His and Hers is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Terry-Thomas, Janette Scott and Wilfrid Hyde-White.[1] The film follows an eccentric author who tries to impose his lifestyle on his reluctant wife.
| His and Hers | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Brian Desmond Hurst |
| Written by | Jan Englund Robert Lowell (as Mark Lowell) Stanley Mann |
| Produced by | Hal E. Chester |
| Starring | Terry-Thomas Janette Scott Wilfrid Hyde-White Nicole Maurey |
| Cinematography | Ted Scaife |
| Edited by | Max Benedict |
| Music by | John Addison |
Production company | Sabre Film Production |
| Distributed by | Eros Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Plot
editWhile researching his latest novel I Conquered the Desert in North Africa, Reggie Blake finds himself lost in the desert. Rescued by a Bedouin tribe, and finally shipped home, Reggie enthusiastically adopts Bedouin dress and customs, much to the frustration of his wife, Fran. She declares herself unable to live with him, so they split their home down the middle. There is further drama when Reggie's publisher rejects his new novel out of hand.
Cast
edit- Terry-Thomas as Reggie Blake
- Janette Scott as Fran Blake
- Wilfrid Hyde-White as Charles Dunton
- Nicole Maurey as Simone Rolfe
- Joan Sims as Hortense
- Kenneth Connor as Harold
- Meier Tzelniker as Felix McGregor
- Joan Hickson as Phoebe
- Oliver Reed as poet
- Francesca Annis as Wanda
- Dorinda Stevens as Dora
- Kenneth Williams as policeman
- Barbara Hicks as woman
- Billy Lambert as baby
- Colin Gordon as television announcer
- Marie Devereux as wife
Critical reception
editThe Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Written as a satire on the sharp practices behind best-sellers, this film might have had both comedy and point. In its present form, it merely shows how ingrown and futile comedy can become when it takes its material, for the nth time, from other comedy instead of from life. It may well be that there is humour in people getting drunk, in men mismanaging the home, in Englishmen dressed as Bedouins, and in dry old sticks being seduced by plump young Frenchwomen (all elements which pad this thin farce), but if so it requires more originality than this to sustain an audience's laughter. The behaviour of literary folk (both hearty and arty) in the film suggests that the scriptwriter's acquaintance with any branch of literature is slight. One grows tired of saying that British film comedy is in the doldrums; and of wondering how long actors who have made the grade as comedians in their own right will continue to do themselves the disservice of appearing in it."[2]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Probably the main amusement for viewers of this comedy will be in spotting the familiar faces in the cast, not least Oliver Reed as a poet and Kenneth Williams as an unlikely policeman. The under-nourished screenplay has Terry-Thomas as a writer who transforms from silly ass to recognisable human being when forced to confront reality during a research trip on Bedouins in the desert."[3]
Leslie Halliwell said: "The thinnest of comedy ideas becomes a film of almost no substance at all."[4]
References
edit- ^ "His and Hers". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "His and Hers". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 28 (324): 19. 1 January 1961 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 420. ISBN 9780992936440.
- ^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 469. ISBN 0586088946.
External links
edit- His and Hers at IMDb
