Dance Hall (film)
Encyclopedia
Dance Hall is a 1950 British film directed by Charles Crichton. Appealing mainly to a female audience, the film was an unusual departure for the studio, known at the time primarily for its classic comedies starring Alec Guinness
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festivities.Clark getting her first adult screen kiss. Meanwhile, Eve jeopardizes her marriage to Phil when she chooses someone else as her partner in the big competition.After much drama and torment all is resolved happily. There is also a plot line for Diana Dors who, as always, enhances the film. British stalwarts of the time are present and give excellent performances : Donald Houston, Sydney Tafler, Gladys Henson, Dandy Nichols Jane Hylton are amongst them. In addition there is Bonar Colleano in villainous mode and the briefest of parts for Kay Kendall. This surely was meant to be a bigger part and the rest ended up on the cutting floor. Kay gets just one spoken line at a time the she had become a true star.
and their bands provided most of the music and added to the authentic atmosphere captured by art director Norman Arnold.
Credited cast:
also uncredited are Harry Fowler (amorous youth) and Alma Cogan (dancer)
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
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Plot
The story line centres on four young women, factory workers who escape the monotony of their jobs by spending their evenings in the Palais, the local dance hall that serves as the colourful background for a rather charming plot. Clark is Georgie, who aspires to become a dance champion with her partner, Peter. Although the couple fail to win the Greater London Amateur Dancing Championships, they become romantically involved and announce their engagement at the climactic New Year's EveNew Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
festivities.Clark getting her first adult screen kiss. Meanwhile, Eve jeopardizes her marriage to Phil when she chooses someone else as her partner in the big competition.After much drama and torment all is resolved happily. There is also a plot line for Diana Dors who, as always, enhances the film. British stalwarts of the time are present and give excellent performances : Donald Houston, Sydney Tafler, Gladys Henson, Dandy Nichols Jane Hylton are amongst them. In addition there is Bonar Colleano in villainous mode and the briefest of parts for Kay Kendall. This surely was meant to be a bigger part and the rest ended up on the cutting floor. Kay gets just one spoken line at a time the she had become a true star.
Music
Geraldo and Ted HeathTed Heath (bandleader)
Ted Heath, musician and big band leader, led Britain's greatest post-war big band recording more than 100 albums and selling over 20 million records...
and their bands provided most of the music and added to the authentic atmosphere captured by art director Norman Arnold.
Reception
Most critics thought the leads were too glamorous for the working-class ladies they represented, but agreed that Clark, slowly emerging from the children's roles that had served as the basis of her early film career, and Parry, in her screen debut, had captured the spirit of young, post-war women clinging to the glamour and excitement of the dance hall. Clark was featured on the cover of the June 1950 issue of The Dancing Times and was awarded the Institute of Dancing bronze and silver medals for her work in the film.The film was successful but thought odd at the time because it was very much filmed and told from a woman's perspective, which was something not fashionable then, and for Ealing to make such a film was unheard of . All their other major films were male dominated with women usually being either quirky characters or just eye candy. Dors made a good impact as well. In recent years the film has been seen almost as a docu-drama of a time that has disappeared and one of the best ways of seeing the then prevalent culture - that of the Palais de Dance, which has now disappeared. There is an internet campaign supported both by The International Petula Clark Society website and the Diana Dors Website and Optimum releasing are promising an issue of the film on DVD as of 2011.This is now expected to be in November 2012 to coincide with Clark's 80th birthday.Credited cast:
- Donald HoustonDonald HoustonDonald Daniel Houston was a Welsh actor whose first two films – The Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money with Sir Alec Guinness – were highly successful...
as Phil - Bonar ColleanoBonar ColleanoBonar Colleano was an American-born British stage and motion-picture performer.-Early life:Colleano was born Bonar Sullivan in New York City. Following childhood experiences with the Ringling Brothers Circus and in his family's famous circus, he entered films in 1944...
as Alec - Petula ClarkPetula ClarkPetula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
as Georgie Wilson - Natasha ParryNatasha Parry-Selected filmography:* Dance Hall * Crow Hollow * Knave of Hearts * Windom's Way * The Rough and the Smooth * The Fourth Square * Girl in the Headlines * Romeo and Juliet...
as Eve - Jane HyltonJane HyltonJane Hylton was an English actress who accumulated 30 film credits, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving into television work in the latter half of her career in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
as Mary - Diana DorsDiana DorsDiana Dors was an English actress, born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon, Wiltshire. Considered the English equivalent of the blonde bombshells of Hollywood, Dors described herself as: "The only sex symbol Britain has produced since Lady Godiva."-Early life:Diana Mary Fluck was born in Swindon,...
as Carole - Gladys HensonGladys HensonGladys Henson was a British actress whose career lasted from 1932 to 1976 and included roles on stage, radio, films and television series...
as Mrs Wilson - Sydney TaflerSydney TaflerSydney Tafler , was a British film and television actor, first appearing in London's West End in 1936, after two years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, with Sir Seymour Hicks in The Man in Dress Clothes....
as Jim Fairfax (Dance Hall Manager) - Douglas Barr as Peter
- Fred Johnson as Mr Wilson
- James CarneyJames CarneyJames Patrick Carney was a noted Irish Celtic scholar.He was born in Portlaoise, County Laois and was educated at the Christian Brothers school in Synge Street, Dublin...
as Mike - Kay KendallKay KendallKay Kendall was an English actress.Kendall began her film career in the 1946 musical London Town. Though the film was a financial failure, Kendall continued to work regularly until her appearance in the comedy Genevieve brought her widespread recognition...
as Doreen - Eunice GaysonEunice GaysonEunice Gayson is a British actress best known for playing Sylvia Trench, James Bond's girlfriend in the first two Bond films...
as Mona - Dandy NicholsDandy Nichols-References:* Dandy Nichols at screenonline.* Dandy Nichols at The Museum of Broadcast Communications.-External links:...
as Mrs Crabtree
also uncredited are Harry Fowler (amorous youth) and Alma Cogan (dancer)