All Over the Town

All Over the Town

Original film poster
Directed by Derek N. Twist
Produced by Ian Dalrymple
Michael Gordon
Screenplay by Michael Gordon
Derek N. Twist
Based on All Over the Town 
by R.F. Delderfield
Starring Norman Wooland
Sarah Churchill
Cyril Cusack
Ronald Adam
Music by Temple Abady
Cinematography C.M. Pennington-Richards
Edited by Sidney Stone
Production
company
Wessex Film Productions
Pinewood Films
Release dates
  • 2 March 1949
Running time
83 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

All Over the Town is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Derek N. Twist and starring Norman Wooland, Sarah Churchill and Cyril Cusack. It was based on a novel by R.F. Delderfield.

Plot

After serving in the RAF during the Second World War, Nat Hearn (Norman Wooland) returns to his prewar job as a reporter on the Tormouth Clarion. He is now working alongside Sally Thorpe (Sarah Churchill), who had taken his job when he enlisted. Later, Nat becomes the owner of the paper, but his employees strike, disagreeing with Nat's stance on Tormouth's housing scheme. The town supports Nat in the dispute.

Cast

Production

All Over the Town was the fourth of five films produced by Wessex Film Productions, a production company founded in 1947 by Ian Dalrymple and Jack Lee, both formerly of the Crown Film Unit.[1] The film was shot in Lyme Regis.[2]

Reception

The New York Times described it as a "slow, dogmatic little picture" with a "dog-eared" plot.[3] In The Times, the film's plot was seen as unoriginal, executed "without inspiration or any originality of thought".[4]

Later history

By the beginning of the 21st century, the only known surviving copy of the film was the negative at the BFI National Film and Television Archive. In 2005, the Lyme Regis Film Society commissioned the production of a new print from the negative. This copy of the film is housed in Lyme Regis Museum and has been shown at the local Regent Cinema on a few occasions.[2]

References

  1. Murphy, Robert (2004). Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48. Taylor and Francis. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-203-39265-2.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Maslan, Adrianne (21 May 2011). "Blast from the past is set for new screening". Bridport News.
  3. "All over the Town (1949) at the Embassy". New York Times. 26 May 1949.
  4. "New films in London". The Times. 7 March 1949.

External links