''The Weaker Sex'' is a 1948 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ursula Jeans,

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe, 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between ...

and

Joan Hopkins Joan Hopkins (31 August 1915 – 27 December 2002) was a British stage and film actress. During the late 1940s she appeared in starring roles in several productions, including Princess Charlotte in '' The First Gentleman'' and as Helen in the bo ...

. It was one of the most popular films at the British box office in 1948. The film's subject was what ''

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 ...

'' described as the "heroics of that valiant legion of women who stood, but did not wait, through the long war years and the now dreary post war years."

Plot

Set near

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

, one of the main bases for the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

invasion fleet, the film portrays life on the British home front during World War II. During the run up to D-Day (1944), widowed Martha Dacre ( Ursula Jeans) tries to keep house and home together for her two daughters and two servicemen billeted on her. Although her two daughters serve as Wrens, and her son is away in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

, she has chosen to stay at home as a housewife (although she also participates in fire-watching and works in a canteen). When she learns that her son's ship was damaged during the landings, she experiences regrets about not taking a more active role in the war. Using occasional footage of actual events and with frequent reference to contemporary newspaper and wireless reports, the story moves forward from D-Day to VE-Day, the 1945 general election and on to 1948 when the film was made. Martha eventually re-marries to naval officer Geoffrey (

) who was one of the men billeted on her and has by now become a father-figure to her son and daughters.

Cast

* Ursula Jeans as Martha Dacre *

as Geoffrey Radcliffe *

as Helen * Derek Bond as Nigel * Lana Morris as Lolly * John Stone as Roddy * Digby Wolfe as Benjie * Thora Hird as Mrs. Gaye * Bill Owen as Soldier * Marian Spencer as Harriet Lessing * Kynaston Reeves as Captain Dishart *

Eleanor Summerfield Eleanor Audrey Summerfield (7 March 1921 – 13 July 2001) was an English actress who appeared in many plays, films and television series. She is known for her roles in '' Laughter in Paradise'' (1951), '' Final Appointment'' (1954), '' Odongo'' ...

as Clippie * Dorothy Bramhall as Mrs. Maling * Gladys Henson as Woman in Fish Queue *

Merle Tottenham Merle Tottenham (22 January 1901 – 18 July 1958) was a British stage and film actress. Her stage work included the original West End production of Noël Coward's ''Cavalcade'' in 1931; and she reprised her role as Annie the servant in the sub ...

as Woman in Fish Queue * Vi Kaley as Old Woman On Sea Front * Marjorie Gresley as Shop Supervisor

Production

The film was shot at Denham Studios with location shooting taking place in

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

, Portchester Castle and the village of Denham in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky. It was adapted by Esther McCracken from her own 1944 play '' No Medals'', with additional material added to continue the story until the present day in 1948.

Box Office

The film was popular at the British box office. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'' the 'biggest winner' at the box office in 1948 Britain was ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' with ''Spring in Park Lane'' being the best British film and runners-up being ''It Always Rains on Sunday'', ''My Brother Jonathan'', ''Road to Rio'', ''Miranda'', ''An Ideal Husband'', ''Naked City'', ''The Red Shoes'', ''Green Dolphin Street'', ''Forever Amber'', ''Life with Father'', ''The Weaker Sex'', ''Oliver Twist'', ''The Fallen Idol'' and ''The Winslow Boy''.

Critical reception

Critical reception was lukewarm, but the film had some defenders. A critic for ''

The News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national red top tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling English-language newspaper, and at closure still had one o ...

'' wrote, "I see that according to my fellow critics ''The Weaker Sex ...'' is riddled with faults. Therefore I ask your indulgence for being incapable of detailing these grave weaknesses. I must have missed them because I was enjoying myself so much". ''

'' wrote, "a thoroughly professional cast and an adult script make the drama genuine and trenchant. Ursula Jeans is excellent as the beleaguered mother who minimizes her work and sacrifices by remarking "one is given no choice — just a little extra strength from somewhere." Cecil Parker is equally adept in his restrained portrayal of the commander she eventually marries. The wonderful Thora Hird contributes a superbly droll bit as a Yorkshire servant and Joan Hopkins, Lana Morris, Digby Wolfe, Derek Bond and John Stone add solid characterizations as the children and sons-in-law" ; and

Sky Movies Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...

wrote, "the best reviews of the period were saved for Thora Hird as Mrs Gage ic the 'daily' with a dry sense of humour", and concluded, "good, solid drama told convincingly – if a trifle over-sentimental today."

References

Bibliography

* Murphy, Robert. ''Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48''. Routledge, 2003.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weaker Sex, The 1948 films 1948 drama films Films directed by Roy Ward Baker British drama films British films based on plays Films set in 1944 Films set in 1945 Films set in 1948 Films set in London Films set in Hampshire Films set on the home front during World War II Two Cities Films films British black-and-white films Films produced by Paul Soskin Films with screenplays by Paul Soskin Films shot at Denham Film Studios Films shot in Hampshire Films shot in Kent 1940s English-language films 1940s British films