The Gentle Sex

The Gentle Sex
The Gentle Sex
Directed by	Leslie Howard
Written by	Moie Charles ; additional dialogue:; Aimée Stuart
Produced by	Derrick de Marney
Starring	Joan Gates; Jean Gillie; Joan Greenwood; Joyce Howard; Rosamund John; Lilli Palmer; John Justin
Narrated by	Leslie Howard
Cinematography	Robert Krasker
Edited by	Charles Saunders
Music by	John D. H. Greenwood
Production; companies	Derrick De Marney Productions; Two Cities Films
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release date	15 April 1943
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Gentle Sex is a 1943 British black-and-white romantic comedy-drama war film, directed and narrated by Leslie Howard. It was produced by Concanen Productions, Two Cities Films, and Derrick de Marney.^[1] The Gentle Sex was Howard's last film before his death.^[2]

Synopsis

The documentary-drama follows seven women from different backgrounds who meet at an Auxiliary Territorial Service training camp. "Gentle" British girls, they are now doing their bit to help out in World War II: driving lorries and manning ack-ack batteries. Leslie Howard provides ironic narration throughout the film.^[3]^[4]

Cast

Best source is at BFI:

ATS volunteers

Joan Gates as Gwen Hayden
Jean Gillie as Dot Hopkins
Joan Greenwood as Betty Miller
Joyce Howard as Anne Lawrence
Rosamund John as Maggie Fraser
Lilli Palmer as Erna Debruski
Barbara Waring as Joan Simpson

Other characters

John Justin as Flying Officer David Sheridan
Mary Jerrold as Mrs Sheridan
John Laurie as Corporal Alexander Balfour
Elliott Mason as Mrs Fraser
Harry Welchman as Captain Ferrier
Miles Malleson as train guard
Jimmy Hanley as first soldier on train
Meriel Forbes as Davis, junior commander
Rosalyn Boulter as Sally, telephonist
Tony Bazell as Ted
Frederick Leister as Colonel Lawrence
Everley Gregg as Miss Simpson
Noreen Craven as convoy sergeant
Frederick Peisley as second soldier on train
Ronald Shiner (as Ronnie Shiner) as the racing punter in the pub
Roland Pertwee as captain
Nicholas Stuart (actor) as Canadian private
Frank Atkinson (actor) as lorry driver
Peter Cotes as Taffy
Maud Dunham as Mrs Miller
Leslie Howard as narrator ("observations of a mere man")
and various appearances by members of HM Forces

Box Office

Kinematograph Weekly listed a series of films that were "runners up" in its survey of the most popular films in Britain in 1943: The Gentle Sex, The Lamp Still Burns, Dear Octopus and The Adventures of Tartu.^[5]

Critical reception

TV Guide noted "some lucid and funny moments in a capable and intelligent production for its time";^[6] and Billy Mowbray wrote, for Film 4, "if only social history was this good at school. Funny, fascinating and probably unlike any film you've seen before, The Gentle Sex is a bona fide cultural treasure." ^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b "The Gentle Sex". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
^ "BFI Screenonline: Gentle Sex, The (1943)". screenonline.org.uk.
^ "The Gentle Sex". britmovie.co.uk.
^ "The Gentle Sex (1943) directed by Leslie Howard • Film + cast • Letterboxd". letterboxd.com.
^ Lant, Antonia (1991). Blackout : reinventing women for wartime British cinema. Princeton University Press. p. 231.
^ "The Gentle Sex". TV Guide.
^ "The Gentle Sex". film4.com.

External links

The Gentle Sex at AllMovie
Template:BFI
The Gentle Sex at IMDb
The Gentle Sex at the BFI's Screenonline

[BFI-1] "The Gentle Sex". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.

[2] "BFI Screenonline: Gentle Sex, The (1943)". screenonline.org.uk.

[3] "The Gentle Sex". britmovie.co.uk.

[4] "The Gentle Sex (1943) directed by Leslie Howard • Film + cast • Letterboxd". letterboxd.com.

[5] Lant, Antonia (1991). Blackout : reinventing women for wartime British cinema. Princeton University Press. p. 231.

[6] "The Gentle Sex". TV Guide.

[7] "The Gentle Sex". film4.com.

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