Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War (2002)

After her husband's death, woman starts looking for independence.

Director:

Ian Sharp

Writers:

Vernon Coleman (book), Malcolm Stone (adaptation)

Stars:

Pauline Collins, Peter Capaldi, Anna Wilson-Jones

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pauline Collins	...	Thelma Caldicot
Peter Capaldi	...	Derek
Anna Wilson-Jones	...	Veronica
Gwenllian Davies	...	Audrey
Sheila Reid	...	Joyce
Frank Mills	...	Leslie
Frank Middlemass	...	Bernard
John Alderton	...	Hawksmoor
Isla Blair	...	Matron
Paul Freeman	...	Jenkins
Martin Jarvis	...	JB
Tony Robinson	...	Nick Reid
Terence Rigby	...	Henry Caldicot
Wanda Ventham	...	Victoria
Angela Bruce	...	Gina

Storyline

Not so aged widow Thelma Caldicot is coerced into a resthome by her manipulative son and daughter-in-law after the death of her bullying husband. Apathy turns to anger and then action as the medication is discarded and Thelma discovers her mettle. She and her aged cohorts stage a rebellion but the result is something nobody envisaged.

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Plot Keywords:

walk out | widow | retirement home | mother son relationship | protest | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 January 2003 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Guerra do Repolho

Filming Locations:

Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Evolution Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the scene where everyone is watching the TV interview from the hotel room, there is a reflection in the silver serving trays of the studio lighting rig. Something moves back and forward, possibly a boom mic.

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Quotes

Bernard: Hewitt and I have been considering you very carefully, Mrs Caldicot.
Thelma Caldicot: Have you now?
Bernard: And we are agreed that you should be asked to join our escape committee.
Thelma Caldicot: How many have you got?
Bernard: Just Hewitt and me. I'm the brains, he's the brawn.
Leslie: So he reckons.
Thelma Caldicot: So what's the plan?
Bernard: Tunnelling was the favoured option... and then Hewitt here went and lost the bloody trowel.
Thelma Caldicot: So now what?
Bernard: Well, currently we have a plan to kidnap two of the nurses, take their uniforms, and then leave in disguise.
[...]

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Soundtracks

DOWN AT THE OLD BULL & BUSH
Composed by Harry von Tilzer (as Harry Von Tilzer), Andrew B. Sterling, Russel Hunting and Percy Krone
Published by B. Feldman & Co. Ltd and Redwood Music Ltd

User Reviews

Cabbage

Pauline Collins, who shone so brightly in Shirley Valentine, fails to rescue this lamely scripted and poorly acted British comedy. The plot concerns Mrs Caldicot, a widow who is tricked out of her house and into a retirement home, where she is sedated and forced to sign over her property to her son.

She soon realises that she and her fellow residents, who are also sedated to keep them quiet, are being treated unfairly and foments a rebellion against the home's smarmy manager.

But this comedic take on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is mired in pantomime-quality acting and naive plotting in which old people are never disorientated or distressed, and journalists pay for scores of pensioners to be put up in a country house hotel.

I have no idea what Vernon Coleman's novel was like, but it is unlikely that the set decorator who adapted it made many improvements.

It made just £16,400 at the British box office. I would be surprised if most of those who parted with their money did not ask for it back.