A WEEKEND WITH LULU

Leslie Phillips

A WEEKEND WITH LULU (1961). Director: John Paddy Carstairs.

Timothy (Leslie Phillips of Doctor in Love) wants to go on Holiday with his fiancee, Deirdre (Shirley Eaton of Goldfinger). To that end his buddy Fred (Bob Monkhouse) lends him a caravan -- or trailer -- that he borrowed from someone else. They hitch the trailer -- which is called "Lulu" -- to an ice cream van, and all seems set until Tim discovers that Deirdre's rather horrid mother, Flo (Irene Handl), is going along with them, along with Fred. As they sleep the trailer somehow winds up being put on board a train as "freight" and they wind up over the border and in France. In a foreign country and not certain how to get back before the weekend is up, the foursome have various misadventures involving everything from the Tour de France to an amorous French count named de Grenoble (Alfred Marks) before finding their way back.

Eaton, Phillips, Monkhouse and Handl

You want to like the amiable Weekend because the players are more or less likable and there are some amusing situations in the movie, but aside from one solid laugh the movie never really erupts into hilarity. The script seems written on the go, throwing in sequences as the crew and our characters drive around the French countryside hoping to find chuckles. Phillips is fine as the genial Timothy, and Eaton is attractive and more-than-competent as his somewhat out-of-his-league fiancee. Monkhouse, a very popular British comedian, is fine as the more larcenous of the two men, although his schemes often backfire. Handl makes the most of her role as the mother, although through most of the movie she's too unpleasant to really take to. John Paddy Carstairs also directed Made in Heaven.

Verdict: For a classic British comedy watch The Belles of St. Trinian's instead. **. 

LES GIRLS

Elg, Kendall and Gaynor

LES GIRLS (1957). Director: George Cukor.

Retired dancer Lady Sybil (Kay Kendall of Wings of Danger) has written a book about her life in which she claims that a former colleague, Angele (Taina Elg), attempted suicide out of her unrequited love for their boss, Barry Nichols (Gene Kelly). Angele is outraged -- and so is her husband, Pierre (Jacques Bergerac of The Hypnotic Eye) -- so a libel suit results. Most of Les Girls consists of flashbacks

"Wild One" Kelly and his Leather Boys

as Sybil tells her story, then Angele tells hers, and finally Barry comes into court to tell his side of things. Les Girls has an interesting hook with the libel suit, but the script becomes increasingly stupid with each section, and even Cole Porter's songs are second or third-rate for this composer. The film's highlight is a sequence when Kelly walks in with a gang of motorcycle toughs and does a splendid dance number with Mitzi Gaynor [The Joker is Wild], but most of the production numbers are disappointing. Kelly and the ladies are all excellent, however. Henry Daniell plays the judge presiding over the case and Patrick Macnee [The Avengers] is one of the lawyers; Leslie Phillips is Kendall's husband. In CinemaScope and Metrocolor. This was Porter's last film score, and Kelly's last MGM musical. 

Verdict: Cute but unremarkable. **1/2. 

POOL OF LONDON

Earl Cameron and Bonar Colleano

POOL OF LONDON (1951). Director: Basil Dearden.

Several sailors have misadventures and find romantic interests when they disembark in London. The film focuses on two of them, Dan Macdonald (Bonar Colleano) who participates in a robbery in which a watchman is killed; and his Jamaican friend, Johnny (Earl Cameron), who develops a warm relationship with a pretty white girl named Pat (Susan Shaw). Leslie Phillips is another sailor named Harry, and the women include Sally (Renee Asherson), Maisie (Moira Lister),  and her sister Pamela (Joan Dowling); two of them have a zesty "cat-fight" at one point. The most interesting aspect of the film is the dilemma of Johnny, a black man on the outside looking in, and his doomed romance with the sympathetic Pat. Earl Cameron gives a wonderful performance, as does Colleano [Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?], who has personality and presence if not conventional good looks. There are great shots of London locations (Gordon Dines did the photography), a fine musical score by John Addison [Dead Man's Folly], and Dearden's direction is solid.

Verdict: A nice picture that just misses being a classic. ***.