Always a Bride (1953)

Victor Hemsley and his daughter, Clare ply their trade at swanky Riviera resorts, where they pose as a married couple---hence the title---and he "disappears with all of her savings" and ... See full summary »

Director:

Ralph Smart

Writers:

Ralph Smart (screenplay), Peter Jones (screenplay)

Stars:

Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan, Ronald Squire

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peggy Cummins	...	Clare Hemsley
Terence Morgan	...	Terence Winch
Ronald Squire	...	Victor Hemsley
James Hayter	...	Dutton
Marie Lohr	...	Dowager
Geoffrey Sumner	...	Teddy
David Hurst	...	Beckstein
Sebastian Cabot	...	Taxi Driver
Charles Goldner	...	Hotel Manager
Jacques B. Brunius	...	Inspector (as Jacques Brunius)
Jill Day	...	Singer
Jacques Brown	...	Manager
Dino Galvani	...	Magistrate
Geoffrey Goodheart	...	(as Geoffrey Goodhart)
Mary Hinton	...	Dowager

Storyline

Victor Hemsley and his daughter, Clare ply their trade at swanky Riviera resorts, where they pose as a married couple---hence the title---and he "disappears with all of her savings" and sympathetic money contributions pour in on her from the wealthy guests. She would prefer a more settled life and meets and falls in love with Terence Winch, an investigator for the British Treasury. He is ostracized by both the guests and the management as his job is to see that none of the British citizens spends more money than permitted by the government. Clare agrees to work with her father on one last scheme in which they "sell" the hotel they're staying in in Nice. They pull it off, but are paid in counterfeit money and flee to Italy, followed closely by the police and Terence. James Hayter appears as the wealthiest man on the Riviera who is also England's best known tax dodger, while David Hurst is a petty thief who always fails and Charles Goldner is an amorous hotel manager.

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Plot Keywords:

counterfeit money | monte carlo | double cross | con artist | 

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Taglines:

The delightful tale of a polygamous Miss

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally the film was to be about a Scots bridegroom who arrives for his wedding in Scotland to find that his bride has vanished so goes off on the honeymoon in the South of France alone and gets mixed up with crooks. When filming was about to start the word was that an American star was in the lead so the story line was changed to an American goes to France to build a Coca Cola factory to the annoyance of local wine growers. The producers were pleased with the script but David Tomlinson was now the star so the script was changed to an Englishman working in France for the British Treasury watching that tourists don't spend more than their allowance. When word of this got out it proved unpopular with both the English and the French so there was yet another change with Terence Morgan in the lead and it would now be a romantic film instead of a comedy which is how it was finally made.

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Soundtracks

I Love You Toujours
(uncredited)
Music by Benjamin Frankel
Lyrics by Harold Purcell
Sung by Jill Day

User Reviews

A waste of time

With boring actors and a dull script, this movie doesn't even pass the basic test of credibility. We are asked to believe that a con man has made a lot of money over a great many years with a scheme that looks very unlikely to bring in any money at all. (And if it did, surely gossip in the hotel trade or newspaper reports would soon put an end to it.) The film is full of details that accentuate the sloppiness of the idea. The crook at one point has a handful of false passports. He could not possibly afford these with the money he makes. At another point, the crook and his henchman meet another crook and take him into their scheme, even though he is very poor at what he does AND it would mean less money for each of them AND they don't need another man to pull the scheme off! He is only around so we can (presumably) be amused by his (presumably) funny face and accent. Though this film tries to belong to the genteel- but-naughty tradition of English comedy, it is neither, just clumsy and prissy.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 June 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Noiva Eterna

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Clarion Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1