''Left Right and Centre'' is a 1959 British satirical

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring

Ian Carmichael Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ...

Patricia Bredin Patricia Bredin (born 14 February 1935) is an English actress and one-time singer, who is best known as the first representative of the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest. She took part in the 1957 contest, held in Frankfurt and fini ...

Richard Wattis Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, the ...

Eric Barker Eric Leslie Barker (12 February 1912 – 1 June 1990) was an English comedy actor. He is most remembered for his roles in the popular British '' Carry On'' films, although he only appeared in the early films in the series, apart from returning ...

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 produced by

Frank Launder Frank Launder (28 January 1906 – 23 February 1997) was a British writer, film director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat. Early life and career He was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire ...

.BFI.org
/ref> A political comedy, it follows the events of a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in a small English town.

Plot

Robert Wilcot, a popular

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

personality, is selected as the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate for the provincial town of Earndale in the upcoming by-election. His selection is mostly due to the influence of his uncle, Lord Wilcot, a powerful local figure. His opponent is to be Stella Stoker, a

fishmonger A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, m ...

's daughter with a degree from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

who has been chosen to stand for the Labour Party. Travelling up on the train to Earndale, the two candidates meet and while she quickly works out who he is, he remains ignorant of her true identity. To try to show off he begins to tell her about his selection for the seat and how he expects to win. He describes his opponent as a

bluestocking ''Bluestocking'' is a term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800), the "Queen of the Blues", including E ...

. He also inadvertently reveals embarrassing details to her such as the fact that he has scarcely been to Earndale in his life and that his family once controlled the seat as a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

. Once they arrive at Earndale station, he is soon made aware of his mistake. The electoral agents of both candidates are furious to discover they have been fraternising on the train. Wilcot goes to visit his uncle, and finds him to be an eccentric who has turned his

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

into a money-making operation for visiting coach parties of tourists. It appears that he has engineered Robert Wilcot's selection as a candidate in order to spark public interest in the election, boosting his own business. It is also clear that the political contest is added to by the enmity of the two electoral agents the Tory Christopher Harding-Pratt and Labour's Bert Glimmer. Once on the

stump Stump may refer to: * Stump (band), a band from Cork, Ireland and London, England * Stump (cricket), one of three small wooden posts which the fielding team attempt to hit with the ball *Stump (dog): Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee (born 1998), 200 ...

the two candidates keep running into each other around Earndale, at one point during a factory visit leading to a shouting match. Both begin to become entranced by the other, and become convinced they are falling in love. This comes to a head during the

hustings A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present. Devel ...

at Wilcot Hall where they are caught kissing in the maze by their respective agents. Burying the hatchet, the two agents try to foil the potential romance. Despite repeated attempts to break up the candidates they continue a covert relationship.

Cast and Production

Main cast

- Robert Wilcot *

- Stella Stoker *

- Harding-Pratt *

- Bert Glimmer *

- Lord Wilcot *

Moyra Fraser Moyra Fraser (3 December 1923 – 13 December 2009) was an Australian-born English actress and ballet dancer, who is best known for playing Penny in the long-running sitcom '' As Time Goes By''. Her sister was the actress Shelagh Fraser. She ma ...

- Annabel *

Jack Hedley Jack Snowdon Hawkins (28 October 1929 – 11 December 2021), better known as Jack Hedley, was an English film, voice, radio, stage, character, theater, screen and television actor best known for his performances on television. His birth name n ...

- Bill Hemmingway *

Gordon Harker William Gordon Harker (7 August 1885 – 2 March 1967) was an English stage and film actor. Harker was one of the sons of Sarah Elizabeth Harker, née Hall, (1856–1927), and Joseph Harker (1855–1927), a much admired set painter for the ...

- Hardy * William Kendall - Pottle * Anthony Sharp - Peterson *

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

- Egerton * Leslie Dwyer - Alf Stoker *

Moultrie Kelsall Moultrie Rowe Kelsall (24 October 1904 – 13 February 1980)Biographical info

- Grimsby Armfield *

Jeremy Hawk Jeremy Hawk (20 May 1918 – 15 January 2002) was a character actor with a long career in music halls and on London's West End stage. Early life Hawk was born Cedric Joseph Lange in Johannesburg, South Africa; his father was a matinee idol wh ...

- TV interviewer *

Russell Waters Russell Waters (born 10 June 1908, Glasgow, Lanarkshire – died 19 August 1982, Richmond, Surrey) was a Scottish film actor. Waters was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow and the University of Glasgow. He began acting with the ...

- Mr. Bray *

Olwen Brookes Olwen Brookes (26 November 1901 – 17 September 1976) was an English actress, known for '' An Inspector Calls'', '' The Happiest Days of Your Life'' and ''The First Night of Pygmalion''. Her career spanned over a quarter of a century, and as wel ...

- Mrs. Samson *

John Salew John Rylett Salew (1902 (some sources state 1 January 1897)14 September 1961) was an English stage film and TV actor. Salew made the transition from stage to films in 1939, and according to Allmovie, "the manpower shortage during WWII enabled ...

- Mayor * Bill Shine - Basingstoke *

Erik Chitty Erik Chitty (8 July 1907 in Dover, Kent – 22 July 1977 Brent, Middlesex), was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life Chitty was the son of a flour miller, Frederick Walter Chitty and his wife Ethel Elsie Assistance née Fra ...

- Deputy returning officer *

Redmond Phillips Redmond Bernard Phillips (5 June 1912 – 3 November 1993) was a New Zealand actor and writer, particularly of theatre and television, who worked in his native country, as well also worked in England and Australia. Biography Phillips was born i ...

- Mr. Smithson *

Irene Handl Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father ...

- Mrs. Maggs * John Sharp - Mr. Reeves

Supporting cast

* Douglas Ives - Plumber *

Olaf Pooley Oloe Krohn "Olaf" Pooley (13 March 1914 – 14 July 2015) was an English actor, screenwriter and painter. As an actor, he appeared as Professor Stahlman in the seven-part ''Doctor Who'' serial '' Inferno'' (1970). Early life Pooley was born t ...

- TV newscaster *

Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-non ...

- Woman in car *

Frederick Leister Frederick Leister (1 December 1885 – 24 August 1970), was an English actor. He began his career in musical comedy and after serving in the First World War he played character roles in modern West End plays and in classic drama. He appeared in ...

- Himself * Frank Atkinson - Railway Porter *

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

- Himself *

Gilbert Harding Gilbert Charles Harding (5 June 1907 – 16 November 1960) was a British journalist and radio and television personality. His many careers included schoolmaster, journalist, policeman, disc jockey, actor, interviewer and television presenter. He ...

- Himself * Carole Carr - Herself * Josephine Douglas - Herself

Cameo/Uncredited cast

* Fred Griffiths - Billingsgate Porter * Victor Harrington - Man at Wilcot Priory *

Philip Latham Charles Philip Latham (17 January 1929 – 20 June 2020) was a British television actor. He was educated at Felsted School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 1951. In the late 1960s/early 1970s he was well kno ...

- Reporter * Jim O'Brady - Billingsgate Porter

Production

The factory scene was in fact Shepperton Studios, with many of the studio buildings, including its larger sound stages, forming the factory backdrop.

References

External links

*
NY Times Film Review
{{Humphrey Searle 1959 films 1959 romantic comedy films 1950s satirical films British black-and-white films British romantic comedy films British Lion Films films British satirical films Films about elections Films directed by Sidney Gilliat Films scored by Humphrey Searle Films set in England Films set in London 1950s English-language films 1950s British films