One Good Turn (1955 film)

One Good Turn

Original UK Quad poster
Directed by John Paddy Carstairs
Produced by Maurice Cowan
Written by Maurice Cowan
John Paddy Carstairs
Ted Willis
Starring Norman Wisdom
Joan Rice
Shirley Abicair
Thora Hird
Music by John Addison
Cinematography Jack E. Cox
Edited by Geoffrey Foot
Production
company
Distributed by General Film Distributors
Release dates
 4 January 1955
Running time
 90 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

One Good Turn is a 1955 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Norman Wisdom, Joan Rice, Shirley Abicair and Thora Hird.[1]

Plot

Norman lives at Greenwood children's home, south of London, where he grew up. He has stayed on and serves as carer and general dogsbody. He regards the staff and children there as his family, and when Jimmy, one of the boys, sets his heart on a model car he's seen in a shop window, Norman is determined to raise the money to buy it. But he can't afford it on his meagre wages and Matron won't provide the money.

On a train trip to Brighton, which he's keen to join because he's never seen the sea, Norman joins in a London to Brighton walking race. He wins, but fails to sell the silver cup he's been awarded to a pawnbroker, wno thinks it's been stolen. At a local fair, he enters a boxing competition. He actually wins, but the crooked promoter cheats him of his winnings. The audience have seen what happened and have a whip-round for him, which raises fifteen shillings.

Norman return to the Home, but finds it in a state of siege. The chairman of the trustees is also a crooked property speculator and wants to evict the kids so that a factory can be built on the site.

The defenders are successful and the home is saved.

Cast

Reception

The film was the 7th most popular movie at the British box office in 1955.[2] The Radio Times wrote, "this is the cleverly constructed follow-up to Norman Wisdom's smash-hit debut Trouble in Store. Arguably the best of his vehicles...Of course, the film is overly sentimental, but sentiment was part of Wisdom's stock-in-trade, and today, if we can look beyond the home-grown schmaltz, we can recognise the rare quality of a true cinematic clown."[3]

References

  1. ↑ "BFI | Film & TV Database | ONE GOOD TURN (1954)". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  2. ↑ 'Dirk Bogarde favourite film actor', The Irish Times (1921-Current File) [Dublin, Ireland] 29 Dec 1955: 9.
  3. ↑ "One Good Turn | Film review and movie reviews". Radio Times. Retrieved 2014-06-09.


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