Make Me an Offer! (1955) User Reviews

One of the hidden antiques from Beaconsfield Studio and Group 3 productions.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 10 November 2009]

Make Me An Offer is now part of a collection of British comedies called the Long Lost Comedy Classics. A collection of films that disappeared off the radar but now having been re-found, have been transfered to DVD courtesy of Hollywood Classics LTD. Others in the collection are The Love Match, Orders Are Orders, Time Gentlemen Please, John & Julie and Miss Robin Hood.

It's with much happiness that I, a proud British man, am the first person to post a review of this delightful Peter Finch starrer, Make Me An Offer.

The story sees Peter Finch as Charlie, who having as as a boy fell in love with a Portland Vase during a trip to a museum, takes up his calling in life as an antiques dealer. However, we find Charlie in adulthood struggling to make the business work, he mopes around grumbling about the poverty line; grumbling that heaps further strain on his marriage and ability to run a steady home. But an answer to all his problems may have landed in his lap with a chance meeting with flamed haired Nicky (Adrienne Corri). For during a wander around the cottage she dwells in, Charlie spies his Holy Grail, but if he thought that Nicky was just a pretty face, and ripe for a picking, well he's in for a little more than he bargained for.

Directed by Cyril Frankel (director of School For Scoundrels after Robert Hamer was fired for his drinking problems), Make Me An Offer is adapted from the novel written by Wolf Mankowitz (who inputs additional dialogue to the screenplay from W.P. Lipscomb). Joining Finch and Corri in the cast are Ernest Thesiger, Wilfrid Lawson, Alfie Bass, Rosalie Crutchley & Finlay Currie. Whilst Richard O'Sullivan, future star of British sit-coms like Man About The House & Robin's Nest, appears as Charlie the boy. Filmed in Eastman Colour, the film has a charm that wistfully takes us back to a charming part of England when folk made the most of what they had. A time when dreams, no matter how far away they were, were still a beacon of hope to drive people on. Set as it is in the antiques business, money is naturally an overriding factor, but although Charlie {Finch effervescent} yearns to provide his wife Bella (Crutchley) with a fur coat he has long since promised her, monetary gain is not the issue here. Realisation of dreams and a love of art, particularly during a poverty stricken time, is what drives Make Me An Offer forward. The comedy is mixed with nice touches of poignancy, and during its last quarter auction sequences the film boasts excellent writing as a ringer operation involving many characters starts to unfold. To which we move to a finale that personally had me grinning from ear to ear.

As for the DVD? The transfer is very good, there's some fluctuation in colour and the sound mix has the odd crackle and pop, but there's nothing for anyone to worry about in the context of enjoying an old movie. So for anyone interested in 50s British cinema, particularly from the comedy genre, this film, as well as the rest in the set, is essential viewing. 7.5/10

Some judicious trimming of Finch's role would have helped!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 3 March 2016]

Although most reviewers (and most reference books) class this one as a comedy, it's more like a slice of life detailing the opportunistic hero's attempts to buy a unique vase for his own personal collection. The movie is at its best in the engrossingly-true-to- life auction scenes where a gang of ruthless dealers (including our hero) club together to rob the extra-lovely heroine (beautifully played here by Adrienne Corri) of most of the proceeds from the auction of her grandfather's estate. Peter Finch is called upon to furnish a unique balancing act as the hero, although I think he would have improved the role had he played it with a bit less charm and a lot more cynicism. But he does his best. Director Cyril Frankel was probably not a great deal of help. Writer Wolf Mankowitz was not overly happy with the movie either – even though he wrote the original novel and furnished the final draft of the screenplay originally written by W.P. Lipscomb. Mankowitz much preferred the later BBC adaptation over which he had full control.

"That's what's the trouble with the world today. No soul"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 7/10 · 27 January 2018]

A boy called Charlie is enchanted with a green Wedgwood vase at the British Museum and grows up to become an antique dealer and eventually adds it to his personal collection after a lot of haggling and manoeuvring. It's the story of an ordinary man who has an obsession through his life for a thing of beauty that is a joy forever, as the poet said. Not dramatic at all but a gentle comedy with interesting and likeable characters who help him in his search. It has the flavour of an Ealing film filmed in subdued and subtle colour with a fine John Addison music score. The dialogue is well written by W.P. Lipscomb and the original author Wolf Mankowitz .

