Cardboard Cavalier
{{Short description|1949 British film by Walter Forde}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Cardboard Cavalier
| image = Cardboard_Cavalier_(1949_film).jpg
| caption =
| director = Walter Forde
| producer = Walter Forde
Culley Forde
| writer = Noel Langley
| based_on =
| starring = Sid Field
Margaret Lockwood
Jerry Desmonde
| music = Lambert Williamson
| cinematography = Jack Hildyard
| editing = Alan Jaggs
| distributor = General Film Distributors
| studio = Two Cities Films
| released = {{Film date|1949|03|29|df=yes}}
| runtime = 96 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
Cardboard Cavalier is a 1948 British historical comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Sid Field, Margaret Lockwood and Jerry Desmonde.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090113221836/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/28736 BFI.org]
It was the last film for Forde and Field. Field died of a heart attack shortly after the film was released.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50206175 |title=Comedian Sid Field Dies Suddenly |newspaper=The Advertiser |volume=92 |issue=28,494 |location=Adelaide |date=4 February 1950 |accessdate=26 October 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Plot
In an England under the rule of Oliver Cromwell, London barrow boy Sidcup Buttermeadow is unwittingly used as a spy for the exiled Charles II to deliver messages to his royalist supporters, and is aided by the object of his affection, Nell Gwynn.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46226709 |title=CARDBOARD CAVALIER |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=17 |issue=31 |date=7 January 1950 |accessdate=26 October 2017 |page=34 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Dressed as a Cavalier, Sidcup is pursued by Roundhead troops, but evades them with the help of a variety of people and a ghost.
When Charles is eventually restored as king, Sid is knighted and gets to kiss Nell Gwynn.
Cast
- Sid Field as Sidcup Buttermeadow
- Margaret Lockwood as Nell Gwynne
- Jerry Desmonde as Colonel Lovelace
- Jack McNaughton as Uriah Group
- Brian Worth as Tom Pride
- Edmund Willard as Oliver Cromwell
- Mary Clare as Milady Doverhouse
- Alfie Dean as Murdercasket
- Anthony Hulme as Charles II
- Miles Malleson as Judge Gorebucket
- Irene Handl as the ghost of Lady Agnes
- Joan Young as Maggie
- Claude Hulbert as Sylvester Clutterbuck
- Michael Brennan as Brother Barebones
- Peter Bull as Mosspot
- Vincent Holman as Lord Doverhouse
- John Salew as Smug
Production
The film was part of an ambitious production programme from J. Arthur Rank to meet an increased quota for British films. His intent was to make 60 over 12 months.{{cite news|title=SIXTY NEW BRITISH FILMS: Programme for Year Beginning October|work=The Scotsman|location=Edinburgh, Scotland|date=10 June 1948|page=5}}
Sid Field's casting was announced in June 1948.{{cite news|title=Of Local Origin|work=New York Times|date=23 June 1948|page=32}} He made the movie after a six-month tour of the US. Field's previous film, London Town, had been a big flop but his popularity on stage encouraged Rank to try him again in films.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228996670 |title=Sid Field to make new film |newspaper=The Sun |issue=2350 |location=Sydney |date=25 April 1948 |accessdate=26 October 2017 |page=27 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Pat Roc was meant to play the role of Nell Gwynn but reportedly turned it down and was replaced by Margaret Lockwood, who was keen to play comedy again after making a number of dramas.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55900799 |title=Landis Film Shown On Suicide Day |newspaper=The Mail |volume=37 |issue=1,885 |location=Adelaide |date=17 July 1948 |accessdate=26 October 2017 |page=3 (Sunday Magazine) |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203237545 |title=Talking of TALKIES |newspaper=Truth |issue=2515 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=6 June 1948 |accessdate=30 April 2016 |page=20 |via=National Library of Australia}} Field's son was born during filming on 5 August.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55898809 |title=Rank studios close for holidays |newspaper=The Mail |volume=37 |issue=1,892 |location=Adelaide |date=4 September 1948 |accessdate=30 April 2016 |page=3 (SUNDAY MAGAZINE) |via=National Library of Australia}}
Filming started in June 1948. It was made at Denham Studios. Production of the film was interrupted by a strike from crew members in protest over recent sackings of film workers.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59488418 |title=FILM STRIKE. |newspaper=The Sunday Times |location=Perth |date=31 October 1948 |accessdate=4 March 2013 |page=12 Section: The Sunday Times Sporting Section |via=National Library of Australia}} Cast member Alfie Dean died as the result of an off-set accident during the period of filming.[http://thirdbanana.blogspot.com/2005/11/who-are-collinson-and-dean.html Aaron Neathery, "Who are Collinson and Dean?", The Third Banana, 8 November 2005]. Retrieved 22 February 2021
Filming ended in January 1949.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article191838242 |title=SCREEN AND ITS STARS |newspaper=Warwick Daily News |issue=9177 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=3 January 1949 |accessdate=30 April 2016 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} Lockwood wrote in her memoirs that "we had a romp of a time with Sid Field."{{cite book|first=Margaret|last=Lockwood|title=Lucky Star: The Autobiography of Margaret Lockwood|publisher=Odhams Press Limited|year=1955|page=143}}
Reception
The film was a critical and box-office disappointment.
"I was terribly distressed when I read the press notices of the film", wrote Lockwood.Margaret Lockwood, "Was I Difficult?", Picturegoer, 22 April 1950 p 15
Some reviews have been much more positive. The critic Derek Winnert noted that the film was "well timed, sprightly and funny, and exuberantly played by a welcome vintage cast, as well as amusingly written by Noel Langley and nicely directed by the comedy expert Forde."{{cite web |url=http://www.derekwinnert.com/cardboard-cavalier-1949-sid-field-margaret-lockwood-mary-clare-jerry-desmonde-claude-hulbert-irene-handl-classic-movie-review-8599/ |title=Cardboard Cavalier *** (1949 Sid Field, Margaret Lockwood, Mary Clare, Jerry Desmonde, Claude Hulbert, Irene Handl) – Classic Movie Review 8599 |website=www.derekwinnert.com |date= 17 June 2019|access-date=29 July 2021}} Variety spoke of Langley's script "blend[ing] comedy, bathos and sheer slapstick with skill and ingenuity" and also highlighted Lockwood as playing her role with "great gusto...verve and vivacity".https://archive.org/details/variety174-1949-04/page/n6/mode/1up?view=theater, Variety, April 1949. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
The film was banned in Syria in 1953.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27131814 |title=Syria Bans British Film |newspaper=The Mercury |volume=CLXXIII |issue=25,606 |location=Tasmania |date=15 January 1953 |accessdate=30 April 2016 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0041228}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160603004414/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/Cardboard-Cavalier_1949 Cardboard Cavalier] at Britmovie
- [https://archive.org/stream/variety174-1949-04#page/n7/mode/2up Review of film] at Variety
{{Walter Forde}}
Category:Films directed by Walter Forde
Category:1940s historical comedy films
Category:British historical comedy films
Category:Films shot at Denham Film Studios
Category:Films set in the 1650s
Category:British black-and-white films
Category:Films with screenplays by Noel Langley
Category:Cultural depictions of Charles II of England
Category:Cultural depictions of Oliver Cromwell
Category:1940s English-language films