Stop Press Girl (1949) User Reviews

Planes, Train And Automobiles

[boblipton · 6/10 · 9 May 2019]

Sally Ann Howes is a pretty but ordinary girl, reared by her aunt and uncle, Joyce Barbour and John Robertson Justice. What she doesn't know is in the presence of every woman in her family, mechanical machinery stops: trains, planes, automobiles, newspaper presses, it doesn't matter. When her prospective fiance, Nigel Buchanan is informed of this, he runs back to his family clockmaking business in London, and Miss Howes follows, meets Gordon Jackson, and eventually becomes a celebrity.

It's a romantic comedy with a fantasy air, a type of story that became moderately popular in print after the Second World War, with writers like Ward Moore and Jack Finney dabbling in it. The subtext was almost invariably about the fragility of modern civilization and a nostalgic hankering for older, simpler times.

19-year-old Miss Howes is quite lovely. It would turn out that she was also quite talented for musical comedy, in the mode of her father, Bobby Howes. She would replace Julie Andrews on Broadway in MY FAIR LADY, and star on Broadway for several decades. Although her film career dribbled away after CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG with the end of the movie musical, she is still around and, in her 90th year, quite lovely.

Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne are also present in the movie, not playing Charters & Caldicott, but "the mechanicals", a pair of men always present when she stops a bus, as the motorman and conductor, or a train as the engineer and stoker. They look old and worn.

Essentially a one joke film

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 7 September 2015]

This is essentially a one joke film.Sally Anne Bowes plays a girl who stops any mechanical machinery within 15 minutes of having contact with it.So this means that the writer ensures that she makes contact with all types of machinery.From cars,trains,film projectors and planes,she stops them all. Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne play multiple roles as the operators of the various types of machinery. Gordon Jackson plays a journalist who publicised her unique talent.As a result she becomes a pariah.However true love wins out in every respect.A young Gordon Jackson plays a typical journalist who must continue to make love to Bowes to counter her talents.

Stop All the Clocks

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 7 March 2021]

Set in the sleepy little village of Slipford, "a village bypassed by progress", and described by the late David Shipman as "so silly it was not released". The use of the much-vaunted Dynamic Frame process makes this extraordinary folly look simultaneously cheap & amateurish and yet also rather avant-garde in the style of Karel Zeman's animated fantasies of the fifties and sixties.

And it's impossible not to like a film in which Basil Radford & Naunton Wayne keep popping up in cameo roles as 'The Mechanical Types'.

unremarkable fantasy/comedy movie

[myriamlenys · 6/10 · 30 May 2019]

The movie features a young woman capable of stopping machinery, which includes train and car engines, clocks, watches, and so on. It's got a great central premise but the execution isn't all that good : much of it feels tepid and mundane rather than sparkling. There's also a large question left unanswered, to wit, why didn't the young woman notice or examine her own strange superpower earlier on in life ? One would suppose that even the dimmest of souls, living in the most remote and rural of villages, would notice a weird abundance of mechanical failures. Besides, we're not talking anno 1360 or 1720 ; we're talking the middle of the 20th century, just after a World War which involved a considerable amount of vehicles, machines and devices.

There's some kind of allegory here, I suppose, but its exact nature is unclear. Is this the old tale about villagers being closer to nature than city folk ? ("You may need that big fancy watch on your wrist, son, but I can tell the hour by listening to the song of the blackbird.") Or is this the equally old tale about women being closer to nature than men ? Or is the movie suggesting that unmarried girls are loose cannons that need to be tied down securely by marriage vows, as quickly as possible ? I leave it to you, dear reader, to try and work out your own interpretation.

In conclusion : a watchable, vaguely enjoyable fantasy/comedy film with a nice joke here and there, but nothing to stop the presses about.

She's dangerous!

[calvertfan · 10/10 · 27 February 2002]

On the outside, Jennifer appears to be a normal girl. However, she has a special power which is so far unknown to her, it's hereditary and passed down through the females of the family: the power to stop ALL machinery. It takes 15 minutes to do so, and does not work if she is asleep, those are the only 'rules'. Now this doesn't affect her so much as she lives in a sleepy little town that is still all horse and cart, but her boyfriend is a watch maker who owns a car, so there's some problems there (that just seem odd coincidences since neither of them know), but when Jennifer goes away to London, that's when the real fun starts!

A lovely little English screwball comedy, and see if you recognise Jennifer as Truly Scrumptious from 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' - 20 years younger. 10/10!

