Simon et Laura

I've seen countless clips from this film over the years but never managed to see the whole thing. Well, today it popped up on Talking Pictures TV and I readied myself for a treat. Sadly I was disappointed - the film is a very middling example of the inconsequential fluff that the Rank/Box/St John team churned out in the 50's and early 60's. Despite some good names - Ian Carmichael, Peter Finch, Muriel Pavlow and Kay Kendall, the film has a very 'flat' feel to it and I have to say I was quite relieved when the final credits rolled. The muggy print shown by TPTV didn't help either.

I first saw this film on January 1, 1957 at Boston's Exeter Street Theatre,in those days the "temple" of British Cinema. Subsequently went to see it every Friday afternoon for a month even taking friends to see it. A very funny and witty film. Also, a very good historical look at early TV in Britain in the fifties.

Kay Kendall and Peter Finch great but look for an excellent performance from Muriel Pavlow-a wonderful actress who was much more than one of Mr. Rank's "English Roses". She is still acting and going strong.

Have only seen this film on television in the Boston area twice during the 1960s. I have been told that since it makes fun of television, there is some sensitivity to broadcasting it. Would anyone know if it is available on tape or DVD? THANKS!

When this film was made audiences were deserting cinemas in droves.So what better for the cinema but to have a swipe at tv and in colour.Simon and Laura are played with great relish by Peter Finch and the tragic Kay Kendall who died aged just 33.This spoofs family soaps and sit coms such as The Grove Family and Life withe the Lyons.

Released as TV in the UK began to challenge cinema, Simon and Laura happily confronts the issue involved in the new medium and the celebrity involved. The idea of pretentious actors trapped in a soap opera character is amusingly investigated. Great slice of Brit comedy, directed by the wonderful Muriel Box. The sort of unassuming film that makes you smile. Its cynicism is countered by a playful innocence in its construction. Top stuff Peter Finch, Kay Kendall and Ian Carmichael are warm and funny characters As always with Brit films from this time riddled with class Colour is great too. A real effort to show how superior cinema was to the new medium?

It absolutely astounds me that a film this fine is not more readily available to North American viewers.

A television producer (Ian Carmichael) in the early days of BBC Television sells the idea of a daily soap opera starring a "real life" show business couple. Unfortunately Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh are not available! However there is a suitable substitute in the Fosters (Peter Finch and Kay Kendall). What the producer doesn't know but which their agent (Hubert Gregg) does is that the Fosters are constantly at each others throat (and going home to mother!) and, of course, unemployed and broke. Reluctantly they set aside their fighting and accept the roles for the sake of solvency. To make the Fosters more comfortable in television their real life butler and maid (Maurice Denham and Thora Hird) are cast as their TV series butler and maid. Also along is the series writer (Muriel Pavlow) who has a crush on the producer. The series is a smash but its difficult playing lovey-dovey in front of the camera while fighting behind it. Naturally Carmichael is much more "understanding" of Kendall, than her husband is, and Pavlow is much more "admiring" of Finch, than his wife is. Complications ensue, not only from the couplings but from child actors as well. Eventually it becomes impossible to hide the off screen lives and they begin to cross over into live TV.

This "behind the scenes" movie plays off of the ego and self absorbation prevalent in show business. Finch is outstanding as an actor whose ego constantly needs constant nourishment. Kendall is outstanding as the jealous wife who must be the center of attention. Both characters are played large and the undercurrent of competition, relevant to today's dual career couples, is intense. Carmichael and Pavlow are more subdued "normal" people and subject only to the normal boy-girl misunderstandings. Denham and Hird steal every scene they can as the success of the show begins to effect their egos.

Technical credits, including color photography, are fine.

In all, an absolutely delightful movie. I saw this film once as a child and remembered the vivid characters ever since. It has taken me forty years before I could lay my hands on a copy. Never has a wait been as rewarded as it was with this film.