Always a Bride (1953 film)

Always a Bride
Directed by	Ralph Smart
Written by	Peter Jones Ralph Smart
Produced by	Robert Garrett George Pitcher Earl St. John
Starring	Peggy Cummins Terence Morgan Ronald Squire James Hayter
Cinematography	James Bawden C. M. Pennington-Richards
Edited by	Alfred Roome
Music by	Benjamin Frankel
Production company	Clarion Films
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release date	12 August 1953 (1953-08-12)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Always a Bride is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Ralph Smart and starring Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan and Ronald Squire. It was written by Peter Jones and Smart.

Plot

A British father and daughter work a confidence trick up and down the luxury hotels of the French Riviera by posing as a newly married couple. Trouble begins, however, when the daughter falls in love with a tax investigator.

Cast

• Peggy Cummins as Clare Hemsley
• Terence Morgan as Terence Winch
• Ronald Squire as Victor Hemsley
• James Hayter as Dutton
• Marie Lohr as dowager
• Geoffrey Sumner as Teddy
• David Hurst as Beckstein
• Sebastian Cabot as taxi driver
• Charles Goldner as hotel manager
• Jacques B. Brunius as Inspector
• Jill Day as singer
• Jacques Brown as manager
• Dino Galvani as magistrate
• Mary Hinton as dowager
• Eliot Makeham as Roger, hotel guest
• Martin Benson as hotel desk clerk
• Robert Rietti as Inspector

Production

The film's sets were designed by Maurice Carter.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Ralph Smart succeeds in giving this story, with its many unoriginal elements, a certain gloss of humour and telling characterisation. But the dialogue is not, in spite of topicalities about the Dockers and Farouk, sufficiently biting and for a comedy of situation the film is too loosely constructed. Terence Moro gives a pleasant performance, though it is to be doubted if such clean-hearted ingenuousness would ever detect a currency fraud. As the crooks, Ronald Squire and Marie Lohr are well cast, and their ripe, well-bred knavery shows up Peggy Cummins as a sleek but savourless White Sheep of the syndicate. Pleasant entertainment, but quickly forgotten afterwards."

Kine Weekly wrote: "Neither the story nor the dialogue is particularly snappy, but all the same, the principal players and the director succeed in giving the elegant, if slightly stagey, set-up agreeable veneer."

Variety wrote: "Neatly contrived and unpretentious little comedy that should make a good second feature in picture houses in some countries. ... Slow at the start, pic builds to an amusing climax in typical French farce fashion. A group of seasoned players gives an air of credulity to a preposterous situation."

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Silly comedy comes off, thanks to polished production, amusing characterization, neat script."

External links

• Always a Bride at IMDb