When young marrieds Virginia MacKenna and Bill Travers (the real-life married couple, best known for "Born Free") are bequeathed a dilapidated cinema, they plan to sell it to a local mega-cinema magnate who wants to turn it into a parking lot for his "Grand" right across the street. But when they realize that he's decreased his offer, thinking they are too scared to fight him, they plan to make him up his offer by making him think they are re-opening it. Travers' deceased great uncle left behind a staff probably too long in the tooth to work, but out of loyalty, they keep them on. When word gets out of the deception, the couple decide "what the heck..." and re-open it anyway, leading to humorous circumstances and complications for their rival.
A sweet and affectionate tribute to the "mom and pop" owners of small businesses threatened by corporate chain owners, this is a must for film history buffs. MacKenna and Travers are extremely likable, and they will have you rooting for them from the moment Travers finds out that he's been given the major bequest in his great-uncle's will. Margaret Rutherford is given the opportunity to loose the eccentricity so prevalent in her other roles (especially the very tweedy Miss Marple) and plays a rather sour-faced ticket taker. Bernard Miles, as the sarcastic handyman/usher, is delightfully droll, and you won't even recognize Peter Sellers as the alcoholic projectionist who promises to quit drinking forever once the theater actually prepares to re-open. Francis De Wolff combines the personalities of every classic movie evil businessman with his phoniness and condescention to the young couple.
The screenplay is very direct, and in spite of the possibility of potential sappiness, the script never goes there, and sticks to a very simple mood. Sexy June Cunningham is amusing in her brief role as the voluptuous ice cream girl Travers hires after finding all the local boys fighting over her. A very amusing scene has the theater temperature raised to the highest it can go during the showing of a desert movie and the women rushing in immediately afterwards to serve cold beverages. The result is a simply told tale of the small fish taking on the big bully fish and coming out of it without being fried.
A sweet and affectionate tribute to the "mom and pop" owners of small businesses threatened by corporate chain owners, this is a must for film history buffs. MacKenna and Travers are extremely likable, and they will have you rooting for them from the moment Travers finds out that he's been given the major bequest in his great-uncle's will. Margaret Rutherford is given the opportunity to loose the eccentricity so prevalent in her other roles (especially the very tweedy Miss Marple) and plays a rather sour-faced ticket taker. Bernard Miles, as the sarcastic handyman/usher, is delightfully droll, and you won't even recognize Peter Sellers as the alcoholic projectionist who promises to quit drinking forever once the theater actually prepares to re-open. Francis De Wolff combines the personalities of every classic movie evil businessman with his phoniness and condescention to the young couple.
The screenplay is very direct, and in spite of the possibility of potential sappiness, the script never goes there, and sticks to a very simple mood. Sexy June Cunningham is amusing in her brief role as the voluptuous ice cream girl Travers hires after finding all the local boys fighting over her. A very amusing scene has the theater temperature raised to the highest it can go during the showing of a desert movie and the women rushing in immediately afterwards to serve cold beverages. The result is a simply told tale of the small fish taking on the big bully fish and coming out of it without being fried.