Bank Holiday

Brighton is given another name, but it is clear that part of the film is set there. The backdrops especially during the night scenes are confusing as they look nothing like the city. Was Brighton ( and permission for filming responsible ? ) or was it confusion created by the director ? Carol Reed made some very good films, but this is not one of them. The confusion of genres is also annoying. Bank Holiday scenes juxtaposed with attempted suicide and childbirth death scenes. The main benefit of the film is to give a glimpse of the times and how much popular resorts were used just before WW2. Margaret Lockwood and Rene Ray give good performances, but the male actors are mediocre. Given these reservations the film is often amusing especially in the ' Brighton ' scenes but emotionally disturbing when the film becomes morbidly concerned with death. A project which to me seems clumsily conceived yet still has many good scenes in it. A banner in front of a Hospital needing more money at the beginning shows a painful relevance to today. Worth watching.

Guy's wife dies in childbirth, nurse says "do you want to see the baby now.?" Guy says "no, never", and nobody seems to think that strange, really?

I don't think Bank Holiday is for everyone. This thought is reinforced by the other reviews I have read here. But I found the film delightful.

Set during a bank holiday in England, this summer story is about various people who make the trip to seaside Bexborough, filled with various hopes and dreams. During their excursions, they cannot escape the realities of their stations or of life, in general.

The primary couple--Stephen and Catherine (played by the beautiful Margaret Lockwood)--travels to Bexborough under the pretense of love.

There is a young woman and her girlfriend who make their way to Bexborough so that the one can represent Fulham in a beauty pageant. To win would fulfill their dreams.

Then there is a family (parents and three children) who fights the holiday crowds, seeking an escape from the routine of their lives.

The stories intertwine and overlap with each other and with other minor sub-stories, creating a most entertaining patchwork. Moments of comedy are juxtaposed with moments of grave concern. The mood shifts continuously throughout the well-written script.

Bank Holiday has a very strong cast, wonderful black and white photography, and a score that does not intrude. The stories are engaging. Recommended for anyone who appreciates character development.

Most people know the The Grand is in Brighton. The STOCK footage also looks like Brighton albeit a few decades ago; so am not sure what the other review is on about. I do agree that it is nice to see normal people avoiding the flea circus. I read in a review on another film that audiences were easy to please in the old days. Perhaps it was more that life is full up with blood, guts, gore and entertainment was/is suppose to be an escape.

Three On A Weekend stars one of the cornerstones of Gainsborough Pictures Margaret Lockwood who is taking what they call in the United Kingdom a bank holiday. Banks have those extra days they close ergo the expression when folks can't get to the bank business stops so go and enjoy.

Lockwood is going on a romantic and illicit getaway with Geoffrey Bayldon who wants to keep his planned romantic rendezvous a secret. But right before leaving, Lockwood is involved in a case at the hospital where she's a nurse where John Lodge's wife died in childbirth. Lodge is just so immobilized with grief that Lockwood just can't keep a detached professionalism about him. Later on it becomes more than that.

There are a couple of other subplots about a beauty contest and a family of five going on their bank holiday, but the romantic triangle is at the center. The other story lines are woven into the romantic a lot like Magnolia or Crash or even Boogie Nights of more recent vintage.

Lodge is the younger brother of Henry Cabot Lodge, Ike's UN Ambassador and grandson of the older Henry Cabot Lodge the longtime Republican Senator from Massachusetts. Later on he too gave up acting for politics and was Governor of Connecticut. As an American he doesn't sound too terribly out of place in this British film.

This is an early film of Carol Reed who certainly would go on to bigger and better things. It's a pleasant enough romantic diversion.