spottedowl

This below par comedy rarely surfaces above average.

Poor casting of the lead players along with diffident direction produces a movie that is best described as a letdown.

Without the talents of the irrepressible James Robertson Justice propping up the whole shebang it would be something to miss - however his presence does stand out and makes it worthwhile to have a look on a rainy afternoon.

Most of the support cast, notably Joan Sims, manage well enough with the tripe being fed to them. Personally, I expect more from an English comedy than has been presented here.

This disaster of a movie has nothing to recommend. While the actors try hard enough there is little they can do with such a nonsensical script. The plot – what plot? After looking at 14 other houses the female lead is attracted to this one which seems to give her an orgasm just looking around it. From there it's all downhill. For anyone with an IQ of seven or less this will probably be an attractive thing to watch, else wise it is a turkey.

The direction is poor, the photography is appalling and thumps and gurgles that are substituted for 'music' really turn this shocker into an ordeal to sit through, torture at the top end of the scale. Miss this if you can ...

This is a TV remake of the 1951 movie bearing the same name. It's hard not to make comparisons between the two versions. Both story lines are faithfully identical but this version is an hour longer than the original so things dawdle along in some places, but never long enough to lose interest in the goings on.

The story revolves around a school girl claiming to have been kidnapped, beaten and forced to be a servant to two women in an old mansion 'The Franchise'. She is able to escape their clutches and her family reports the events to the authorities, resulting in a criminal trial of these women, mother and daughter.

While the movie is absorbing, the two and a half hours pass by well enough, it suffers from being a made for TV item. The direction meanders and some of the photography looks as though it was done by an apprentice. The acting is quite good but not all the characters are fleshed out, the background sounds and music is very poor. One of the best parts of the viewing was (for me) the wonderful old British motor vehicles of the period which were there in abundance. It often appeared that it was a stage play that was being seen.

All in all, well worth the viewing. While not as intriguing as the 1951 version it does stand on its own merits, one of the very few re-makes that has been successfully done. One can't help thinking of the absolute travesty of 'The Ladykillers' when regarding re-makes.

If you can find one, or both these versions, do so - you'll not be disappointed with either.