Please Turn Over (1959)

Director:

Gerald Thomas

Writers:

Norman Hudis (writer)
Basil Thomas (play)

Release Date:

12 August 1960 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

You'll flip...over the fun in PLEASE TURN OVER...from the producers of "Carry On Nurse"

Plot:

The orderly suburban life of a 1950's English town is turned on its head when the teenaged daughter...

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ted Ray	...	Edward Halliday
Jean Kent	...	Janet Halliday
Leslie Phillips	...	Dr. Henry Manners
Joan Sims	...	Beryl
Julia Lockwood	...	Jo Halliday
Tim Seely	...	Robert Hughes
Charles Hawtrey	...	Jeweler
Dilys Laye	...	Millicent Jones
Lionel Jeffries	...	Ian Howard
June Jago	...	Gladys Worth
Colin Gordon	...	Maurice
Joan Hickson	...	Saleswoman
Victor Maddern	...	Manager
Ronald Adam	...	Mr. Appleton
Cyril Chamberlain	...	Mr. Jones

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S

Company:

Beaconsfield Productions

Trivia:

Leigh Madison replaced Anne Sharp

I've never regretted seeing this film.

They say that it takes only one person to write a book but things are a bit different when it comes to making a film(whether it be adapted from a book or simply thought up). To make a film requires a whole raft of talents not the least the actors and actresses involved. From the director down everyone--and I do mean everyone--is concerned with the finished product.

When I saw 'Carry On Teacher' in my youth it was paired with this film and I noticed several members of the cast in both films: Leslie Phillips, Ted Ray, Joan Sims as well as a guest appearance by Charles Hawtrey(one of my favourites from the many Carry Ons he appeared in). Of course, the fact that behind the camera was the then screenwriter of the Carry Ons, Norman Hudis as well as Peter Rodgers and Gerald Thomas should have told me that I was viewing something that was a Carry On in all but name.

My reference to a book in the first paragraph is a direct referral to the original title of this piece. It was a successful stage play called 'Book of the Month' by Basil Thomas(any relation to Gerald, I wonder?). I never saw the play so cannot comment on the treatment of the storyline. However, in the film, the cast members are required to play two parts; one the 'normal' family whose lives are about to be turned upside down by the penmanship of their daughter, but also their 'alter egos' in the reading of the book. This plot point works brilliantly as the daughter twists her family's quirks on their head and gives them totally new characteristics.

I laughed myself silly at the antics portrayed on the screen and, although it was the support feature, I came away from the cinema thinking it was the better of the two films. Not that 'Carry On Teacher' wasn't funny--it was. It's just that I felt that 'Please Turn Over' had the edge over its more famous partner that day. Seeing it since then on TV and tape has given me no reason to change my mind.

If you get the opportunity to see this film, do so. I promise that you won't regret it--I never have. Maybe one day they'll put it out on a DVD(perhaps along with the previously mentioned 'Carry On Teacher').