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IMDbPro

The Gentle Sex

  • 19431943
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
457
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
82,301
17,851
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.
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
457
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
82,301
17,851
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • 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)
    • Stars
      • Joan Gates
      • Jean Gillie
      • Joan Greenwood
    Top credits
    • 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)
    • Stars
      • Joan Gates
      • Jean Gillie
      • Joan Greenwood
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 18User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • 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 reviews18

    Review
    Top review
    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.
    helpful•10
    16
    • heebie_jeebies
    • Jun 6, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 23, 1943 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 7 flickor
    • Filming locations
      • Carlisle, Cumbria, England, UK
    • 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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