He's played Queen Victoria and nurses Edith Cavell and Florence Nightingale. She sang and danced to "Alice Blue Gown", "Tea For Two" and "Who?". As the wife of producer Herbert Wilcox, Anna Neagle had many great roles in British Cinema and briefly in Hollywood. She was the British version of Irene Dunne and Anne Harding, her tightly wound blonde hair making her always cast as a lady. Now she's a troubled career woman, dealing with a very difficult teenage daughter (Sylvia Syms), whope ironically working for a magazine focusing on subjects that are of interest to teens, and unable to deal with her own daughter.
Basically a nice girl, Syms turns into a terror when she begins to hang out with the wrong crowd and starts dating Kenneth Haigh who apparently was spoiled by his wealthy parents and is now under the thumb of rigid grandmother Helen Haye. Everything with her mother becomes a challenge, from arranging to go out to dinner with Neagle and her new gentleman friend, Norman Woodland, staying out all night and blaming all of her teenage problems on her mother. She does break down a few times, wondering what is wrong with her, but as soon as those issues are resolved, new ones crop up, and finally she runs away only to be an accessory in an accidental death that Haigh was responsible for. This results in her being on trial for murder along with him, and a very strong finger wagging at Neagle once the trial is over.
This was much better than I thought it would be, having expected something resembling the type of low budget drive-In fare that was being made by second-rate studios in Hollywood. I should have known that being produced by Herbert Wilcox would have this being a classier production, and while the acting does often shipped into melodramatic ranting, considering some of the situations that go on, it is very believable and at times the audience gets a real "pow". Veteran actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke adds authority as Neagle's boss, and in her brief time on screen, Haye is a forced to be reckoned with. The script and direction are better than average for a film of this nature oh, making it a surprise for me when I thought it was just going to be another teen exploitation drama.
Basically a nice girl, Syms turns into a terror when she begins to hang out with the wrong crowd and starts dating Kenneth Haigh who apparently was spoiled by his wealthy parents and is now under the thumb of rigid grandmother Helen Haye. Everything with her mother becomes a challenge, from arranging to go out to dinner with Neagle and her new gentleman friend, Norman Woodland, staying out all night and blaming all of her teenage problems on her mother. She does break down a few times, wondering what is wrong with her, but as soon as those issues are resolved, new ones crop up, and finally she runs away only to be an accessory in an accidental death that Haigh was responsible for. This results in her being on trial for murder along with him, and a very strong finger wagging at Neagle once the trial is over.
This was much better than I thought it would be, having expected something resembling the type of low budget drive-In fare that was being made by second-rate studios in Hollywood. I should have known that being produced by Herbert Wilcox would have this being a classier production, and while the acting does often shipped into melodramatic ranting, considering some of the situations that go on, it is very believable and at times the audience gets a real "pow". Veteran actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke adds authority as Neagle's boss, and in her brief time on screen, Haye is a forced to be reckoned with. The script and direction are better than average for a film of this nature oh, making it a surprise for me when I thought it was just going to be another teen exploitation drama.