Playing the grown up Charlie is Peter Finch and he captures well the longing he has for the vase. He loves his wife and children but there is also this itch he can't get rid of until the vase is in his hands. Rosalie Crutchley plays his busy wife Bella perfectly and their scenes together are excellent, the best in the film. A gallery of good actors support them; Finlay Currie, Adrienne Corri, Meier Tzelniker, Jane Wenham, Ernest Thesiger, Wilfrid Lawson and Alfie Bass. 'Juno' the dog is played nicely by a dog called Juno.

An entertaining film that has a beguiling charm about it.

Dull Comedy in variable colour

[malcolmgsw · 3/10 · 1 May 2012]

It is quite clear that the producers set out to imitate the Ealing comedies.Each character has his or her own eccentricities and is played by one of that reliable band of character actors.Alas even they are unable to breathe life into a moribund script.On the one hand there is Peter Finch trying hopelessly to find the right way to play his character.then on the other hand there is Adrienne Corri who is doing her best at elfin charm but failing miserably.The Eastman colour is quite strange.Early in the film the actors are washed out and then they turn a shade of orange.In the scene where we first see Adrienne Corrie the scenery seems more blue than green.All in all a truly forgettable film.

Quaint, Quiet Little Film

[aramis-112-804880 · 5/10 · 2 August 2014]

From the novel by prolific scriptwriter Wolf Mankowitz. Charlie is a little boy who grows up to be an expert in Wedgewood, and is obsessed with finding a long lost pot.

All the elements for a light-hearted modern Grail quest are present. But the film loses its light-heartedness in the kitchen-sink scenes between Charlie (unlikely future Oscar winner Peter Finch) and his wife (Rosalie Crutchley), who loves her husband but does not appreciate his obsession.

Like the best British films of the period, "Make Me an Offer" is filled with choice ham, in this case Finley Currey and a surprisingly subdued Wilfred Lawson; and rising stars of the future (besides Finch, Alfie Bass). Earnest Thesiger plays a thankless but ultimately vital part.

I appreciate quiet Brit movies and understated humor, but this one is a little too domesticated. While the film does not demand that we understand it, it does require us to appreciate Charlie's interest in Wedgewood. If that stuff leaves you cold, so will the movie. Frankly, though I tried to understand it, since I don't move in that sort of world I found the politics behind the auction confusing. Charlie meant to confuse the characters involved, but not the audience! As an aficionado of quirky British films of this period, nothing would please me more than to call "Make Me an Offer" a recovered gem from the past. But it only comes to life in the last few scenes. Finch is seen to much better advantage in the following year's "Simon and Laura" (which no one should miss).

Networking just to find a vase.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 24 May 2022]

While this is gorgeously filmed in color and shows off a lot of pastels in its photography, this is actually a very dull comedy about a young man (Peter Finch) searching for a vase that he had seen as a kid and has been obsessed with ever since. The base itself isn't all that spectacular, and the story just flows from incident to incident without really any rhyme or reason or actual purpose. I found select moments quite amusing, particularly showing since going around his activities and dealing with just regular occurrences that people would face on a daily basis.

People getting on and off the train, grumbling at each other, is presented in a very funny way, and one seeing that I felt a bit guilty over has him entering the house of a disabled old man sitting in a wheelchair with a cane unable to speak. Finch pretends to be dusting and the old man wakes up and spots him, and srarts swinging his cane around as if he is envisioning himself in a sword fight. However, that scene is not without purpose. Adrienne Corri is Finch's world weary wife, obviously suffering from severe depression. So while this has a very light-hearted atmosphere, there's really little to laugh that outside a few moments.

Lifeless and dull yarn about antiques

[geoffm60295 · 3/10 · 12 February 2021]

This is a tedious and frankly dull second feature film about antiques dealer, Peter Finch, hoping to hit the jackpot by searching for genuine antiques which he can buy and then sell on for a very handsome profit. The storyline, with Finch as an antiques dealer hoping to get rich never gets out of second gear. The problem is that the characters are not just one dimensional, but they just seem to casually appear and disappear without rhyme or reason. Finch, an outstanding actor, is wasted in this film, as he's required to do no more then play a low energy and bland antiques dealer, and despite all the best efforts of Alfie Bass, Finlay Currie, Adrienne Corri and Rosalind Crutchley, they fail to breathe life into a limp, feeble and uninteresting storyline. The script is the problem since there's simply not enough going on in the way of twists and turns to engage the interest of the audience. A very disappointing and dull film.