Till Death Us Do Part (film)

Till Death Us Do Part
Directed by Norman Cohen
Produced by Jon Penington
Written by Johnny Speight
Starring Warren Mitchell
Dandy Nichols
Music by Wilfred Burns
Cinematography Harry Waxman
Edited by Anthony Lenny
Distributed by British Lion UK
Release dates
  • 1969
Running time
100 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Till Death Us Do Part is a 1969 film based on the BBC television series Till Death Us Do Part. The film was directed by Norman Cohen and written by Johnny Speight, the creator of the television version.The film was considered successful enough at the box office to spawn a sequel, The Alf Garnett Saga in 1972.[1]

Plot

The film begins in September 1939 shortly before World War II begins. Alf Garnett, a dockyard worker, and his wife Else have been married for only a few weeks, and are already weary of one another. Alf gets called up for military duty but is turned down because he's in a reserved occupation. The film depicts their lives during the London Blitz. Else eventually gets pregnant to Alf and Else's shock, and they have a baby daughter, Rita, in 1942. The war ends in 1945 with a huge street party and Alf, characteristically, gets drunk.

Midway through the film it advances from the end of World War II to the 1966 General Election. Rita is now a young woman and engaged to Mike Rawlins, a long haired layabout from Liverpool. Alf dislikes him because of his support for the Labour Party. Mike and Rita marry in a Catholic church, further angering Alf. At the wedding supper he fights with Mike's family. But Alf and Mike grow a bit closer, attending the 1966 World Cup final together.

The film ends in 1968 with the family moving to a new tower block in Essex after their East End neighbourhood street is demolished.

Cast

Reception

Critical

Time Out wrote, "In its favour, it preserves the original characterisations at something like full strength and doesn't attempt to stitch three weekly episodes together and pass it off as a feature."[2]

Box Office

The film was the third most popular movie at the UK box office in 1969. (The first two were Carry On Camping and Carry On... Up the Khyber.)[3]

Notes

References

  1. The Alf Garnett Saga
  2. "Till Death Us Do Part | review, synopsis, book tickets, showtimes, movie release date | Time Out London". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  3. "The World's Top Twenty Films." Sunday Times [London, England] 27 Sept. 1970: 27. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. accessed 5 Apr. 2014

External links