Small Hotel

Small Hotel is a 1957 British comedy film directed by David MacDonald and stars Gordon Harker, Marie Lohr, John Loder, and Janet Munro.[2]

Small Hotel
Directed byDavid Macdonald
Produced byRobert Hall
Written byWilfred Eades
Based onthe play Small Hotel by Rex Frost
StarringGordon Harker
Marie Lohr
Janet Munro
Music byLouis Levy
CinematographyNorman Warwick
Edited bySeymour Logie
Production
company
A Welwyn Films Ltd. Production
Distributed byAssociated British-Pathé (UK)
Release date
October 1957 (UK)
Running time
58 min[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Premise

Albert, a crafty old waiter in a country hotel known as The Jolly Fiddler, suddenly finds he must work new tricks on management after being told he's too old for the job and will be replaced by a hard-nosed young waitress, named Miss Mallet.

Cast

Critical reception

TV Guide gave the film two out of five stars and called it an "Average comedy";[3] in the Radio Times, David McGillivray also rated the film two out of five stars, calling it "no great shakes as comedy, but interesting as a vehicle built around a much-loved British star at the end of his career"[4] whereas Britmovie noted, "Twenty years after appearing on stage in this lively Rex Frost play, in his penultimate film Gordon Harker reprises the role of a belligerent hotel waiter having to use all his wit and cunning to save his job. This low-budget film features Harker in typically jovial form, dominating comic proceedings with typical polished expertise, and with a less assured cast this thin comedy wouldn’t be worthwhile. There are early roles for Billie Whitelaw and Janet Munro, and the doughty Irene Handl is cast as the hotel’s spirited cook."[5]

It was one of 15 films selected by Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane in The British 'B' Film, their survey of British B films, as among the most meritorious of the B films made in Britain between World War II and 1970. They especially praised the performances of Lohr, Handl and Harker.[6]

References
  1. "SMALL HOTEL - British Board of Film Classification".
  2. "Small Hotel (1957)". BFI.
  3. "Small Hotel".
  4. "Small Hotel - Film from RadioTimes".
  5. "Small Hotel 1957 - Britmovie - Home of British Films".
  6. Steve Chibnall & Brian McFarlane, The British 'B' Film, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009, pp. 272–73.


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