Kiss the Bride Goodbye

Kiss the Bride Goodbye is a 1945 British romantic comedy drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Patricia Medina and Jimmy Hanley. Jean Simmons has an early role, almost two years before she achieved stardom in Great Expectations.

Kiss the Bride Goodbye
Jimmy Hanley and Patricia Medina
Directed byPaul L. Stein
Produced byPaul L. Stein
Written byJack Whittingham
StarringPatricia Medina
Jimmy Hanley
Marie Lohr
Jean Simmons
Music byPercival Mackey
CinematographyGeoffrey Faithfull
Edited byTed Richards
Production
company
Distributed byButcher's Film Service
Release date
  • 29 January 1945 (1945-01-29)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The film was shot at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. The sets were designed by the art director James Carter.

Plot

Factory girl Joan Dodd (Medina) and Jack Fowler (Hanley) are in love and expect to marry in due course. When Jack is called up for war service however, Joan's socially-ambitious mother (Ellen Pollock) seizes the chance to meddle in her daughter's life by encouraging the attentions of Joan's older boss Adolphus Pickering (Claud Allister), who is infatuated with her. Pickering proposes marriage, and under pressure from her mother, Joan accepts.

The preparations for the marriage are under way when Jack returns unexpectedly on leave from the army. On visiting Joan's, her mother hides him in another room whilst Joan's suitor arrives to request her father's permission to marry Joan. On the morning of the wedding, Joan finds out that Jack is back and visited so decides to go and explain to Jack. When she speaks to Jack's mum, she finds he's gone to the station to go to Scotland so rushes to catch him. Unfortunately, while on the train talking, the train sets off and Joan is forced to stay on. The pair decide to visit Joan's aunt and uncle in another area, Unfortunately, her aunt and uncle assume that she and Jack are just married, and prepare a bridal chamber for the couple, much to their embarrassment. Comic misunderstandings ensue all round until Joan finally demands the right to marry the man of her choice.

Cast

Reception and later history

Although the plot of Kiss the Bride Goodbye was variously described as "naïve" and "ridiculous", contemporary critics in the main regarded the film as an enjoyable frivolity with one labelling it "jovial entertainment for the masses". The Film Report said "there are many laughs and few dull moments", but also found some of the humour on the risqué side: "The situations at times come very near the edge and there are many suggestive lines".

Survival

The subsequent history of the film is unclear. There was a record of a TV showing in the U.S. in 1953. The British Film Institute had been unable to locate a print for inclusion in the BFI National Archive and classed the film as "missing, believed lost". Due to its interest as a populist production of its time and as a lost Simmons appearance, as well as increasing appreciation from film historians of Stein's directorial output in Britain, the film is included on the BFI's "75 Most Wanted" list of missing British feature films.[1]

The Huntley Film Archives posted a clip on their official YouTube channel,[2] claiming to have a copy of the entire feature.[3] In 2013 Renown Pictures Ltd released a DVD of the film.[4]

References
  1. "Kiss the Bride Goodbye / BFI Most Wanted". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  2. Kiss the Bride Goodbye Huntley Film Archives youtube channel. Retrieved 9 April 2014
  3. Kiss the Bride Goodbye Huntley Film Archives website. Retrieved 9 April 2014
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