The Remarkable Mr. Kipps

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.