A Boy, a Girl and a Bike
| A Boy, a Girl and a Bike | |
|---|---|
.jpg) British quad poster | |
| Directed by | Ralph Smart |
| Screenplay by | Ted Willis |
| Story by | Ralph Keene & John Sommerfield |
| Produced by | Ralph Keene Alfred Roome |
| Starring | John McCallum Honor Blackman Patrick Holt Diana Dors |
| Cinematography | Ray Elton Phil Grindrod |
| Edited by | James Needs |
| Music by | Kenneth Pakeman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £61,000 (by 1953)[1] |
A Boy, a Girl and a Bike is a 1949 British romantic comedy film directed by Ralph Smart and starring John McCallum, Honor Blackman and Patrick Holt,[2] with art direction by George Provis.[3][4] The screenplay was by Ted Willis. The film is set in Wakeford and in the Yorkshire Dales and features cycle sabotage and cycling tactics.
Plot
[edit]Young couple Sue and Sam are members of a Yorkshire cycling club, the Wakeford Wheelers. Romantic complications ensue when wealthy David becomes smitten with Sue and joins the club to pursue her, much to Sam's dismay.
Cast
[edit]- John McCallum as David Howarth
- Honor Blackman as Susie Bates
- Patrick Holt as Sam Walters
- Diana Dors as Ada Foster
- Maurice Denham as Bill Martin
- Leslie Dwyer as Steve Hall
- Anthony Newley as Charlie Ritchie
- Megs Jenkins as Nan Ritchie
- John Blythe as Frank Martin
- Hal Osmond as Mr. Bates
- Thora Hird as Mrs. Bates
- Amy Veness as Grandma Bates
- Maggie Hanley as Ginger
- Cyril Chamberlain as Bert Gardner
- Barry Letts as Syd
- Vera Cook as Helen Gardner
- Julien Mitchell as Mr. Howarth
- Alison Leggatt as Mrs. Howarth
- Lyn Evans as Policeman in Cafe
- Margot Bourke as Mary Bates
- Geoffrey Best as Harry
- John Howlett as Alf Pearson
- Patrick Halstead as Willie
- Joan Seton as Beryl Howarth
- Dennis Peck as Norman Bates
- Vera Williams as Jill Bates
- Bernard Hepton as Cyclist
- Gerald Lawson as Dog Seller
- Barbara Murray
- Valerie Pearson as Cyclist
- Charles Saynor as Policeman
- Marianne Stone
- Ben Williams as New Houseowner
Production
[edit]The film is based on an original idea by Sydney Box, who was head of production at Gainsborough. Box devised the idea while out for a Sunday drive and assigned the script to Ted Willis, who had worked for Box on the scripts for Holiday Camp and The Huggetts Abroad. Willis had a reputation as a skilled writer for working-class characters. The film was originally titled Wheels Within Wheels.[5][6]
Richard Attenborough was meant to play a key role but was busy making The Guinea Pig, so Patrick Holt played his part instead.[7]
In March 1948, Smart scouted locations in Yorkshire[8] and filming took place in September 1948 at Lime Grove Studios as well as on location in Yorkshire at places including Wakefield, Hebden Bridge, Skipton and Malham Cove.[9]
Reception
[edit]Variety called the film "feeble ... valueless for the US market."[10]
The Monthly Film Bulletin called it a "simple unpretentious story enlivened by flashes of homely Yorkshire humour."[11]
Leslie Halliwell said: "Mild comedy drama with the advantage of fresh air locations."[12]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Homespun humour and romance, with a variety of accents from the Rank Charm School."[13]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "A minor, good-natured British comedy romance ... The cosy enterprise demonstrates why, with certain superior exceptions, the public preferred American films."[14]
References
[edit]- ^ Andrew Spicer, Sydney Box Manchester Uni Press 2006 p 211
- ^ Spicer p.214
- ^ "A Boy, a Girl and a Bike". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ "A Boy, A Girl and a Bike (1949)". Archived from the original on 26 March 2017.
- ^ Spicer, Andrew (2006). Sydney Box. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719059995.
- ^ Ted Willis, Evening All: 50 Years Over a Hot Typewriter (London: Macmillan, 1991), pp. 11, 23.
- ^ "U.S. ACTOR'S FIRST FILM IS BRITISH". The Sun. No. 11948. New South Wales, Australia. 13 May 1948. p. 17 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 11 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "They'll spend summer outside -- if it's fine". The Sun. No. 2345. New South Wales, Australia. 21 March 1948. p. 35. Retrieved 11 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "McCALLUM BACK AFTER HOLLYWOOD HOLIDAY". The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 37, no. 1, 900. South Australia. 30 October 1948. p. 3 (SUNDAY MAGAZINE). Retrieved 11 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Review of film at Variety
- ^ BOY A GIRL AND A BIKE Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 16, Iss. 186, (June 30, 1949): 96.
- ^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 135. ISBN 0586088946.
- ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 195. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
- ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 123. ISBN 9780992936440.
Bibliography
[edit]- Spicer, Andrew. Sydney Box. Manchester University Press, 2006.
External links
[edit]- A Boy, a Girl and a Bike at IMDb
- A Boy a Girl and a Bike at BFI
- A Boy a Girl and a Bike at Letterbox DVD
- 1949 films
- British romantic comedy-drama films
- Films set in Yorkshire
- Gainsborough Pictures films
- Islington Studios films
- Films shot in England
- Films directed by Ralph Smart
- British black-and-white films
- 1940s romantic comedy-drama films
- Films with screenplays by Ted Willis, Baron Willis
- 1940s English-language films
- 1940s British films
- English-language romantic comedy-drama films