A miner thinks he's won the football pools.
Okay, spoiler out of the way - he didn't post the coupon. But then you knew that, because that's how these things generally end. Despite British cinema of the period's fascination with the sudden riches a pools win could bring, it rarely allowed its protagonists to do anything other than briefly dream before sending them back happily to the close-knit community poverty apparently brings.
Leslie Fuller is the lucky "winner" but the dreaming here is done by his wife, Mary Jerrold. She foresees a future of fancy parties and snooty servants where her husband is lured away by the charms of Binnie Barnes. It's not one she likes.
Fuller breezes through the film with his familiar style, greeting every misfortune with a shit-happens grin and a shrug. He's a good-natured soul and his comedy is equally good natured. There are no villains here - just various species of barmpot. Whether at home, down the pit or down the social club, he fits right in.
Though Fuller is the lead, the rest of the cast get plenty of room to show off their paces. Chief among these is Marion Dawson as a scrounging neighbour. She gets many of the best lines - "Shall I show you the bathroom?" "I've seen them in council houses. Nowt but pride and vanity." - and she delivers them with relish. Her encounter with an automatic sliming machine belt is top-level clowning. According to IMDB she lost an eye in a firework accident not long after this which curtailed her career. That's a shame because on this showing she could have gone on to be one of the great character turns.
One quiet star of the film is Duncan Sutherland, the production designer. He makes the poverty here look both authentic and unremarkable. Even big budget films like The Stars Look Down sometimes struggle to get that right and often feel theatrical. The costumes are right too, with proper mothholes rather than fake-looking holes. Even the mine is passable despite being a studio set. It all helps build a solid community against which the comedy can be played out.
The critics were as ever a bit sniffy about the latest Leslie Fuller vehicle but audiences were happy to spend some more time in his company. And, as so often, the audiences were right.
Script.: Syd Courtney, Frank Launder
Director: Thomas Bentley
Players: Leslie Fuller, Mary Jerrold, Molly Lamont, Jack Hobbs, Jimmy Golden, Marion Dawson, Harry Carr, Binnie Barnes, Hal Gordon, Gus Mcnaughton, Ellen Pollock, Clive Morton, Syd Crossley
