Kurt at 01:22, 9 February 2023

2023-02-09T01:22:46Z

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	~~{{short description\|1960 British comedy film}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = No Kidding~~		\| image = "No Kidding" (1960).jpg
	\| image = "~~No_Kidding~~"_(1960).jpg
	\| image_size =		\| image_size =
	\| caption = Original British quad poster		\| caption = Original British quad poster

Kurt at 21:02, 21 October 2022

2022-10-21T21:02:26Z

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	{{short description\|1960 British comedy film}}		{{short description\|1960 British comedy film}}
	~~{{Redirect\|Beware of Children\|the 2019 Norwegian film\|Beware of Children (film)}}~~
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}
	{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}		{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}
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	\| producer = [[Peter Rogers]]		\| producer = [[Peter Rogers]]
	\| director = [[Gerald Thomas]]		\| director = [[Gerald Thomas]]
	\| writer = [[Verily Anderson]]<br>[[Robin Estridge]]<br>[[Norman Hudis]]		\| writer = [[w:Verily Anderson\|Verily Anderson]]<br>[[w:Robin Estridge\|Robin Estridge]]<br>[[w:Norman Hudis\|Norman Hudis]]
	\| narrator =		\| narrator =
	\| starring = [[Leslie Phillips]]<br>[[Geraldine McEwan]]<br>[[Joan Hickson]]		\| starring = [[w:Leslie Phillips\|Leslie Phillips]]<br>[[w:Geraldine McEwan\|Geraldine McEwan]]<br>[[Joan Hickson]]
	\| music = [[Edmund Crispin\|Bruce Montgomery]]		\| music = [[w:Edmund Crispin\|Bruce Montgomery]]
	\| editing = John Shirley		\| editing = John Shirley
	\| cinematography = [[Alan Hume]]		\| cinematography = [[w:Alan Hume\|Alan Hume]]
	\| studio = Peter Rogers Productions		\| studio = Peter Rogers Productions
	\| distributor = [[Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors]]		\| distributor = [[w:Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors\|Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors]]
	\| released = 1960		\| released = 1960
	\| runtime = 86 minutes		\| runtime = 86 minutes

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2022-10-21T20:53:53Z

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en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1960s British films

2022-09-04T17:05:59Z

External links: add Category:1960s British films

New page

{{short description|1960 British comedy film}}
{{Redirect|Beware of Children|the 2019 Norwegian film|Beware of Children (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = No Kidding
| image = "No_Kidding"_(1960).jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Original British quad poster
| producer = [[Peter Rogers]]
| director = [[Gerald Thomas]]
| writer = [[Verily Anderson]]<br>[[Robin Estridge]]<br>[[Norman Hudis]]
| narrator =
| starring = [[Leslie Phillips]]<br>[[Geraldine McEwan]]<br>[[Joan Hickson]]
| music = [[Edmund Crispin|Bruce Montgomery]]
| editing = John Shirley
| cinematography = [[Alan Hume]]
| studio = Peter Rogers Productions
| distributor = [[Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors]]
| released = 1960
| runtime = 86 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}

'''''No Kidding''''' is a 1960 British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Gerald Thomas]] featuring [[Leslie Phillips]], [[Geraldine McEwan]] and [[Irene Handl]], [[Noel Purcell (actor)|Noel Purcell]] and [[Julia Lockwood]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b1a4448|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713145441/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b1a4448|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-13|title=No Kidding (1960)|work=BFI}}</ref> The film is adapted from [[Verily Anderson]]'s 1958 memoir ''Beware of Children'',<ref>Eloise Millar, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/29/verily-anderson-obituary "Verily Anderson obituary"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 29 July 2010.</ref><ref>[[Janie Hampton]], [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/verily-anderson-writer-of-humorous-optimistic-childrens-books-and-memoirs-2041644.html "Verily Anderson: Writer of humorous, optimistic children's books and memoirs"], ''[[The Independent]]'', 3 August 2010.</ref> under which title the film was released in the US.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053648/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_dt#akas "No Kidding (1961)"], Release Info, IMDb.</ref> Anderson also wrote the screenplay.

The film has been interpreted by film scholar [[Wheeler Dixon]] as "a gentle critique of [[A. S. Neill]]'s [[Summerhill School|Summerhill]],<ref>Dixon, Wheeler W. [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3KibUx_BiR4C&pg=RA5-PA1922&lpg=RA5-PA1922&dq=%22no+kidding%22+%22beware+of+children%22+film&source=bl&ots=Wq6dloK6gG&sig=ar9kUeg58Qdsel6Hw0dwN1oPV9M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pSArVZ6qDNLLaNPMgbAK&ved=0CEoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22no%20kidding%22%20%22beware%20of%20children%22%20film&f=false "The Director as Journeyman" (Ralph Thomas interview, 3 February 1995)], in ''Collected Interviews: Voices from Twentieth-Century Cinema'', SIU Press, 2001, p. 117.</ref> whose theories were published in America in the same year as the film's release, by the Hart Publishing Company.

