The Gentle Sex (1943)

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 (uncredited)

Writers:

Moie Charles (original story and screenplay), Aimée Stuart (additional dialogue) (as Aimee Stuart)

Stars:

Joan Gates, Jean Gillie, Joan Greenwood

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Mary Jerrold	...	Mrs. Sheridan
Meriel Forbes	...	Junior Commander Davis

Storyline

During the War seven women from very different backgrounds find themselves together in the Auxiliary Territorial Services. They are soon drilling, driving lorries, and manning ack-ack batteries.

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Plot Keywords:

propaganda | world war two | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | War

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 1943 (UK)

Also Known As:

7 flickor

Filming Locations:

Carlisle, Cumbria, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Two Cities Films, Concanen Productions, Derrick De Marney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title sequence begins with a self-mocking message in the style of a needlework sampler: 1838 THE GENTLE SEX In whatever station in life a woman is placed, a spirit of modesty, humility, obedience & submission will always be required of her...

1938 ONWARDS.

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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.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

Prologue following opening credits: "Woman, when I behold thee, flippant, vain, inconstant, childish, proud and full of fancies" (spoken by Leslie Howard)

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Connections

Featured in War Stories (2006)

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Soundtracks

Don't Dilly Dally
(uncredited)
Written by Charles Collins and Fred W. Leigh
[Incorrectly credited as "Traditional"]

User Reviews

Women will enjoy it more than men

This film follows the experiences of seven women who find themselves together in the Auxillary Territorial Services during the war. The film begins at a train station where the narrator picks out six young women at random. These six ladies - charming but indistinguishable to me - end up in the same carriage of a train on their way to their base. The seventh, Gwen Hayden, joins the others as the train is about to depart. It's a promising start - we eagerly anticipate what will happen to these seven ladies throughout the course of the war. We assume that they'll all end up going their separate ways, but will perhaps reunite at the end of the war, having each been through some unique and fascinating experiences.

Unfortunately, nothing much happens to any of them. They arrive at their base, engage in some vacuous conversation, and then it's on with the mundane duties of the Auxillary Territorial Services. The first fifteen minutes or so after they arrive is basically a montage of footage showing the ladies and their colleagues being regimented by their superiors, during marching practise and so on, and contains very little entertainment value, except for a couple of attempted visual jokes, including one lady soldier who turns the wrong way and ends up marching away from all the others.

Perhaps the problem with the rest of the film is that it's a little too honest. There's no drama and there are no complications - just a group of ladies fulfilling the mundane duties of lorry driving, drilling and manning ack-ack batteries, and prattling on in between. The almost complete lack of male characters makes the conversation even more intolerable. Occasionally the characters ponder the purpose of the war and what they're really fighting for, but their discourse fails to scale any great philosophical heights. There's a melodramatic spiel by a French woman in the middle of the film, in which she tells some of our British ladies about what the Nazis did to her father and brother, but it fails to stir us amidst the jollility of life in the Services. Rather, it seems like a contrived attempt by the scriptwriters to provide some semblance of drama.

The only other drama that occurs - in fact, one of the few events that occurs in this basically plotless film - happens towards the end of the film, but unfortunately it is too little too late. This film is nothing more than a slice of British life during the war. None of the seven ladies embark on any great adventures, they never experience the hardships of war and since the film only scratches the surface of its seven main characters, at the end one is left feeling as though we hardly know them any better than we did when we first met them at the train station. Women will probably enjoy this film more than men, but there is really nothing in it to make it worthy of recommendation.