The Gentle Sex (1943)

Director:

Leslie Howard
(more)

Writers:

Moie Charles (original story and screenplay)
Aimée Stuart (additional dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

23 May 1943 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

This film tells the stories of seven 'gentle' British girls who decide to "do their bit" and help out during World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Propaganda | World War Two

Cast

Joan Gates	...	Gwen Hayden
Jean Gillie	...	Dot Hopkins
Joan Greenwood	...	Betty Miller
Joyce Howard	...	Anne Lawrence
Rosamund John	...	Maggie Fraser
Lilli Palmer	...	Erna Debruski
Barbara Waring	...	Joan Simpson
John Justin	...	Flying Officer David Sheridan
Elliott Mason	...	Mrs. Fraser (as Elliot Mason)
Tony Bazell	...	Ted (as Anthony Bazell)
Frederick Leister	...	Colonel Lawrence
Everley Gregg	...	Miss Simpson
John Laurie	...	Scots Corporal at Dance
Mary Jerrold	...	Mrs. Sheridan
Meriel Forbes	...	Junior Commander Davis
Noreen Craven	...	Convoy Sergeant
Miles Malleson	...	Train Guard
Jimmy Hanley	...	1st Soldier on Train
Frederick Peisley	...	2nd Soldier on Train (as Frederich Peisley)
Ronald Shiner	...	Racegoer (as Ronnie Shiner)
Harry Welchman	...	Captain Ferrier
Rosalyn Boulter	...	Telephonist
Leslie Howard	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Grace Arnold	...	(uncredited)
Frank Atkinson	...	Restaurant Customer (uncredited)
Claude Bailey	...	Staff Officer (uncredited)
Clifford Buckton	...	(uncredited)
Peter Cotes	...	Taffy (uncredited)
Amy Dalby	...	Lady Behind the Bar at the Dance (uncredited)
Richard George	...	Naval Officer (uncredited)
Roland Pertwee	...	Captain (uncredited)
Johnnie Schofield	...	Sgt in Dance Cafe (uncredited)
Nicholas Stuart	...	British Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Leslie Howard
Maurice Elvey		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Moie Charles		(original story and screenplay)
Aimée Stuart		(additional dialogue) (as Aimee Stuart)
Doris Langley Moore		("Observations of a Mere Man" written by)
Elizabeth Baron		uncredited &
Roland Pertwee		uncredited

Produced by
Derrick De Marney	....	producer (as Derrick de Marney)
Leslie Howard	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
John Greenwood

Cinematography by
Robert Krasker		(lighting cameraman)

Film Editing by
Charles Saunders

Casting by
Irene Howard		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Carmen Dillon
C.P. Norman
Paul Sheriff		(supervising art director)

Makeup Department
Marjorie Whittle	....	assistant hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Vincent Permane	....	production manager (as Vincent Permaine)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cecil Gurney	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Charles Tasto	....	sound mixer
A.W. Watkins	....	recording director (as A.W Watkins)

Visual Effects by
Derick Williams	....	special effects cameraman (as Derek Williams)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cyril J. Knowles	....	camera operator (as Cyril Knowles)
Ray Sturgess	....	camera operator

Music Department
Muir Mathieson	....	conductor

Other crew
Geoffrey Boothby	....	associate director
Adrian Brunel	....	production consultant
Senior Commander Pratt	....	military advisor
Renée Glynne	....	assistant production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Two Cities Films (co-production)
• Derrick De Marney Productions (as a Concanen Film) (co-production)

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1943) (UK) (theatrical) (as General Film Distributors Ltd.)
• Video Collection International (1997) (UK) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Auxiliary Territorial Service, The  made with the co-operation of (as The Auxiliary Territorial Service)
• London Symphony Orchestra, The (LSO)  music played by (as The London Symphony Orchestra)
• Members of His Majesty's Forces  cast: other characters
• War Office, The  made with the co-operation of (as The War Office)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:U | Australia:G | UK:U (video rating) (1997) | UK:U (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Carlisle, Cumbria, England, UK

Company:

Two Cities Films

Trivia:

Leslie Howard's last role.

Goofs:

Continuity: The locomotive pulling the carriages from the Southern Railway London terminus where the women board, is a different class locomotive seen later in the film prior to their arrival at the Army base.

Quotes:

Narrator:That dispatch rider... I keep forgetting it's a girl.

Movie Connections:

Featured in War Stories (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Nellie Dean

Lack of character development and lack of action?

Previous reviewers have commented on lack of character development and lack of action. While there is some truth in both assertions, I think we do have to look at the essential purpose of the film, which is to show seven very different young women (though these ones do tend to be above average in looks) being turned into soldiers.

An army in wartime is a great mincing machine, taking individuals from all walks of life in at one end and turning them out at the other as soldiers. By definition, they are then no longer individuals but a member of a team that has been trained to achieve objectives jointly. The common experience of first training together and then learning to do the jobs they are assigned means that not only do the young women in the film mature fast as people but also they cohere as soldiers. Loyalty to their mates and their unit overrides personal needs, with their own strengths and weaknesses evened out in the common effort. For example, Barbara Waring has no particular feelings about the Germans, seeing them merely as efficient, but Erna Debruski (who is probably meant to be not French but Czech) has seen their lethal efficiency at work in her country and is driven by violent hatred.

Of the tasks soldiers have to do, some are everyday and boring while others are unique and exciting. We see two young men doing very dangerous work, one a fighter pilot and one a commando, but our seven girls end up driving lorries and manning anti-aircraft guns. Even so, they are all put to the test. The lorry girls have to drive through the night to get their trucks aboard a ship sailing to the front, possibly North Africa, and then have to rush fresh ammunition to the anti- aircraft battery during a raid. There the AA girls bring an attacking bomber down in flames.

From the seven young strangers who shared a railway compartment at the start to the trained and dedicated women who are doing demanding, even hazardous, jobs to protect their country, surely there has been huge character development and surely there has been action?

PS As for that music hall sketch, should we judge it by professional standards? Isn't it meant to be an amateur, who has volunteered to amuse her chums?