Village Voice has an article by Scott Foundas on this 1947 Ealing Studios film. It was directed by Robert Hamer, who is best remembered for Kind Hearts and Coronets:But Foundas writes:
Yet if Kind Hearts is an undeniable comic triumph, Hamer was ultimately better served by tragedy. It Always Rains on Sunday is a masterpiece of dead ends and might-have-beens, highly inventive in its use of flashbacks and multiple overlapping narratives, and brilliantly acted by Withers and McCallum. Compacted into a breathless 90 minutes, the entire film exists in a state of high anxiety—not a frame is wasted. Finally, day gives way to night, the despair thickens, and all points converge on a fever-dream train-yard finale of long shadows, deep focus, billowing smoke, and rear projection.The IMDB page on It Always Rains on Sunday is here. Both its stars - John McCallum and Googie Withers - are still going strong.
A quite wonderful film. One of the most evocative of the post war period too. (I'm working my way through Austerity Britain presently and have read other books about the time as well.)
ReplyDeleteLove the spivs, the air raid shelter, the band leader. I can't quite remember but avuncular Jack Warner must be in it surely?
Thanks for posting this.
Yes, Jack Warner is the detective pursuing McCallum.
ReplyDeleteBut do remember that he sometimes played villains.