Delightful little charmer

[dsewizzrd-1 · 8/10 · 9 December 2008]

This searing kitchensink drama exposes the harsh dark, underbelly of postwar Britain.

No I was just pulling your leg, this lightweight but amusing romantic comedy has a newspaper reporter involved with a woman that is cursed with an affliction – she stops all forms of mechanical machinery and is capable of telling the time without the aid of a clock. Henceforth she may be not all that marriageable for a newspaper man.

A set of rural English characters make up this whimsical film, the type of gentle B-grade farce that Britain used to be known for making before the 'orrible 60s and 70s.

Nature's protest against the age of machinery: innocence having a bad influence on any working contraption

[clanciai · 8/10 · 21 May 2019]

There are some priceless hilarious moments in this ambiguous comedy about a young innocent girl who happens to have a disastrous influence on any kind of machinery. Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in a number of supporting roles play an important part in adding to the comedy. The idea is actually rather serious: who has not experienced the frustration when for instance a computer just will not cooperate? And you must suspect that somehow your second thoughts could have had some influence on the inexplicable problem, which no mechanic expertise can solve. When science stands powerless and logic doesn't work, there is always superstition. The most wonderful scene in this boosting of the problem is the cinema scene, both on screen, in the audience and in the projector room (with Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne). The idea is good and made the best of, and there are plenty of hearty laughs. James Robertson Justice as an implacable dentist and Gordon Jackson as rhe incorrigible journalist add to the entertainment while Sally Ann Howe's perfect innocence is the centerpiece.

Just my kind of film.

[ben-gosling1944 · 10/10 · 1 July 2019]

I need to comment on myriamlenys' review: The opening scenes were filmed in Finchingfield, a village near here. I have lived most of my 75 years in the area and can assure you that so soon after the war things were very run down and backward. It would be surprising if there were more than two cars in the area (e.g. local doctor), very few tractors (still horses), few radios and certainly no TV; a bus perhaps once a week, few strangers. The village is now a tourist honeypot and people even have mobile phones, which would not have lasted long with Jennifer around!

A most enjoyable movie!

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 31 August 2017]

NOTES: Another of Rank's extremely successful (at least from a technical angle) "Independent Frame" productions. The process was supposed to cut costs, so it was abandoned when it became clear that the costs in point of fact actually exceeded conventional methods of process screen projection. A pity, because the results were definitely superior.

COMMENT: It's hard to understand the antipathy of critics to this movie at the time of its original release. Myself included. I suppose we were all especially hard on the film because we saw it as an experiment, the story obviously thought of and constructed purely to show off the capabilities and dazzling effects of the Independent Frame. Although we realized that 99% of moviegoers just went to the flicks to see their favorite stars in good stories and couldn't care less how the stories were contrived, let alone how the films themselves were actually made, we wanted Rank to know that we critics wouldn't sit still for technical innovations that the vast majority of film-makers had serious reservations about.

The same thing was to happen a few years later with CinemaScope (though in that case of course the public was made well aware of the technical "advance") when critics and film-makers so vigorously campaigned against it. Notice how disproportionately many of the early CinemaScope films got rotten or lukewarm reviews, whilst VistaVision atrocities like White Christmas for example were praised to the skies. It was unfortunate for Gordon Jackson that he had his "big chance" in two of the four Independent Frame pictures. He received a wholly undeserved roasting from the critics — even from the blandest of bland journals like Picture Show ("Not very happy in his role"), let alone more acidic competitors like Picturegoer ("Gordon Jackson can make little of his role").

Seeing Stop Press Girl broadcast in 2006 was a revelation. I thought Jackson was excellent, making a fine and personable foil for the charming Sally Ann Howes (daughter of Bobby Howes, of Sweet Devil fame). I also enjoyed the constant re-appearances in various guises of that amusing comedy duo, Radford and Wayne. And of course there's James Robertson Justice at his sarcastic best. And Campbell Cotts, that delightful cameo stuffed-shirt, making the most of a larger part than his norm. Nigel Buchanan is agreeable too, whilst Kenneth More impresses in a tiny bit as a police sergeant, "Bonzo" by name.

As for the story itself, I enjoyed it. The fantasy was original, and cleverly developed with some appealing twists — and a gallery of felicitous characters. The special effects are both dazzling yet unobtrusively part and parcel of the tale. The direction I found both fast-paced and always skillful, the photography winning and other credits likewise absolutely first-class.

In short, a most enjoyable Stop Press.

Chitty Chitty Clock Clock!

