6.0
A British housewife does her own battles against the enemy during World War II.
Ursula Jeans
Martha Dacre
Cecil Parker
Geoffrey Radcliffe
Joan Hopkins
Helen Dacre Winan
Derek Bond
Lt. Comdr. Nigel Winan
Thora Hird
Mrs. Gaye
Bill Owen
Soldier with Chicken
Lana Morris
Lolly Dacre McIntyre
John Stone
Roddy McIntyre
Digby Wolfe
Benjie Dacre
Marian Spencer
Harriet Lessing
Kynaston Reeves
Captain Dishart
Basil Appleby
Kathleen Boutall
Dorothy Bramhall
Mrs. Monica Maling
Campbell Cotts
Helen Goss
Marjorie Gresley
Shop Supervisor
Gladys Henson
Woman in Fish Queue
Vi Kaley
Old Woman on Sea Front
Eleanor Summerfield
Clippie
Merle Tottenham
Woman in Fish Queue
Joan White
Director
Roy Ward Baker
Writer
Esther McCracken
Writer
Paul Soskin
July 9, 2022
7
I found the title of this rather classy wartime drama a bit misleading. Though it is told from the perspective of the widowed "Martha" (Ursula Jeans) and focusses on the stay at home elements of fighting during WWII - there isn't really anything weak about her dedication to her duties; nor of those of her counterparts. She plays her character with poignancy, dealing with the day-to-day trials and tribulations reconciling her work and her home - in which she billets RN commander "Geoffrey" (Cecil Parker) and sailor "Roddy" whilst her own two children are away serving. From a narrative perspective it climaxes with the D-Day landings and, intercut with War Office actuality, conveys a genuine sense of the fraught anticipation of those at home. Once the war has been won, the story rather peters out - a few fun jibes at the pains of rationing, and that most British of all things - the queue; and there is a degree of stoic, stiff upper lip-ness about the attitudes that makes the characterisations plausible and engaging, but it does slip a little into melodrama. There are a few welcome cameos from Thora Hird as their housekeeper (and, briefly, from Bill Owen with whom she starred in "Last of the Summer Wine" some 60-odd years later) and Kynaston Reeves. The story isn't all plain sailing: grim reality raises it's ugly head now and again, but that is handled subtly and isn't dwindled upon - helping the proceedings march along at a decent pace. I expect this went down well with audiences in 1948 - it's good.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00