Last Holiday (1950)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Henry Cass

Writer:

J.B. Priestley (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 November 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Guinness...The Great Lover!

Plot:

George Bird is a salesman of agricultural machinery who finds out that he hasn't long to live. He decides...

Plot Keywords:

Salesman | Hotel | Spending Spree | Luck | Elevator

Cast

Alec Guinness	...	George Bird
Beatrice Campbell	...	Sheila Rockingham
Kay Walsh	...	Mrs. Poole
Grégoire Aslan	...	Gambini
Jean Colin	...	Daisy Clarence
Muriel George	...	Lady Oswington
Brian Worth	...	Derek Rockingham
Esma Cannon	...	Miss Fox
Bernard Lee	...	Inspector Wilton
Sid James	...	Joe Clarence
Campbell Cotts	...	Bellinghurst
Moultrie Kelsall	...	Sir Robert Kyle
Madam Kirkwood-Hackett	...	Miss Hatfield
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Chalfont
Eric Maturin	...	Wrexham

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)

Movie Connections:

Remade as Last Holiday (2006)

An Overlooked Guinness Gem

Because of the string of Ealing Comedies he made from 1949 on to 1958, from A RUN FOR YOUR MONEY to THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT to THE LAVENDER HILL MOB to THE LADYKILLERS to THE HORSE'S MOUTH, many fans of Alec Guinness keep forgetting this tragic comedy based on a J. B. Priestly story. Guinness plays George Bird, a salesman who is told he is dying of a rare illness called Lampington's Disease. He is told he has only a few months, so he might as well try to enjoy himself. Taking most of his savings, he goes to a fancy English resort. Instead of being a fish out of water, the quite Bird becomes a social success, making fantastic connections with others, including Sid James (as a wealthy manufacturer), winning at various gambling games, and even succeeding with the ladies. It is like all at once Bird's lifetime of humdrum living is being replaced by the success and potential he was always denied. Finally he even meets Dr. Trevor Lampington (Ernest Thiesinger, in a rather small part for a change), who tells Bird he is not suffering from Lampington's disease. And he is right - the doctor made a mistake. But fate interferes to make the title of this movie meaningful.

The Priestly background to the story explains it's odd twistiness, and even fatalistic backbone. Think of AN INSPECTOR CALLS and how a faint chance at avoiding fate is lost there too. The film is a moody masterpiece, and reminds us of how our luck can change for the better and it still does not do us any good. No, it is not as funny as the Guinness comedies, but it is as fascinating as the best of them.