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 17 January 2020]

There's more in common here with "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" than just the presence of Sally Anne Howes and James Robertson Justice. There's the strange looking car that Howes' fiancee Nigel Buchanan owns, funny bearded men playing around with clocks and Howes invading a clock factory during inspection. I'm sure that it's just a coincidence, but there's also something mystical about Howes who knows what time it is without a watch and has a strange effect on electronics as she walks by them or is a passenger on one. Justice is her imperious dentist uncle who has an eerie effect on Howes' boyfriends by scaring them away by revealing certain secrets about her. When Buchanan runs off on her, Howes follows him to London, is on a train that mysteriously breaks down and ends up dealing with a trio of journalists, one of whom (Gordon Jackson) is fascinated by her "power".

A unique British comedy that goes from the English countryside to Fleet Street in London (no barber), the London zoo, and finally onto a plane where Howes is forced to parachute off of when the engine begins to go haywire. Rival reporter Sonia Holm decides to get the scoop on Howes and follows her all over, trying to expose Buchanan's later story as fraud. As a romance blossoms between Buchanan and Howes, she begins to think that all she is to him is a news headline and refuses to have anything to do with him.

Joyce Barbour, as Justice's spinster sister, is quite amusing and steals every one of her scenes. The scene between Justice and Buchanan in his dental office is both funny and chilling, and the humor so dry that you expect to here the sound of a cork popping as a tooth is pulled out. This has a very unique script which is like nothing that had been in American comedy, and the subtlety of the performances and a smart, witty screenplay makes this definitely worth checking out.

Press girl stop.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 3 January 2022]

Since learning about the title years ago when looking for British movies from 1949, I've been searching for this obscure film for years, but have had no luck at all finding it. Checking yesterday the Talking Pictures Encore streaming service, I was absolutely stunned to see it on the site, leading to me holding the front page.

View on the film:

The lone non- TV series or TV movie he made, director Michael Barry (who became head of the BBC Drama department in the 1950's) & cinematographer Cyril Bristow stop time on a peculiar whimsical Fantasy atmosphere of swift dolly and panning shots following Jennifer stopping everything in its tracks.

Pairing Jennifer's bumpy romance with Jock, with a growing awareness from the press of her power to stop machinery, Barry layers dissolves of newspapers claiming her powers are real/fake, until gliding shots down the newspapers printers, towards Jennifer revealing the magic of love.

A year after co-starring in the excellent Anna Karenina (1948-also reviewed) Sally Ann Howes gives a sparkling performance as Jennifer, thanks to delivering the comedic dialogue with a playful slickness, whilst Gordon Jackson has Jock walk on eggshells,as he tries to climb up the ladder of his workplace from the attention Jennifer's magic gets, while also attempting to charm Jennifer and her family.

Making sure any man who wants to get with his daughter does not have an easy time, James Robertson Justice gives a hilarious performance full of bluster as Arthur, who is joined by fantastic British character actors Kenneth More, Jack May, Sam Kydd, Arthur Lowe and Basil Radford in cute guest appearances, all stopping the press for the girl.

Delightfully Goofy English Comedy

[Kittyman · 8/10 · 5 September 2019]

During the 40's and 50's, Britain produced a series of delightfully goofy comedies. Some, such as Passport to Pimlico (1949), Whiskey Galore (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951), Genevieve (1953), The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953), and The Green Man (1956), are well known. But others just as good, such as Let George Do It! (1940) and Stop Press Girl (1949), have been overlooked.

This latter deals with an unwitting young woman who somehow stops all machinery she is around. The idea is novel and the pacing never drags. Though, as the woman, Sally Ann Howes' performance is nothing special, Gordon Jackson, one of the most likeable actors ever to appear on screen, does a fine job as her ardent suitor. So do James Robertson Justice--who pepped up every picture he was in--and Joyce Barbour as Howes' uncle and aunt. (While they know about her power, neither has informed her of it.) And as reporter Jackson's rival, and frustrated want-to-be sweetheart, Sonia Holm is convincingly catty. Finally, that redoubtable English pair, Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, perhaps best remembered from The Lady Vanishes (1938), show up in five enjoyable cameos as different sets of mechanical types: train operators, bus operators, watchmakers, cinema projectionists, and pilots.

Very quirky.

[plan99 · 10/10 · 18 March 2022]

A very interesting plot and very well acted by all concerned. I did know someone who could not wear a watch as they always stopped so the plot does have a ring of truth to it. It runs along very nicely and has a great ending.