''The Crowded Day'' is a 1954 British comedy drama film directed by John Guillermin and starring

John Gregson Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. He was cr ...

Joan Rice Joan Rice (3 February 1930 – 1 January 1997) was an English film actress. Rice is best known for her role as Dalabo in the film '' His Majesty O'Keefe'' (1954) which co-starred Burt Lancaster. Apart from that she played Maid Marian in ''The ...

Cyril Raymond Cyril William North Raymond MBE (13 February 1899 – 20 March 1973) was a British character actor. He maintained a stage and screen career from his teens until his retirement, caused by ill health, in the 1960s. His many stage, film and tele ...

and

Josephine Griffin Josephine Griffin (13 December 1928 – 15 September 2005) was a well-known English film actress who appeared in a string of British films in the 1950s, such as ''The Purple Plain'' (1954), ''The Man Who Never Was'' (1956) and '' The Spanish Gard ...

. The film follows a group of

shopgirls ''Shopgirls'' is a 1914 British silent drama film directed by Laurence Trimble and starring Florence Turner, Sidney Sinclair and Richard Steele.McFarlane & Slide p.771 Cast * Florence Turner as Judith * Sidney Sinclair as Archer * Richard Stee ...

working in Bunting and Hobbs, a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

, during the Christmas shopping season. It was an attempt by

Adelphi Films Adelphi Films Limited was a British film production company. With its sister company Advance, it produced over 30 films in the 1940s and 1950s and distributed many more. Adelphi linked Gainsborough Pictures and the raw “Kitchen sink realism, kit ...

to move into bigger budgeted films. It was the last movie Guillermin directed for the company.The Crowded Day/Song of Paris Johnston, Trevor. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 21, Iss. 4, (Apr 2011): 85. It was released in the United States under the title ''Shop Spoiled''.

Plot

The Christmas holidays are approaching, and a group of shopgirls head to their jobs at Bunting and Hobbs, a busy London department store. Peggy French (

) is upset at her shopman fiance, Leslie Randall (

), because he refuses to sell his vintage car, "Bessie", that takes up all of his time and money. Peggy notes that he went to a car club meeting the previous night instead of taking her on a date, that he spends on the car instead of saving so they can get married, and that he has not even bought her an

engagement ring An engagement ring, also known as a betrothal ring, is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. A ring is presented as an engagement gift by a partner to their prospective spouse when ...

. As they head into their respective jobs in the furnishings and estates departments, they quarrel and Peggy breaks off their engagement. She also refuses to let Leslie take her to the staff Christmas party that night and leads him to believe that she has been dating the kind but very proper personnel manager, Philip Stanton (

). In reality, although Mr Stanton is charmed by Peggy, he is not interested in fraternizing with any of the shopgirls as that is improper for a manager and could cost him his job. Leslie attempts to win Peggy back, but his efforts get him reported by Peggy's supervisor Mr Preedy, who has been making romantic overtures to Peggy despite being a married man and sees Leslie as unwelcome competition for her affections. Leslie also gets reported by his own supervisor after Leslie botches his assignment of showing a house to friends of the store owner, Mr Bunting, because he is distracted by trying to make up with Peggy. Mr Stanton, looking through Leslie's personnel file, sees a report he wrote about promotions and thinks he might transfer Leslie to a higher-paying position in the publicity department. Mr Stanton also gives Leslie's report to Mr Bunting, saying it contains new and useful ideas. Leslie later informs Mr Stanton that he took the ideas for the report out of a book written by Mr Bunting, causing Mr Stanton to worry that he himself will now be sacked for repeating Mr Bunting's own ideas back to him. Another shopgirl, Yvonne Pascoe (

