User reviews

This is a proficient and workmanlike version of the H G Wells novel about Arthur Kipps ,who at the age of 14 ,is apprenticed to a draper in Folkestone ,Kent .He leaves his lower middle class home and the girl next door ,Ann ,on whom he is sweet ,but not before they exchange a token of endearment -two halves of sixpence ,which they pledge to join together if they should meet again .

Life as a draper's assistant is hard and the rule of the shop owner positively feudal but Kipps prospers until he is dismissed by his straight arrow boss following a night of drunkenness with the flamboyant actor Chitlow (Arthur Riscoe).His fortunes are revived when he inherits a large sum of money and a substantial property in the town .He is soon taken into society under the tutelage of Chester -a mannered and theatrical but effective performance by Max Adrian .He becomes engaged to the snobbish Helen Walsingham (Diane Wyngard)but things get complicated when a now grown up Ann (Phyllis Calvert)re-enters his life .

Class and snobbery are at the heart of Kipps -both movie and book -and these motifs form the core of the movie .It is well acted and although Redgrave lacks the lightness of touch that ,say Guinness,would have brought to proceedings ,he is still admirable .Wynard is fine but Calvert is just a tad too genteel in the role of Ann .The script ,by Launder and Gilliat ,rambles a bit and the direction of Carol Reed seems excessively detached .There is much to enjoy however ,despite its longueurs ,and students of vintage British cinema will lap it up

A gentle Dickens type tale of rags to riches & back again & up again. Kipps or should that be Cuyps, came across as a likable but utterly naive character. He showed remarkable pluck as a young lad, but poor judgement as an adult trying to find his way in life, how he needed a father's guidance. I struggled slightly to buy into most of his relationships, he clearly was infatuated with his first fiancée, but did portray his general discomfort extremely well. Anne's was a lovely performance by Calvert, although again, Kipps didn't seem delighted to see her when they were re-acquainted after 7-8 years.Things worked out for him, but mostly by luck, not judgement. I suppose life is like that in many ways. Lots of thought provoking moments in a dated but somehow compelling story.

One of Michael Redgrave's earliest screen triumphs was in the title role in Kipps. The story is from an H.G. Wells novel and it's semi-autobiographical. Like our protagonist Wells came from humble circumstances and was taken in and trained as a draper's assistant. Wells hated every minute of it and took some literary revenge against his former employers in this novel. He became a convert to socialism in those years.

Kipps is a man of humble origins who suddenly out of nowhere he inherits a modest fortune. Suddenly everything he's ever wanted in life seems attainable. Including upper class girl Diana Wynyard who steershim to her solicitor brother Michael Wilding who might est be described as a blue chip hack. Breeding, but no real brains, the polar opposite of Redgrave.

The polemics are kept to a minimum and this film's greatest asset is the direction of Carol Reed and the engaging characters he creates including most especially Redgrave. Another good character is Phyllis Calvert the childhood sweetheart of Redgrave who has common sense

The musical Half A Sixpence was created from this story and while the boisterous style of Tommy Steele is miles different from Redgrave, both tell the story well ad emphasize different aspects of the protagonist..

Kipps is a well crafted and entertaining film.

Michael Redgrave stars in one of his perfect roles as the draper Kipps who rises through the class system, ready to better himself and take his place in the world.

It's a steady and unremarkable tale, directed by Carol Reed and adapted by Sidney Gilliat from the novel by HG Wells. But despite the fairly routine story, it is livened up by performances by Phyllis Calvert and Diana Wynyard, both names which appeared regularly in British cinema period pieces.

'Kipps', later remade as the musical 'Half a Sixpence' with Tommy Steele, is typically English, and a typical rags to riches piece. Done well, directed with interest, but perhaps a little overlong.

KIPPS is a film about the life of a rather stupid young man, played by Michael Redgrave. Mr. Kipps works as a clerk in a small department store and has little formal education. However, out of the blue, he receives a substantial inheritance. Kipps has dreams of becoming a country gentleman. Although he has a mansion and money, two things he doesn't have are an education or common sense. The audience may find that they like this artless man, but at times he's also incredibly foolish in his attempts to blend in with society. On top of that, he becomes engaged to a society lady who is VERY class-conscious and Kipps is forever feeling out of place around her or the company she keeps. How Kipps is able to somehow make a go of it all is something you'll have to see for yourself in this light drama.

While there isn't a lot about this movie that will linger, it is reasonably well-produced and acted--though I think they did make Kipps a bit dumb--too dumb. But, he's a likable fool and it all ends very well, so it's definitely worth watching. One thing that I wondered, though, as I watched. This film was made in the UK during the darkest days of WWII, yet you'd never suspect, as it's a period piece set about 1906--a rarity for a wartime British film, as most seemed to involve the war.

