''Escapade'' is a 1955 British

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Philip Leacock Philip David Charles Leacock (8 October 1917 – 14 July 1990) was an English television and film director and producer. His brother was documentary filmmaker Richard Leacock. Career Born in London, England, Leacock spent his childhood in the C ...

and starring

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portra ...

Yvonne Mitchell Yvonne Mitchell (born Yvonne Frances Joseph; 7 July 1915 – 24 March 1979) was an English actress and author. After beginning her acting career in theatre, Mitchell progressed to films in the late 1940s. Her roles include Julia in the 1954 BBC ...

and

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...

. It was based on a long-running West End play of the same name by

Roger MacDougall Roger MacDougall (2 August 1910, in Glasgow – 27 May 1993) was a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and director. Biography MacDougall began writing the occasional screenplay in the late 30s, working both alone and in collaboration with ...

. The film was produced at the

Nettlefold Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Bernard Robinson.

Plot summary

A husband and father has become so preoccupied with a political cause that it leads him to neglect his familial responsibilities, leading to his children running away from home.

Cast

as John Hampden *

as Mrs. Stella Hampden *

as Dr. Skillingworth *

Jeremy Spenser Jeremy Spenser (born Jeremy John Dornhurst de Saram 16 July 1937) is a British actor who made his screen debut aged 11 in ''Anna Karenina'' (1948). The following year he played in the black comedy ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' as the young Loui ...

as L. W. Daventry *

Andrew Ray Andrew Ray (31 May 193920 August 2003) was an English actor who was best known as a child star. Biography He was born Andrew Olden (Ray was his father's stage name) in Southgate, Middlesex, the son of the radio comic Ted Ray and his wife, sho ...

as Max Hampden *

Marie Lohr Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in T ...

as Stella Hampden, Senior *

Colin Gordon Colin Gordon (27 April 1911 – 4 October 1972) was a British actor born in Ceylon. Biography He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a ...

as Deeson, Reporter * Nick Edmett as Paton * Peter Asher as Johnny Hampden * Christopher Ridley as Potter * Sean Barrett as Warren * Colin Freear as Richard 'Young Skilly' Skillingworth * Kit Terrington as Smith *

Mark Dignam Cuthbert Mark Dignam (20 March 1909 – 29 September 1989) was a prolific English actor. Born in London, the son of a salesman in the steel industry, Dignam grew up in Sheffield, and was educated at the Jesuit College, where he appeared in num ...

as Sykes * James Drake as Kirkland * Sonia Williams as Miss Betts * John Rae as Curly

Critical reception

In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

panned the film, writing, "It is a curiously notional and impractical expostulation against war, obviously well-intended but as humorless as a labored gag".

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

, on the other hand, gave it three out of four stars, calling it an "Ambitious, insightful, solidly acted drama about the cynicism and hypocrisy of adults and the idealism of youth." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' gave the film two out of four stars, calling it, "...an okay comedy with a message, but the play was better."

References

Bibliography

* Shaw, Tony. ''British Cinema and the Cold War: The State, Propaganda and Consensus''. I.B. Tauris & Co, 2001.

External links

* * * {{Philip Leacock 1955 films 1955 comedy-drama films Films directed by Philip Leacock British comedy-drama films 1955 drama films Films set in London British films based on plays British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films