), is worried and ill at work. She tells Peggy that she urgently needs to get in touch with her fiance, Michael Blayburn, who left his mother's home two months ago to look for a job so that he could marry Yvonne. Yvonne has not heard from Michael since he left, and when she tries to telephone his wealthy mother to find out his whereabouts, she is rebuffed. Peggy suggests Yvonne go visit Mrs Blayburn at her home during Yvonne's noontime break from the cosmetics counter. Yvonne does this, but Mrs Blayburn is cold to her and tells her Michael is tired of her and doesn't want to see her or hear from her. When Yvonne confesses she is pregnant with Michael's baby, Mrs Blayburn becomes angry, calls her a "slut" and orders her out of the house. Yvonne is late getting back to work and is reported by Moira, who is annoyed at having to work all alone at the busy cosmetics counter. Mr Stanton meets with Yvonne, learns she is pregnant, and tells her she will have to stop working, although she can have her job back after the baby is born and put up for adoption. He suggests Yvonne visit the welfare office in the meantime, since she has no other family to turn to. Yvonne returns to the cosmetics counter, where she pockets a prescription intended for a customer that contains

strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...

and leaves the store. In her hurry to leave, she fails to take an urgent note that a young man left for her at the counter; the note falls on the floor and is trampled by shoppers. At the staff Christmas party that night, Peggy tries to attach herself to Mr Stanton, interrupting his efforts to socialize with Mr Bunting's homely daughter. Leslie then appears and Mr Bunting calls him over and praises him on his fine report, putting Leslie on track for the well-paying publicity department job. Leslie pays Peggy back for her deception by telling Mr Bunting that he heard Peggy and Mr Stanton were engaged, causing Mr Bunting's daughter to burst into tears. After the party, Peggy learns that Leslie has sold his old car, thus proving that he cares more about her than the car. She happily reunites with him, only to find he has bought an even older car. Meanwhile, shopgirl Suzy (

Vera Day Vera Day (born 4 August 1935) is an English film and television actress. She was born in London just before the war and grew up in Forest Gate, East London. Early career Leaving school at 15, she had various jobs before finding employment in ...

), who dreams of being a film actress, is seduced after the party by her date, a chauffeur who has pretended to be a director and promised her a screen test. Alice, another shopgirl who could not get a date for the party, hires a paid male escort, only to have him tell her at the end of the evening he enjoyed going out with her and the date is free of charge. Eve Carter, a beautiful but mysterious model at the store, is shown to be secretly happily married to (and, it is implied, financially supporting) a man using a wheelchair. She hides her marriage by taking off her wedding ring at work so she will not lose her job. Yvonne does not attend the party, but wanders the dark streets of London contemplating suicide. At one point she orders tea from a stall and starts to take the strychnine pills, but is interrupted by the menacing sexual advances of a customer at the stall. He chases her through the streets until she finally escapes into a church, where she collapses in tears, but decides not to kill herself. As she walks home past Bunting and Hobbs, she throws the pills into a waste bin. The next morning, the watchman ( Sid James) finds the note that Yvonne never received, crumpled on the floor. It is from Michael, telling Yvonne that he has got a job, asking her to marry him and saying he will call her the next day.

Cast

Opening credits

* Freda Jackson *

Patricia Marmont Patricia Eileen Marmont (9 August 1921 – 3 December 2020) was an American-born British actress in Hollywood films and on television, and a theatrical agent. Marmont's best known role was as the Trojan princess Andromache in the 1956 film ''Hel ...

*''with''

Sonia Holm Sonia Holm (24 February 1922 – 2 July 1974) was an English film actress. She trained at the Rank Organisation's "charm school". Filmography * ''The Loves of Joanna Godden'' (1947) * '' When the Bough Breaks'' (1947) * '' Miranda'' (1948) * ''B ...

* Patricia Plunkett * Rachel Roberts *

* Dora Bryan * Thora Hird * Sydney Tafler * Edward Chapman *

* Richard Wattis * Sidney James *

Brian Oulton Brian Oulton (11 February 1908 – 13 April 1992) was an English character actor. Biography Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, Oulton made his acting debut in 1939 as a lead actor. During the Second World War he served in the British Army, and ret ...

