A charming and very funny film. The story is a one off - the effect of the dreaded tv on the lives of those who become entranced with it. A host of wonderful actors popping up. A great script, witty and cogent. I wonder why this film is not better known. Great fun and a joy to watch.