Now and Forever

Set initially in a small fictitious market town called Mellingham, this starts off as a frightfully innocent tale of puppy love given clout by the usual good-natured acerbity of producer-director Mario Zampi's regular scriptwriter Michael Pertwee (who has a brief bit as a cynical reporter), since Janette Scott's self-centred mother Pamela Brown is plainly carrying on with Guy Middleton while hypocritically determined to break up her daughter's own burgeoning romance with Vernon Grey.

Under Zampi's benign tutelage they then set off for Gretna Green on a sort of rural remake of 'It Happened One Night' enhanced by rich Technicolor photography by Erwin Hillier and the usual assortment of familiar faces in fleeting cameos.

Janette Scott kept me watching this very dated 1956 drama/comedy. I was pleasantly surprised to see it start in colour and full screen to fill my 65 " TV which was a plus, also that it was adapted from a story by R F Delderfield who I remembered wrote that wonderful TV serial To Serve Them All My Days. Unfortunately the comparison ends there. This slight story revolves around boy meets girl, Janette Scott was still just 17, they fall in love and due to her overbearing mother, well played by Pamela Brown, who you really want to hate, try to elope to Gretna Green. Mother hates soppy boy friend, very badly played by boring Vernon Gray, so decides to send 17 year old daughter to Canada. Just try doing that in 2020. Off the young couple go, actually Gray was 10 years older than Scott in reality, encountering various well known character actors, mostly comic, like David Lodge and Hattie Jacques, although if you blink you might miss them, which I obviously did as I saw Irene Handl's name at the end credits. There's a lovely performance from Ronald Squire as a waiter which I enjoyed the most about the film. Jack Warner, Kay Walsh, Marjorie Rhodes and Wilfred Lawson shine in their small parts. Wilfred Lawson had a reputation for filming drunk on set and I could certainly believe it here, but quite comical. If it hadn't been for the ridiculously outdated storyline of a couple making the national headlines and being persued by the rozzers just for eloping, I would have given more than 5 stars out of 10.

Eloping proves hard for an upper class girl and a mechanic as the girl's bitter mother starts a police chase by claiming that they stole money in this little seen drama from 'Too Many Crooks' and 'Laughter in Paradise' director Mario Zampi. Vastly different to the comedies that Zampi is best known for, 'Now and Forever' has several sobering moments as we are shown the circumstances leading to the girl, played by Janette Scott, feeling a need to run away. While her character is a little too one dimensional with her complete disregard for Scott's feelings, Pamela Brown is well cast as her cruel mother who does not see the importance in attending her daughter's recitals or telling her that her estranged father was unwell until after his death. Other familiar British faces make notable appearances; Ronald Squire adds ample comic relief as a nosey waiter, while Bryan Forbes has a fun turn as a drunk hitting on Scott. An uncredited Hattie Jacques has the best bit part though, scolding a policeman. Scott and lead actor Vernon Gray are unfortunately never quite as interesting as the supporting characters, and even at only 90 minutes long, the plot feels stretched thin by its conclusion. The 'Thriller' classification on IMDb is slightly inaccurate too as there are a lot of lulls while the pair are on the run. The film does undeniably succeed though in telling a familiar story in a sweet manner and curiously, there is a bell tower scene that almost looks like the blueprint for the iconic scenes in 'Vertigo' - still only a twinkle in Hitchcock's eye back when this film was released.

I'm amazed this film was lost for so long, it's rare to see fifties England in colour for a start, it reminds me of Genevieve, the two young stars vernon gray and Jeanette Scott are just lovely, this is a tale of two young people who's parents for snobbish reasons don't approve so they set off for Gretna green , their journey is eventful with the police and their parents giving chase, since talking pictures showed this film I've watched it many times, if you want the perfect film for a grey day this is it, feel good factor,.. on toast!. So put your feet up , get some crumpets and a pot of tea and enjoy.

This is one of the most underrated films I've ever seen. The bulk of it is charming and romantic, with two very good leads (Janette Scott, of course, went on to be one of Britain's top female film stars for the next decade; very oddly, Vernon Grey never made it as a star). The story is engagingly told, and the viewer is really rooting for the young couple.

Very effectively, however, the film changes into a kind of black comedy thriller in the latter stages, as the couple flee to try to elope to Scotland. Various mishaps hinder both the couple and the pursuing police. Among other witty moments, policeman Brian Wilde is exasperatedly telling an impatient colleague over the radio that 'It is not as if they are going to drive past me right now!' - just as the couple's car zooms by in the background; and Wilde again, stopping a car which is identical to the couple's one, only to find a very angry woman (Hattie Jacques) in the driver's seat with a very large dog next to her in the passenger seat. 'How dare you accuse us of being an eloping couple!' thunders Jacques.

It is also moving how a series of people the couple encounter help them on their way rather than shop them, including a waiter (Ronald Squire), a lorry driver (Harold Goodwin) and a farmer (Charles Victor). Throw in very good cinematography, excellent location shots, and a really well done ending, and what's not to like? In fact, if it was not for one very stupid hole in the plot, I would have given it a 10.