Movie:
Alfred Polly (John Mills) is a well-intentioned if lazy and
directionless day dreamer. Recently fired from his job as a drapers assistant,
he half heartedly searches for another job without success. Almost penniless,
he receives a communication that his father has passed away and so he sets off
to pay his last respects. During this time away Alfred finds out that he has
been left an inheritance, which amount to the princely sum of £500.
Alfred stays briefly with some relations although it is not
long before they are hinting that he needs to move out and find a place of his
own, they suggest a shop. But Alfred wants adventure and so buys a bicycle so
that he can explore. On one of these days out on his bicycle he meets and falls
in love with a school girl called Cristobel, although those feelings are
obviously not reciprocated in any way, in fact he makes a bit of a fool of
himself. To console himself he makes his way over to his cousin’s house, the
Larkins, these three women are obviously out to net a man with a little money
and one of them, Miriam certainly falls on her feet when Alfred talks himself
into marrying her. They move away to a small town and set up a drapers shop
together.
Fast forward 15 years and Alfred is a hen-pecked husband,
his business is on the verge of bankruptcy and he is depressed therefore the
only logical course of action (rolls eyes) is for him to commit suicide so his
wife (the one he hates and hen-pecks him) can benefit financially from his
death. Of Course Alfred being Alfred this attempt goes wrong too and his
suicide attempt fails massively, to the point where he actually turns out to be
a hero. Rather than revisit suicide as a way out he decides to run away, leave
his wife, the shop and the debt behind (I assume there are no tax men to chase
you to every corner of the earth in these time) and search for the idyllic life
he has also craved, he thinks he has found this lifestyle in the Potwell Inn,
where he hopes to settle, only “Uncle Jim”, a drunkard and a bully intends to
spoil it all and Alfred is forced into making a decision, shall he fight or
shall he flee?
I will admit right from the outset that this is not
generally my kind of film, and I was not looking forward to watching it but as
a reviewer I wanted to be as objective as I could be. My first thoughts as the
credits rolled were that the film was better than I thought it was going to be,
yes I had some issues with certain aspects but I would not say that I was bored
or completely disinterested in it.
One problem I have is with the Schoolgirl Cristobel, I have
no idea what social attitudes were like in the time the film was set, or in
1949 when the movie was made but a grown man declaring his love for a
schoolgirl, come on that is a little close to the mark, and it isn’t as if the
film was some controversial movie about forbidden love, in fact the entire
scene with Cristobel could have been edited from the film and no one would be
any the wiser, as such I’ve no idea why it was included.
That got me to thinking why would H.G.Wells write a story
like this in the first place? His work that I am familiar with fell within the adventure
and science fiction genres such as War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man and The
Time Machine. This seems totally off of the beaten track for him. On doing a
little research I think that he was maybe putting a little bit of himself into
Mr Polly. The story itself touches upon a number of issues, marriage issues,
midlife crises and depression being a few examples. Wells was 44 when he penned
this story, perhaps he was experiencing some of the things that Mr Polly was going
thorough. Wells was also from a lower middle class family and he had also
inherited some money which he put into a shop so there is (I think) more than a
passing resemblance to the man himself in his Mr Polly character.
Another problem I have is why would he kill himself to
ensure that his wife was financially secure when he hated her? That just didn’t
make sense and for me that stood out like a sore thumb.
Those few negative points aside the film for the most part
is ok, being a comedy rather than a serious drama there are going to be a few
funny bits peppered here and there. The operative word here is few, but this is
mainly due to the fact the humour in 1949 just isn’t the same as humour in
2007, even so there are a few funnies that make the (approximate) hour and a
half go fairly quickly. This is in no small part mainly to the credit of John
Mills. I have not seen many films with John Mills in them, but none of the
films I have seen him in have been terrible. He plays Alfred Polly very well,
from the man trying to act and talk above his class, to the depressed husband
who wants to get out of a failing marriage as well as all the comedy bits in-between.
Picture:
There are some issues with the picture, there is a fair
amount of grain and the image looks a bit soft in places. The thing I found
most annoying was a blooming of the whites, which was more noticeable on white
clothes and faces, also the brightness seemed to dull and then brighten in a
pulsating fashion. I think most of these issues are more with the film stock
rather that the DVD itself.
Sound:
The Mono sound track is sufficient for the film, the
dialogue is clear and you can understand what is being said without having to strain
your ears.
Extras:
There are a few extras on these disks. There are two
interviews with John Mills, one on the Sunday Sunday Program and the other on
Aspel & Co, both in the mid 80’s these are basically chat show excerpts
with John Mills in them, they are not actually pertinent to the movie in
question.
There are also some movie stills, which is great if you like
that sort of thing.
Lastly there is an episode on the Tales of the Unexpected
called Galloping Foxley which again has nothing to do with the film but does
again star John Mills, this is actually an amusing little tale.
Overall:
Come the end of the movie I couldn’t really say that I felt
anything for it either way, I did not think it a brilliant movie, but more
importantly for me I didn’t think it a terrible movie, I did not have to
tolerate it to get to the end. Personally it is not a movie that I would want
to own but I can see the appeal for someone who is a fan of John Mills or a fan
of this era of movies.
The History of Mr Polly was released by Network.