''Kiss the Bride Goodbye'' is a 1945 British romantic comedy drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring

Patricia Medina Patricia Paz Maria Medina (19 July 1919 – 28 April 2012) was a British actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films ''Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' (1954) and ''Mr. Arkadin'' (1955). Early life Medina was the daughter of Laure ...

and Jimmy Hanley. Jean Simmons has an early role, almost two years before she achieved stardom in '' Great Expectations''. The film was shot at the

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having closed for redevelopment i ...

in Hammersmith. The sets were designed by the art director James Carter.

Plot

Factory girl Joan Dodd (Medina) and Jack Fowler (Hanley) are in love and expect to marry in due course. When Jack is called up for war service, Joan's socially-ambitious mother (

Ellen Pollock Ellen Pollock (29 June 1902 – 29 March 1997) was a British character actress who mainly appeared on stage in London's West End. She also appeared in several films and TV productions. A devotee of Bernard Shaw, she was president of the Shaw S ...

) seizes the chance to encourage the attentions of Joan's older boss Adolphus Pickering (

Claud Allister Claud Allister (born William Claud Michael Palmer, 3 October 1888 – 26 July 1970) was an English actor with an extensive film career in both Britain and Hollywood, where he appeared in more than 70 films between 1929 and 1955. Life and ...

), who is infatuated with her. Pickering proposes marriage and, under pressure from her mother, Joan accepts. The preparations for the marriage are under way when Jack returns unexpectedly on leave from the army. On visiting Joan's, her mother hides him in another room whilst Joan's suitor arrives to request her father's permission to marry Joan. On the morning of the wedding, Joan finds out that Jack is back and tried to see her, so decides to go and explain to Jack. When she speaks to Jack's mother, she finds he's already left for the station to go to Scotland, so rushes to catch him. While Joan is still on the train talking to Jack, the train sets off. The pair decide to visit Joan's aunt and uncle in another area, and they assume that she and Jack are just married, and prepare a bridal chamber for the couple, much to their embarrassment. Comic misunderstandings ensue all round, until Joan finally insists on the right to marry the man of her choice.

Cast

as Joan Dodd * Jimmy Hanley as Jack Fowler *

Marie Lohr Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in T ...

as Emma Blood *

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 ...

as Capt. Blood * Jean Simmons as Molly Dodd *

as Gladys Dodd *

Wylie Watson Wylie Watson (6 February 1889 – 3 May 1966) (born John Wylie Robertson) was a British actor. Among his best-known roles were those of "Mr Memory", an amazing man who commits "50 new facts to his memory every day" in Alfred Hitchcock's film '' ...

as David Dodd *

as Adolphus Pickering *

Muriel George Muriel George (29 August 1883 – 22 October 1965) was an English singer and film actress. She appeared in 55 films between 1932 and 1955. She also appeared on the variety stage and sang on radio with her second husband Ernest Butcher for thir ...

as Mrs. Fowler *

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 ...

as Mrs. Victory *

Hay Petrie David Hay Petrie (16 July 1895 – 30 July 1948) was a Scottish actor noted for playing eccentric characters, among them Quilp in ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' (1934), the McLaggen in '' The Ghost Goes West'' (1935) and Uncle Pumblechook in ''Great ...

as Fraser *

Aubrey Mallalieu Aubrey Mallalieu (8 June 1873 – 28 May 1948) was an English actor with a prolific career in supporting roles in films in the 1930s and 1940s. Mallalieu began life as George William Mallalieu, the son of William Mallalieu (c. 1845–1927), a ...

as Reverend Glory * C. Denier Warren as Reporter

Reception and later history

Although the plot of ''Kiss the Bride Goodbye'' was variously described as "naïve" and "ridiculous", contemporary critics in the main regarded the film as an enjoyable frivolity with one labelling it "jovial entertainment for the masses". The ''Film Report'' said "there are many laughs and few dull moments", but also found some of the humour on the risqué side: "The situations at times come very near the edge and there are many suggestive lines".

Survival

The subsequent history of the film is unclear. There was a record of a TV showing in the U.S. in 1953. The

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

had been unable to locate a print for inclusion in the

BFI National Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...

and classed the film as "missing, believed lost". Due to its interest as a populist production of its time and as a lost Simmons appearance, as well as increasing appreciation from film historians of Stein's directorial output in Britain, the film is included on the BFI's " 75 Most Wanted" list of missing British feature films. The Huntley Film Archives posted a clip on their official YouTube channel, claiming to have a copy of the entire feature. In 2013 Renown Pictures Ltd released a DVD of the film.

References

External links

BFI 75 Most Wanted entry
with extensive notes * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiss The Bride Goodbye 1940s romantic comedy-drama films British romantic comedy-drama films British black-and-white films Films directed by Paul L. Stein 1940s rediscovered films Films shot at Riverside Studios Films with screenplays by Jack Whittingham Rediscovered British films Films scored by Percival Mackey 1940s English-language films 1940s British films