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The Gentle Sex

  • 1943
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
475
YOUR RATING
The Gentle Sex (1943)
ComedyDramaRomance

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

  • Directors
    • Leslie Howard
    • Maurice Elvey
  • Writers
    • Moie Charles
    • Aimée Stuart
    • Doris Langley Moore
  • Stars
    • Joan Gates
    • Jean Gillie
    • Joan Greenwood
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    475
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Leslie Howard
      • Maurice Elvey
    • Writers
      • Moie Charles
      • Aimée Stuart
      • Doris Langley Moore
    • Stars
      • Joan Gates
      • Jean Gillie
      • Joan Greenwood
    • 19User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Joyce Howard and Lilli Palmer in The Gentle Sex (1943)
    Add photo

    Top cast

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    Joan Gates
    • Gwen Hayden
    Jean Gillie
    Jean Gillie
    • Dot Hopkins
    Joan Greenwood
    Joan Greenwood
    • Betty Miller
    Joyce Howard
    Joyce Howard
    • Anne Lawrence
    Rosamund John
    Rosamund John
    • Maggie Fraser
    Lilli Palmer
    Lilli Palmer
    • Erna Debruski
    Barbara Waring
    • Joan Simpson
    John Justin
    John Justin
    • Flying Officer David Sheridan
    Elliott Mason
    • Mrs. Fraser
    • (as Elliot Mason)
    Tony Bazell
    • Ted
    • (as Anthony Bazell)
    Frederick Leister
    Frederick Leister
    • Colonel Lawrence
    Everley Gregg
    Everley Gregg
    • Miss Simpson
    John Laurie
    John Laurie
    • Scots Corporal
    Mary Jerrold
    Mary Jerrold
    • Mrs. Sheridan
    Meriel Forbes
    Meriel Forbes
    • Junior Commander Davis
    Noreen Craven
    • Convoy Sergeant
    Miles Malleson
    Miles Malleson
    • Guard
    Jimmy Hanley
    Jimmy Hanley
    • 1st Soldier
    • Directors
      • Leslie Howard
      • Maurice Elvey(uncredited)
    • Writers
      • Moie Charles(original story and screenplay)
      • Aimée Stuart(additional dialogue)
      • Doris Langley Moore("Observations of a Mere Man" written by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Leslie Howard's last role.
    • Goofs
      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. Locomotive #771 is shown leaving the station, and #2848 is shown en route.
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Narrator: Let's give in at last and admit that we're really proud of you, you strange, wonderful, incalculable creatures. The world you're helping to shape is going to be a better world because you're helping to shape it. Pray silence gentlemen. I give you a toast - the gentle sex.

    • Crazy credits
      Prologue following opening credits: "Woman, when I behold thee, flippant, vain, inconstant, childish, proud and full of fancies" (spoken by Leslie Howard)
    • Connections
      Featured in War Stories (2006)
    • Soundtracks
      Don't Dilly Dally
      (uncredited)

      Written by Charles Collins and Fred W. Leigh

      [Incorrectly credited as "Traditional"]

      Performed by Joan Gates

    User reviews19

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    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?
    helpful•18
    1
    • Charlot47
    • May 22, 2011

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 17, 1944 (Sweden)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 7 flickor
    • Filming locations
      • Carlisle, Cumbria, England, UK(on location)
    • Production companies
      • Two Cities Films
      • Concanen Productions
      • Derrick De Marney Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 32 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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