''Let's Get Married'' is a 1960 British

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Peter Graham Scott Peter Graham Scott (27 October 1923 – 5 August 2007) was an English television producer, television and film producer, television director, film director, Film editing, film editor and screenwriter. He was one of the producers and directors wh ...

and starring

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, director, comedian, singer, and composer. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest ...

Anne Aubrey Anne Aubrey (born 1 January 1937) is a retired English film actress. Aubrey was mainly active in Warwick Films in the 1950s and 1960s. She worked with Anthony Newley in such films as '' Idol on Parade'', '' Killers of Kilimanjaro'', '' The Ba ...

and

Hermione Baddeley Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley (13 November 1906 – 19 August 1986) was an English actress of theatre, film, and television. She typically played brash, vulgar characters, often referred to as "brassy" or "blowsy".Folkart, Burt, "Note ...

. It was written by Ken Taylor. The film features Newley singing the song "Do You Mind", which reached #1 in the British Hit Singles chart the same year. Director Graham said it was " not a good film — not my script and not my scene."

Plot

Dickie Bird is a medical student. After being thrown out of his university he ends up working in a laundry and rebuilds his confidence with a relationship with a fashion model.

Cast

as Dickie Bird *

as Anne Linton *

Bernie Winters Bernie Winters (born Bernie Weinstein; 6 September 1930 – 4 May 1991) was an English comedian, actor, musician and TV presenter, and the comic foil of the double act Mike and Bernie Winters with his older brother, Mike. Winters later perfo ...

as Bernie *

as Mrs O'Grady *

James Booth James Booth (born David Noel Geeves; 19 December 1927 – 11 August 2005) was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Private Henry Hook in '' Zulu.'' ''Variety'' called him "a punchy b ...

as photographer * Jack Gwillim as Doctor Saunders *

Lionel Jeffries Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Golden ...

as Marsh *

Diane Clare Diane Clare (born Diane Dirsztay; 8 July 1938 – 21 June 2013) was an English actress. Career Clare started acting at a young age playing uncredited baby parts in films such as '' The Ghosts of Berkeley Square'' and '' The Silver Fleet'', and ...

as Glad *

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation com ...

as Dean *

Victor Maddern Victor Jack Maddern (16 March 1928 – 22 June 1993) was an English actor. He was described by ''The Telegraph'' as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema." Life and career Born in Seven Kings, ...

as works manager *

Joyce Carey Joyce Carey (30 March 1898 – 28 February 1993) was an English actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1987, and she was performing on television in he ...

as Miss Finch *

Sydney Tafler Sydney Tafler (31 July 1916 – 8 November 1979) was an English actor who after having started his career on stage, was best remembered for numerous appearances in films and television from the 1940s to the 1970s. Personal life Tafler was bor ...

as Pendle * Betty Marsden as Miss Kaplan *

Cardew Robinson Douglas John Cardew Robinson (14 August 1917 – 28 December 1992) was a British comic whose career was rooted in the music hall and Gang Shows. Early life and career Born in Goodmayes, Essex, Robinson was educated at Harrow County Schoo ...

as salesman * Meier Tzelniker as Schutzberger *

Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show ''Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' S ...

as RAF officer *

Paul Whitsun-Jones Paul Whitsun-Jones (25 April 1923 – 14 January 1974) was a Welsh character actor. Born in Newport in Monmouthshire, he was educated at Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood in Middlesex. He started his acting career in 1948 with two years a ...

as Uncle Herbert *

Margaret Tyzack Margaret Maud Tyzack (9 September 193125 June 2011) was an English actress. Her television roles included '' The Forsyte Saga'' (1967) '' I, Claudius'' (1976), and George Lucas's '' Young Indiana Jones'' (1992–1993). She won the 1970 BAFTA TV ...

as Staff Nurse

Production

The film was based on a novel by Ken Taylor called ''Confessions'' about a single model who discovers she is pregnant. Warwick bought the rights and turned it into a musical comedy. The film was shot at MGM British Studios in Elstree with sets designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Ken Adam Sir Kenneth Adam (born Klaus Hugo George Fritz Adam; 5 February 1921 – 10 March 2016) was a German-British movie production designer, best known for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for '' Dr. Str ...

. It was known as ''Confessions'' and made by Viceroy Films which had links to Warwick Films. Filming started 26 October 1959.

Reception

''Kine Weekly'' reported it "was doing extremely well" at the box office.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "After an amusing hospital scene, what might have been a charming, romantic little fable declines into slapstick and weak jokes. Some of the fooling displays imagination, but too often it is just a case of characters grimacing, falling, spraying each other with water – not to mention all manner of tasteless variations on the hardly uproarious theme of unmarried motherhood. Anthony Newley, giving a broader performance than usual, is given songs to sing, regardless of their relevance to the story. Lionel Jeffries provides yet another of his impressive caricatures. Like Newley, he awaits better material." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "Neither Newley nor the rest of the cast can do much with the grim dialog and erratic situations. ... This corny setup blends uneasily with slapstick that is crashed home whenever the plot is sagging plus with two or three songs brought in extraneously and not very well put over. In fact, so many different styles have created a flat hodge-podge faced instead of the lighthearted lark that was obviously expected."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0195876 1960 films 1960 comedy-drama films British comedy-drama films Films directed by Peter Graham Scott Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1960s English-language films 1960s British films Films scored by Edwin Astley English-language comedy-drama films