This is a minor work by a neglected master director, Carol Reed, who shared with his contemporary David Lean a great talent for adapting classic English novels to film. Unfortunately, Reed's original cut for the UK, slightly under two hours in length, was trimmed of another half hour before being shown in the United States. Consequently, that version, the one most people see, seems unnecessarily choppy at times. In recreating Edwardian England, Reed was helped here by the magnificent costumes of Cecil Beaton who would go on to design "My Fair Lady" for stage and film. Young Michael Redgrave as the feckless draper's assistant who unexpectedly rises above his station is ideally cast, as are any number of excellent supporting actors from the English stage, among them, most memorably, Max Adrian as the snob Coote and Arthur Riscoe as the playwright Chitterlow. Michael Wilding, Elizabeth Taylor's second husband, is seen briefly as Kipps' solicitor.

Kipps (an excellently cast and believable 'nice' guy Michael Redgrave) gets told the above at the beginning - and says it to himself at the end of this film. It gives an example of the era and mindset of this quaint period fable.

From a novel by (a less than usual subject normally associated with) H G Wells, this enchanting piece of sub Dickensian clash-of-the-classes is rich in period detail, is at times witty but generally unenthralling fluff. Interestingly, directed by one Carol Reed, only 8 years before his mega-classic The Third Man, Kipps looks twenty years older in style - and quality, than his later classic. Whether that was budgetary, or intentional or simply lacking the brilliant cinematography of Robert Krasker, it shows to the point of being almost incomparable.

Kripps is a dreamy draper in Edwardian England, who believes he has a higher calling in life and through an assorted set of not very adventurous jobs and relationships he attempts to better himself, but finds he cannot.

The UK release is too long and the US version at under 90mins might find more favour. As a rainy afternoon time-waster with lashings of nostalgia it does hit the spot, though. As in a cosy, fireside scene, it's a comfortable fable like 'hot buttered muffins and tea'.

Remade as Half a Sixpence, it probably did need the extra music and dance (and Technicolour) to make it sparkle and have a wider public appeal.

Having read the book of Kipps I knew what happened which was lucky because at times it doesn't seem as likely to happen as in the book - what am I on about? The romance of course. Young Artie has a choice - snobbish Helen who won't let him be himself ("there ARE H's, you know") or dear Ann the maid who has been his friend since they were children, and the longer he takes to make up his mind, the more idiotic he makes himself look!

Briefly, Kipps is a young draper's assistant who comes into money the very day he leaves his job. He thinks that the money will solve all his problems, but how wrong he is! And suddenly everyone he meets is either in society or trying to impress, and he is almost forbidden from talking to his old friends. Ann the maid is the only real character in the entire story, the only one who likes just to be herself, in a nice simple house, with a nice homely lifestyle.

This was my 19th Phyllis Calvert film, and I must say I'm very impressed with her cockney accent! I'm hoping that another one might pop up somewhere in what I'm still to see, but I somehow doubt it.

I have been waiting for this film for many years. My memory of it seems to have misled me. Having read the book first, in my teens, I thought it a good theme, as I could identify with it, working in a department store in the sixties at the time! However on seeing it on film4 29/03/08, it depressed me with it's dated and artificial style of acting and its greyness. I feel the tommy Steele version of 'half a sixpence' to be a much better vehicle for the story. A related story made into a film called 'the history of Mr Polly' with john mills was in my opinion a far better and more humorous film from the pen of Hg wells, made a few years later.

Arthur Kipps is an incredible one dimensional boob and nitwit. I found the character totally unbelievable and quickly lost my patience and interest. The story line is basically an embellishment on the theme that a fool and his money are soon parted. Very unimaginative and predictable. It probably worked a lot better on the stage.

It's a simple tale about a simple man, it was H.G.Wells' first novel, but it was a success, and the film takes good care of all the novel's assets, especially the characters - Carol Reed was always among the best in making actors create characters with some convincing depth. On the other hand, the lacks of the film are also entirely due to the lacks of the novel. What saves the film are the two women characters, Phyllis Calvert and Diana Wynyard, each other's opposites but both adorable, Phyllis for her honest sincerity and rustic simplicity, and Wynyard for her overwhelming beauty and style. She always made amazing appearances on screen, and here grown in the years to some maturity she is striking to some almost breathtaking degree; and although the intrigues of her family lead to a disastrous crisis, she is the one who doesn't lose her face, while all the others do. The character of poor simple Kipps (or Cuyps) had a very difficult choice indeed between the two, but Michael Redgrave makes the best of it and is convincing enough. It was remade 25 years later as a musical called "Half a Sixpence" with Tommy Steele as the singing Kipps, a sumptuous wedding cake of a glittering film with splendid music, but the music is outstanding enough here as well.

The Remarkable Mr. Kipps or Kipps, depending on how you might see it listed, is a wonderful feel-good soap for both men and women of all ages. With Gary Cooper like simplicity, Michael Redgrave gives a Mr. Deeds-like performance as a young man who suddenly inherits a sizeable amount of money. This money only makes his life more miserable than it was before. And, in addition, he now has to choose between a "lady" and a down to earth girl from his home town. Of course, we can all see where this is going, but it is the trip, not the ultimate destination that makes the film so memorable. A must-see.