''Lock Up Your Daughters!'' is a 1969 British
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
Peter Coe
Percy Newbold "Peter" Coe (27 September 1919 – 9 August 2008) was a British athletics coach, author, translator and coach of his son Sebastian Coe.
Early life and education
Coe was born Percy Newbold Coe in Stepney, the only child of carpente ...
and starring
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...
,
Susannah York
Susannah Yolande Fletcher (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011), known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including '' Tom Jones'' (1963) and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' ...
and
Glynis Johns
Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...
. It is an adaptation of the 1959
stage musical of the same name set in 18th-century Britain, which in turn is based on the 1730 comedy, ''
Rape upon Rape'', by
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...
. It lacks all the songs from the original stage production. It was one of a number of British
costume film
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and sw ...
s released in the wake of the success of the 1963 film ''
Tom Jones''.
Plot
A bawdy yarn concerning three sex-starved sailors on leave and on the rampage in a British town.
Cast
Production
The musical ran for four years in England but never had a major production in the US. It had a run at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1967.
Christopher Plummer agreed to star, in what would be his first musical since ''The Sound of Music''. Filming started in Ireland in March 1968.
Reception
In his review 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 ...
'',
Roger Greenspun
Roger Greenspun (December 16, 1929 – June 18, 2017) was an American journalist and film critic, best known for his work with ''The New York Times'' in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for '' ...
wrote: "...a three-strand plot that has been so smothered in atmosphere, activity and authenticity that even the great traditions of theatrical untruth cannot breathe life into it. The production values of "Lock Up Your Daughters!" are ambitious enough to fill three movies, but they are not sufficient to substitute for one."
"Lock Up Your Daughters! A Comic Resolution"
''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 ...
'', October 16, 1969
References
Bibliography
* Murphy, Robert. ''Sixties British Cinema''. British Film Institute, 1992.
External links
*{{IMDb title, 0064597
Lock Up Your Daughters
at Letterbox DVD
Lock Up Your Daughters
at BFI
Lock Up Your Daughters
at TCMDB
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...
1969 films
British historical comedy films
British films based on plays
Films based on works by Henry Fielding
1960s historical comedy films
Films set in England
Films set in the 18th century
Columbia Pictures films
Films scored by Ron Grainer
1960s English-language films
1960s British films