''Thursday's Child'' is a 1943 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Rodney Ackland Rodney Ackland (18 May 1908 in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex – 6 December 1991 in Richmond upon Thames, Surrey) was an English playwright, actor, theatre director and screenwriter. Born as Norman Ackland Bernstein in Southend, Essex, to a Jewish fat ...

and starring

Sally Ann Howes Sally Ann Howes (20 July 1930 – 19 December 2021) was an English actress and singer. Her career on screen, stage and television spanned six decades. She is best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 musical film ''Chitty Chitt ...

and Wilfrid Lawson.BFI.org
/ref> It was produced by

John Argyle John Argyle (1911–1962) was a British screenwriter, film producer, producer and film director. Selected filmography Director * ''The Last Tide'' (1931) * ''Paradise Alley (1931 film), Paradise Alley'' (1931) * ''The Final Reckoning (film), The ...

and

Associated British Picture Corporation Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...

Synopsis

A young girl, Fennis Wilson (

), is cast in a film which launches her career and makes her an overnight star – the very thing her older sister desperately wants. But stardom is the furthest thing from 12-year-old Fennis' mind; she is introspective and intellectual and has other goals for her life. When the hit film falls in her lap, it creates a situation that threatens to tear the family apart, while Fennis just wants everyone to be happy – especially herself.

Ronald Shiner Ronald Alfred Shiner (8 June 1903 – 29 June 1966) was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall. Career Early life and career When he was seventeen, Shiner joined the Royal Nort ...

's character (Joe) plays a decisive role

Casting

''Thursday's Child'' was the first film for Howes. It was written and directed by

, who was a neighbor of hers. Howes auditioned and was chosen for the part after over two hundred auditions of other girls.

Cast

as Fennis Wilson * Wilfrid Lawson as Frank Wilson * Kathleen O'Regan as Ellen Wilson *

Stewart Granger Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...

as David Penley *

Eileen Bennett Eileen Bennett (born 8 July 1920) is a British retired film actress who was active in the late 1930s and early 1940s. She was born in London, United Kingdom. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and started out as a model. She made her ...

as Phoebe Wilson * Marianne Davis as Gloria Dewey *

Gerhard Kempinski Gerhard Kempinski (1904–1947) was a German-born actor. Partial filmography * ''The Day Will Dawn'' (1942) * ''We'll Smile Again'' (1942) * ''Lady from Lisbon'' (1942) * '' Thursday's Child'' (1943) * ''Beware of Pity'' (1946) * '' Spring Song'' ( ...

as Rudi Kauffmann *

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early ...

as Mr. Keith *

Margaret Yarde Margaret Yarde (2 April 1878 – 11 March 1944) was a British actress. Initially training to be an opera singer, she made her London stage debut in 1907. She often played domestics, landladies and mothers. Filmography * '' A Cigarette-Maker's ...

as Mrs. Chard *

Vera Bogetti Vera Josephine Boggetti (5 October 1902 – 10 October 1985) was a British stage and film actress. She married Laurence J. Rickards in Hampstead, London in 1925, and the couple had a daughter, Pauline, in 1931, who died as an infant in 1932. ...

as Madame Felicia *

Percy Walsh Percy Walsh (24 April 1888 in Luton, Bedfordshire – 19 January 1952 in London) was a British stage and film actor. His stage work included appearing in the London premieres of R.C.Sherriff's ''Journey's End'' (1928) and Agatha Christie's ''And ...

as Charles Lennox * Michael Allen as Jim Wilson * Margaret Drummond as Wendy Keith *

as Joe * Anthony Holles as Roy Todd

References

External links

* * * 1943 films 1943 comedy-drama films British black-and-white films British comedy-drama films Films set in London Films about filmmaking Films shot at Welwyn Studios 1940s English-language films 1940s British films {{comedy-drama-film-stub