1938 British film by Carol Reed
Bank Holiday (also known as Three on a Weekend) is a 1938 British drama film directed by Carol Reed and starring John Lodge, Margaret Lockwood, Hugh Williams and Kathleen Harrison.[1] The film was popular and helped establish Carol Reed's reputation.[2]
Plot
On a 1930s bank holiday weekend, a number of people rush for trains to head to the seaside. They include: an unmarried couple, nurse Catherine Lawrence and her boyfriend Geoffrey. Catherine is distracted by thoughts of Stephen Howard, widower of a patient who died in childbirth; May and Arthur and their working-class family; two female friends, Doreen and Milly, looking for romance and Doreen to win a beauty contest.[3]
Cast
Production
It was the third collaboration between Reed and Lockwood.[4] Actor Michael Rennie appeared (uncredited) as a Welsh Guardsman in the film.
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The comedy of the Cockney family, and of "Miss Balham" the would-be beauty queen and her confidante, is rather hackneyed also the playing of the cockney characters is inclined to be theatrical, except in the case of Wally Patch, who gives a delightfully naturalistic performance. The dramatic element is extremely well-served by John Lodge, who is really moving as the young husband, and by Margaret Lockwood. An unforgettable piece of character acting is provided by Wilfred Lawson as a police sergeant who has to interrogate Margaret Lockwood when the car in which she has begged a lift to London is stopped by the police. There are many minor improbabilities in the plot, and the use of strong tragedy as a kind of subplot is perhaps open to question; but the excellent acting and brilliant direction, coupled with the fact that the plot deals with the realities of English life, give it a vividness that makes it definitely a film to see."[5]
The Sunday Express called it "'one of the ablest pieces of picture-making to come out of a British studio."[6]
Lockwood was voted third best actress of 1938 by the readers of Film Weekly.[7]
References
External links
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