A Day to Remember

This film has to been seen for what it is, a nice little film from 1953, and not try to compare it to today's films or the classics of yesteryear from the big studios.

There are some wonderful little touches in the film, if you really want to see them. Stanley Holloway as Charley Porter and how he says "'night Charlie!" while wiping the beer froth from his mouth as he leaves the pub. Donald Sinden who plays Jim Carver shows a young man that still holds memories of his past in the war (this film was done only 8 years after the end of WW2). A lovely touch is when he's back in France, with the sound of the tanks and then the tractor. Jim Carver was a tank sergeant. When you see the film, you'll see what I mean.

This film was done in a very innocent time, and yet not long after a violent nasty war. It deals with the past well and Odile Versois's character Martine Berthier, is wonderful to see. How she views things is a delight.

Look out also for Shirley Eaton (later to be a James Bond Girl), she's not credited in the film, yet is seen several times ... Train Station, and the Ferry.

The plot of this movie is summed up very literally by it's title. It's the story of several middle aged but rather naive members of a darts team from a London pub who go on a trip to Bologne and each of whom experience their own little "day to remember". It's all rather poorly executed and several of the performances are really quite dire. There are precious few twists and turns in the plot, and it's all rather predictable - it's only saving grace is an excellent performance by the rather beautiful Odile Versois (who plays Martine) and her smashing little Peugeot. But not one I'd watch again through choice.

A slight but good-natured collection of individual stories similar to the same year's 'Innocents in Paris'; with a cheerful score by Clifton Parker.

Although basically played for laughs, Donald Sinden gets to play probably the nearest thing he ever did to a romantic lead; an experience that doubtless explains him recalling it as "a delightful film" in his memoirs.

This was billed as a "comedy" when it was shown on Channel 4, and I watched it thinking I would see something of a period I am not quite old enough to remember clearly. However the few humorous elements in the film either fall flat or turn out to be not so funny after all. Worse, the gently amusing idea of a darts team from London on a day trip to Boulogne is interrupted far too often and for too long by the romance between the two main characters (played by Donald Sinden and Odile Versois), which is not only highly improbable but also very badly acted. Stanley Holloway is hardly any better, sleepwalking his way through yet another cheerful Cockney chappie character. The only actor who stands out is a young Bill Owen, who alone among the darts players sees the trip as a way to escape from his miserable life (though, again, not in a particularly amusing way).

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the film is that, while the Londoners are generally one-dimensional and uninteresting (repeating "We must stick together!" when in fact they do the reverse), the French are quite sympathetic and believable; I even felt sorry for the somewhat pompous M. Dubot towards the end.

I don't give many films an "8" but I have for ADTR. It was a very well-constructed film with several worthy sub-plots - albeit several were predictable - and excellent scenes of Boulogne.

All the actors performed well, notably Odile Versois and her "grandmother" with some significant facial expressions conveying far more than words. It was interesting to see Edward Chapman in a sympathetic role, and Bill Owen was excellent.

The only character who struck a poor note was that played by Stanley Holloway, aged 62 when the film was released, whose ogling of women seems very sad - almost offensive - in the politically-correct 2020s.

Certainly not a comedy, but with some light-handed humour, such as Harry Fowler's comeuppance and James Hayter having fun. In contrast the scene in the war cemetery is poignant.

A minor classic.