Saturday, February 04, 2023

Movie review - "My Teenage Daughter" (1956) **1/2

 Herbert Wilcox and Anna Neagle tried to move with the times, and good on them, they had a hit with this - a tale of widow Neagle trying to stop daughter Sylvia Syms rooting. Okay that's an exaggeration - she falls for a Bad Penny (Ken Haigh in an early role) who crashes parties, knows jive and drives a Bentley, ignoring the dull farmer who likes her. Bad Penny needs cash, tries to get it off a little old lady who dies of a heart attack. Syms winds up in prison.

Decent melodrama. You can see why Syms would go for Haigh. Neagle is sensible, easy to mock but also empathetic. She's effective.

It's a little silly. Disobey mum and wind up in prison. But it strikes at universal themes.

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