Father's Doing Fine
{{Short description|1952 British film by Henry Cass}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Father's Doing Fine
| image = Father's Doing Fine FilmPoster.jpeg
| alt =
| caption =
| director = Henry Cass
| producer = Victor Skutezky
| based_on = Little Lambs Eat Ivy by Noel Langley
| writer = Anne Burnaby
| narrator =
| starring = Richard Attenborough
Heather Thatcher
Noel Purcell
Virginia McKenna
| music = Philip Green
Harold Smart
| cinematography = Erwin Hillier
| editing = Edward B. Jarvis
| studio = Marble Arch Productions
| distributor = Associated British-Pathé
Stratford Pictures (US)
| released = {{Film date|1952|08}}
| runtime = 83 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = £127,822 (UK)Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p499
}}
Father's Doing Fine is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Henry Cass and starring Richard Attenborough, Heather Thatcher, and Noel Purcell, and featuring Sid James.{{Cite web |title=Father's Doing Fine |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150037590 |access-date=7 April 2025 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6a9e8dbd|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711233951/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6a9e8dbd|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-11|title=Father's Doing Fine (1952) - BFI|work=BFI}} It was written by Anne Burnaby based on the 1948 play Little Lambs Eat Ivy by Noel Langley.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&q=father%27s+doing+fine+1952+literary+sources+in+film&pg=PA274|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|first=Alan|last=Goble|date=8 September 2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110951943|via=Google Books}}
Plot
Eccentric upper-class widow Lady Buckering lives in splendour in Hampstead, but behind the scenes is struggling with poverty and bringing up four demanding daughters, one of whom is about to have a baby. Also of concern is the very nervous father-to-be and how exactly to deal with her light-fingered butler. All problems disappear in a happy ending and Lady Buckering marries the family doctor.
Cast
- Richard Attenborough as Dougall
- Heather Thatcher as Lady Buckering
- Noel Purcell as Shaughnessy
- George Thorpe as Dr Drew
- Diane Hart as Doreen
- Susan Stephen as Bicky
- Mary Germaine as Gerda
- Virginia McKenna as Catherine
- Jack Watling as Clifford Magill
- Peter Hammond as Roly
- Brian Worth as Wilfred
- Sid James as Taxi Driver
- Ambrosine Phillpotts as Nurse Pynegar
- Wensley Pithey as Police Constable
- Jonathan Field as Zookeeper
- Harry Locke as Father in Zoo
Production
It was shot at Associated British's Elstree Studios with sets designed by the art director Donald M. Ashton.
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "With the exception of George Thorpe as the doctor and Heather Thatcher as the mother, the youthful cast of this artificial and laboured comedy are all inclined to over-play their parts. Despite this excessive exuberance, however, this is a moderately entertaining film which will doubtless prove popular. The colour is quite good."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1952 |title=Father's Doing Fine |volume=19 |issue=216 |pages=143 |id={{ProQuest|1305816920}} |magazine=The Monthly Film Bulletin}}
Picture Show wrote: "This lively, crazy, domestic comedy deals in a crazy way with crazy people – a scatter-brained mama suffering from being awfully hard up, and her four daughters suffering from affairs of the heart, while they are robbed by a butler. It is brightly directed and acted."{{Cite journal |date=22 November 1952 |title=Father's Doing Fine |volume=59 |issue=1547 |pages=10 |id={{ProQuest|1880310132}} |magazine=Picture Show}}
TV Guide called it a "Fast-moving, barely plotted comedy," and "Unpretentious entertainment."{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/fathers-doing-fine/review/114445|title=Father's Doing Fine | TV Guide|website=TVGuide.com}}{{Dead link|date=April 2025|fix-attempted=yes}}
The Radio Times wrote "such is the precision of Henry Cass's direction and the exuberance of the performances that it's difficult not to be sucked into this frantic world of scatterbrained daughters, disastrous share deals and crooked butlers," concluding that "The pace disguises the fact that the humour has dated somewhat, but there's rarely a dull moment."{{Cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/film/gsxgbk/fathers-doing-fine/|title=Father's Doing Fine – review | cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online|website=Radio Times}}
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Busy boisterous comedy, chock full of entrances and exits. Funny too."{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd. |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=308}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0044605}}
Category:Films shot at Associated British Studios
Category:Films directed by Henry Cass
Category:1952 romantic comedy films
Category:British romantic comedy films
Category:Films with screenplays by Noel Langley
Category:British films based on plays
Category:1950s English-language films