''Fate Takes a Hand'' is a 1961 British
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
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 ...
.
Plot
The recovery of a
mail bag
A mail bag or mailbag is a generic term for a type of bag used for collecting, carrying, categorizing, and classifying different types of postal material, depending on its priority, destination, and method of transport. It is oftentimes used ...
stolen in a robbery 15 years before has varying consequences on the lives of five of the recipients of the letters, when the
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
decide that the mail should be delivered. Several lives are changed, as witnessed by a newspaper reporter, accompanied by a post office security officer, who decide to follow up on several of the letters.
Cast
*
Ronald Howard as Tony
*
Christina Gregg as Karon
*
Basil Dignam
Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor.
Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...
as Wheeler
*
Willoughby Goddard
Willoughby Wittenham Rees Goddard (4 July 1926 – 11 April 2008) was an English actor whose trademark rotund figure was well known on television and in films for more than 40 years.
Biography
Goddard was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire. He pl ...
as Rollenshaw
*
Jack Watson as Bulldog
*
as Ronnie
*
Mary Laura Wood
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
as Sandra
*
Noel Trevarthen
Noel or Noël may refer to:
Christmas
* , French for Christmas
* Noel is another name for a Christmas carol
Places
*Noel, Missouri, United States, a city
*Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community
* 1563 Noël, an asteroid
* Mount Noel, Britis ...
as Bob
*
Sheila Whittingham as Jenny
*
Michael Peake
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
as Ross
*
Laidman Browne
Laidman Browne (13 September 1896 - 11 September 1961) was an English radio and television actor. In 1949 he was the narrator of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band
"The Adventure of the Speckled Ba ...
as Maxwell
*
Derek Blomfield
Derek Blomfield (31 August 1920 – 23 July 1964) was a British actor who appeared in a number of stage, film and television productions between 1935 and his death in 1964.
Career
He trained at LAMDA and made his first stage appearance a ...
as Briggs
*
Valerie Gearon
Valerie Winifred Gearon (27 September 1937 – 9 July 2003) was a British actress, born in Newport, Monmouthshire. She was known for ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969), '' Nine Hours to Rama'' (1963) and ''Invasion'' (1966). From 1962 to ...
as Peggy
*
Valentine Dyall
Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...
as Wilson
*
John Gabriel as Matt Little
*
Brian Cobby
Brian Cobby (12 October 192931 October 2012) was an English actor and telephone exchange worker who, in 1985, became the first male voice of the British speaking clock.
Early life
Cobby was born in Gravesend, Kent, the son of Amy and Sydney ...
as Mark
*
Peter Swanwick
Walter Peter Swanwick (29 September 1922 – 14 November 1968) was a British actor best remembered as the "Supervisor" (sometimes called the Controller) in the 1967 TV series, ''The Prisoner''.
Swanwick's film career began with bit parts in f ...
as Preeny
*
Bruce Beeby
Bruce Edward Beeby (21 October 1921 – 20 October 2013) was an Australian actor who worked primarily in British films and television. He was probably best known for portraying Stephen "Mitch" Mitchell in the 1950s BBC radio serials '' Journ ...
as Inspector Phillips
*
Arnold Bell
Arnold Bell (23 May 1901 – 12 March 1988) was a British actor.
Selected filmography
* ''Convict 99'' (1919) - Warder Gannawy
* '' Doctor Josser K.C.'' (1931)
* '' Josser in the Army'' (1932) - Becker
* ''Doss House'' (1933) - Reporter
* '' ...
as Finch
*
Michael Anthony as Fuller
*
Carl Duering
Gerald Percy Fox (29 May 1923 – 1 September 2018), better known as Carl Duering, was a German-born British actor whose best-known role is as Dr. Brodsky in Stanley Kubrick's ''A Clockwork Orange (film), A Clockwork Orange''. He died in London i ...
as Mike
*
Liza Page as Lola
*
Reginald Hearne
Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language.
Etymology and history
The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning "queen". Th ...
as Warder
*
Peter Bennett as Max
*
Angela Douglas
Angela Douglas (born 29 October 1940), born Angela McDonagh, is an English actress.
Early life
Douglas was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.
Career
Douglas started acting as a teenager, joining the Worthing, West Sussex repertory comp ...
as Secretary
*Robert Webber as Wayne
*
Eric Dodson
Eric Norman Dodson (1 December 1920 – 13 January 2000) was an English actor born in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, who played many roles in films and on television.
After amateur acting he joined the Royal Air Force in 1941. Following trai ...
as Janitor
*
Gilda Emmanueli as Sally
*
Larry Noble
Larry L. Noble was an Iowa State Senator from the 35th District. He served in the Iowa Senate from 2007 until his resignation on December 17, 2010, to become Commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety. He earned his BA in Criminal Ju ...
as Tough
*
Andrew Kane as Young Boxer
*
Martin Wyldeck
Martin Wyldeck (11 January 1914 – 29 April 1988) was an English actor who played a wide range of parts over many years on stage, screen and TV.
He also appeared in the first episode of the TV series '' Fawlty Towers'', as Sir Richard Morri ...
as Doctor
Critical reception
''
AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
'' called it "a throwback to the British "
portmanteau" films of the 1950s"; while ''
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, and wrote, "the effect of the late letters' delivery to the recipients makes for five delightful little tales. Good performances all the way around."
References
External links
*
1961 films
British drama films
1961 drama films
British anthology films
1960s English-language films
1960s British films
{{1960s-UK-film-stub