''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' gave it a good review, calling it an "uneven but well-enacted comedy by the '[[Carry On (franchise)|Carry On ...]]' series film-makers.... Unobjectionable for all."<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/harrisonsreports43harr#page/n103/mode/2up/search/beware+of+children ''Beware of Children'' review], ''Harrison's Reports'', 17 June 1961, p. 96.</ref> Elsewhere it is described as "surprisingly sophisticated fare that also scores a number of interesting points about greed, privilege and class."<ref>[http://www.studiocanal.co.uk/Film/Details/9da97d34-35de-4f6a-a776-9efe004eb2aa "No Kidding (Leslie Phillips)"], Studiocanal.</ref>

==Plot==
David ([[Leslie Phillips]]) and Catherine Robinson ([[Geraldine McEwan]]) have inherited a large but rundown country house. David suggests they now have room to increase their family beyond their son, but, after a number of his previous business ventures have failed, his wife demurs. However, she does agree to his idea to use the house as a summer holiday home for the children of the wealthy. By advertising in ''[[The Times]]'', they attract a number of customers, and hire a matron ([[June Jago]]) and a cook ([[Joan Hickson]]), but immediately fall foul of a [[County Council|local councillor]], Mrs Spicer ([[Irene Handl]]), who wants the local authority to [[compulsory purchase in England and Wales|compulsorily purchase]] the house for a project of her own.

The children arrive, and while some are polite, scared and helpful, others are wild, spoilt, and rebellious, including an American brother and sister, and an English girl ([[Julia Lockwood]]) who insists (falsely) that she has been maltreated by her parents.

As the children grow increasingly ill-disciplined, the Robinsons and the staff struggle to keep them under control. David advocates a tough approach, while Catherine believes that the children should be allowed their freedom, but they are both undermined by a cook who is drunk most of the time.

After an illicit midnight trip out to a nearby café, the children are grounded for two days. Then the Robinsons hear that the local council is sending an inspector, who may close them down if they fail the test. They rally the staff and children, who all behave correctly when the inspector and Mrs Spicer visit.

When the time arrives for the children's parents to come to collect them, David tells them that the children are refusing to leave unless their parents promise to spend more time with them and not send them away to holiday homes and boarding schools. After the parents agree, all the children depart. Impressed by what she has seen, Mrs Spicer says she will no longer oppose the holiday home business. When their son protests at having lost his playmates, Catherine tells David that perhaps they should now have more children of their own.

==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Leslie Phillips]] as David Robinson
* [[Geraldine McEwan]] as Catherine Robinson
* [[Julia Lockwood]] as Fenella / "Vanilla"
* [[Irene Handl]] as Mrs Spicer
* [[Noel Purcell (actor)|Noel Purcell]] as Tandy
* [[Joan Hickson]] as Cook
* [[June Jago]] as Matron
* [[Cyril Raymond]] as Colonel Matthews
* [[Esma Cannon]] as District Nurse
* [[Alan Gifford]] as Edgar Treadgold
* [[Sydney Tafler]] as Mr Rockbottom
* [[Brian Oulton]] as Vicar
* [[Eric Pohlmann]] as King
* [[Patricia Jessel]] as Queen
* [[Brian Rawlinson]] as Will
* [[Michael Sarne]] as Henri
* [[Joy Shelton]] as Mrs Rockbottom
* [[Earl Cameron (actor)|Earl Cameron]] as Black father
* [[Pearl Prescod]] as Black mother
* [[Peter Howell (actor)|Peter Howell]] as father of Angus
* [[Marion Mathie]] as Helen Treadgold
* [[Peggy Simpson]] as mother of Angus
* [[Noel Hood]] as Vicar's wife
* [[Cyril Chamberlain]] as Cafe proprietor
* Christopher Witty as Richard Robinson
* [[Martin Stephens (actor)|Martin Stephens]] as Angus
* [[Francesca Annis]] as Priscilla
* Haydn Evans as Lionel Rockbottom
* Michael Gowdy as Dandy Big Treadgold
* Janet Bradbury (as Jeanette Bradbury) as Dandy Little Treadgold
* Keith Lacey as Hassan
* Mark Milleham as Suleiman
* Millicent Kerr as Eileen
* Louise Redman as Margaret
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0053648}}
* [http://www.summercampculture.com/no-kidding-1960/ "No Kidding (1960)", with clip from the film]. Summer Camp Culture.

{{Gerald Thomas}}

[[Category:1960 films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Gerald Thomas]]
[[Category:1960 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Norman Hudis]]
[[Category:Films produced by Peter Rogers]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

No Kidding (film) - Revision history

Kurt at 01:22, 9 February 2023

Kurt at 21:02, 21 October 2022

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1960s British films