When critics talk about the smug British cinema of the 1950s you couldn't find a better (or is it worse?) example than this domestic comedy about a young couple who decide to get married. They are played by Dirk Bogarde at his matinee idol fame (this was the year Doctor in the House came out) and Susan Stephens who looks pop eyed all the time and can't act. They are fresh and young and it's in colour but the result is smug blandness at it's most 50s - wacky music emphasising every comic point, light adventures (breaking the news to her parents, selling a car, moving into a small apartment which is actually big for London today).
So many of their problems are their own fault - Bogarde doesn't have a job when he proposes (he's 23, she's 19), he gets a job, insists she give up her job, she brings in too much furniture, they spend too much money, they get married, squabble, kiss, there's more stuff to do with furniture. There are lots of older character actors - Bogarde and Stephens are really the only young people in the film with sizeable roles. Stephens' eyes pop out some more. J Lee Thompson adapted the script (based on a hit play, apparently) and directed, doing neither well. Cecil Parker adds some style as the bride's father, even if he doesn't have a character or decent lines to work with. Sid James pops up too.
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