* Arthur Hill

End credits

SHOPGIRLS *

as Peggy *

as Yvonne * Freda Jackson as Mrs. Morgan *

as Eve * Patricia Plunkett as Alice *

as Moira *

as Suzy * Rachel Roberts as Maggie *

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson, OBE (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series ''Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number ...

as Mrs. Jones * Marianne Stone as Mr. Stanton's Secretary * Dandy Nichols as Charwoman SHOPMEN *

as Leslie * Edward Chapman as Mr. Bunting *

as Philip Stanton * Richard Wattis as Mr. Christopher *

as Mr. Preedy * Kynaston Reeves as Mr. Ronson *

Roddy Hughes Rhodri Henry Hughes (19 June 1891 – 22 February 1970) was a Welsh theatre, film and television actor, who appeared in over 80 films between 1932 and 1961. Selected filmography * ''Mr. Bill the Conqueror'' (1932) * ''Reunion'' (1932) * '' Say ...

as Chemist *

Hal Osmond Hal Osmond (27 May 1903 – December 1959) was a British stage, film and television actor. He played Anselm in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' episode "Errand of Mercy" (1956). Selected filmography * '' Once Upon a Dream'' (1949) * ''Vote for H ...

as Liftman *

Oscar Quitak Oscar Morris Quitak (born 10 March 1926) is a British stage, film and television actor. Quitak's stage work includes roles at the Old Vic and the National Theatre; as well as the original West End and Broadway productions of the musical '' Pi ...

as Youth * Sidney James as Nightwatchman CUSTOMERS * Thora Hird * Dora Bryan * Nora Nicholson * Moorea Hastings * Prunella Scales * Nuna Davey *

Mignon O'Doherty Mignon O'Doherty (1890 – 1961) was an Australian actress who worked in British theatre, film and television. O'Doherty was born in Brisbane, the daughter of Dr. Edward O’Doherty and Isabel Maud French. She was the granddaughter of Young Ir ...

OTHERS * Sydney Tafler as Alex * Mary Hinton as Mrs. Blayburn *

Jill Dixon Jill Dixon (born 1935) is an English actress. Personal life and career Jill Dixon was born in England in 1935. She made her debut as an actress at the age of three, appearing as a water nymph at the London Hippodrome. Although she appeared in se ...

as Maid * Peter Hammond as Michael Blayburn * Doris Yorke as Mrs. Bunting *

Dorothy Gordon Dorothy Gordon may refer to: * Dorothy Gordon (British actress) (born 1924-2013) * Dorothy Gordon (Australian actress) (1891–1985), Australian actress, journalist, and radio broadcaster * Dorothy Gordon (activist) Dorothy K. Gordon is a Ghanai ...

as Miss Bunting *

George Woodbridge George Woodbridge may refer to: * George Woodbridge (actor) (1907-1973), English actor * George Woodbridge (illustrator) George Woodbridge (October 3, 1930 – January 20, 2004) was an American illustrator known for his exhaustive researc ...

as Mr. Bunting's Friend * Totti Truman Taylor as The Wife *

Michael Goodliffe Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts. Biography Goodliffe was ...

as Eve's Husband * Laurie Maine as Coffee Stall Customer * Herbert C. Walton as The Waiter * Arthur Hill as Alice's Escort * William Franklyn as Studio Official

Production

In the mid-1950s,

productions were usually considered 'B' pictures that were booked by theatres only as support for main features, or at selected provincial locations. Founder Arthur Dent planned ''The Crowded Day'' as a high-quality big-budget feature in hopes of convincing theatres, particularly the Odeon Cinemas and

ABC Cinemas ABC Cinemas (Associated British Cinemas) was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. Originally a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), it operated between the 1930s and the 1980s. The brand name was reused in ...

, to book the film nationwide throughout the UK as a main feature ('A' picture). To that end, Adelphi subcontracted the popular stars John Gregson and Joan Rice from the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...

at significant expense, and invested in other aspects of the film. They commissioned a script originally called ''Shop Soiled''. The film was shot at

Nettlefold Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.Oxford Street department store Bourne & Hollingsworth (renamed "Bunton and Hobbs" for the film) was the setting for the exterior store shots, and also some interior shots as producer David Dent arranged one day's shooting at the store for free.

The Tower House The Tower House, 29 Melbury Road, is a late-Victorian townhouse in the Holland Park district of Kensington and Chelsea, London, built by the architect and designer William Burges as his home. Designed between 1875 and 1881, in the French Go ...

was used for exterior shots of Mrs Blayburn's mansion. The exterior and interior church scenes were filmed at St Stephen's Church, Westbourne Park.Tunstill, et al., at p
2
The film's target audience was women. The storyline involving Yvonne, the unmarried, pregnant shopgirl who contemplates suicide, was considered risque for its time, causing the film to be advertised as "not suitable for children". ''The Crowded Day'' marked the first production in which Sid James and Vera Day both appeared. The two would appear together in many more film and television productions over the next decade.

Reception

According to British Film Institute (BFI) fiction film curator

Vic Pratt Victor Alfred Cornelius Eustace Beltane Diggory Penrith Prattellewzowskiey, more commonly known as Vic Pratt, is an artist, writer, musician and actor born in Hounslow in 1971. He now currently lives in Muswell Hill, North East London. Pratt print ...

, critics were generally "impressed" with the film, especially with Guillermin's direction, although some "smirked" at the film's handling of the unwed pregnancy and suicide storyline. However, both Odeon and ABC refused to book it as a first feature due to conflicts with Arthur Dent. In November 1954 it was partially released at a small number of Odeons, but lacking a full circuit release, was unable to recoup its costs. ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' called it "the usual concoction of confected stories." ''Sight and Sound'' thought the film produced "evidence of" Guillermin's "gift (at least during the pre-1965 British years of his career) for bringing fluidly expressive technique to bear on seemingly workaday genre material... Talbot Rothwell's script combines light romantic comedy and engaged social comment (especially sympathetic towards a single sales assistant whose unwanted pregnancy means inevitable redundancy) with a finesse and potency missing from his subsequent Carry On assignments. Guillermin nimbly picks his way through the shifts in tone, while a quality cast... proves impeccable throughout. Beneath the seemingly cosy veneer there's a grown-up drama here about real people and stalled expectations in a country slowly emerging from austerity, and it certainly makes good on Adelphi's ambitions to match the output from Ealing or Rank in quality terms." ''Filmink'' called it "a decent “three girls” movie... it juggles a number of plots with skill, one of the storylines in particular being particularly dark: Josephine Griffin plays a single girl who gets pregnant, is called a slut, and is almost raped; when her boss discovers she’s in the family way, he tells her that she’ll have to go away and gives her a home where she can have the baby and says she can have her job back after she’s given up her child for adoption."

DVD release

In February 2011, BFI Video released ''The Crowded Day'' on DVD and Blu-ray, along with the Guillermin-directed film ''

Song of Paris ''Song of Paris'' is a 1952 British comedy film directed by John Guillermin and starring Dennis Price, Anne Vernon and Hermione Baddeley. It was shot at Walton Studios outside London. It was distributed in the United States by Lippert Pictures a ...

'', as "Adelphi Collection Vol. 3".

References

External links

*
The Crowded Day
at Letterbox DVD
The Crowded Day
at TCMDB * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowded Day, The 1954 films 1950s Christmas films 1950s Christmas comedy-drama films British Christmas comedy-drama films 1950s English-language films Films directed by John Guillermin Films set in department stores Films shot at Nettlefold Studios British pregnancy films Films with screenplays by Talbot Rothwell Films with screenplays by John Paddy Carstairs Films set in London Films shot in London 1950s pregnancy films British black-and-white films 1950s British films