Hattie

There is no villain of this story - Hattie and her husband John are almost strangers in their own home from the way they are portrayed, and none of this need happen if they had learned to communicate, rather than pass like ships in the night. Then along comes a beautiful man, with issues of his own, who gives Hattie something she's been lacking for a long time - the belief that she was a beautiful, sexual being.

And regarding Hattie's weight: she is shown in this to be unhappy with her size, but being big gave her work that she would not have had otherwise. One can sling mud at her, call her horrible names, but the public encouraged her to stay that way.

The sensitive handling of this piece does exactly what it should - it shows that it was a sad situation where people failed to talk to one another and took things, and each other, for granted.

There have been a few dramas recently based on the lives of the great British comedians of the 50's and 60's and Hattie is one of the best I've seen.

The acting is first rate, especially from the three principals. The period setting is well captured in the interior scenes - there are very few exterior shots, probably due to the budget. Another reviewer makes much of Hattie being a chubby lady but she was undoubtedly sexy and more so in real life than for the characters she played on screen. This is something else the film conveys very well.

The script is excellent - the real stand-out feature of the production. It's multi-layered and pays homage to the Carry On style of double entendre and elevates it to a much higher level. "Hattie" avoids being seedy but doesn't shy away from the details of this most unusual love story. Poor old John Le Mesurier! I'm off to form his appreciation society.

The darker side of the lives of actors associated with the 'Carry On' series have already provided material for several TV dramas; and this time it's the turn of Hattie Jacques with the emphasis on her ill-fated marriage to John LeMesurier.

Ruth Jones portrays Jacques as a woman with a healthy sexual appetite and great generosity of spirit that made her easy prey for good-looking young men. The film itself - beset by distracting directorial tics by Dan Zeff including wobbly steadicam photography and the inevitable switches between black & white and colour - attempts to turn this simple tale into an Antonioniesque study in alienation.

The chronology is often rather suspect, Robert Bathurst doesn't really look or sound much like Le Mesurier; while the single most egregious omission is that there are only a couple of fleeting references to Eric Sykes.

And I simply cannot believe that Esma Cannon was capable of swearing so much.

As with so many biopics it covers the basics but not especially accurately. The lives of people are complicated and impossible to cover in 90 mins so its to be expected but there are quite a few issues with this one.

A first class drama telling the story of Hattie's affair with driver and lodger John Schofield.

As a kid I grew up on The Carry on films, adoring Hattie Jacques, growing up believing that the stern faced actress was frigid and somewhat dowdy, little knowing of the passions that burned away. Ever feminine, I will forever adore Hattie, events here won't change my opinion of her.

John Schofield seemed to have a profound affect on her, Adrian Turner is great in the role, they don't miss a moment to show off his ripped body.

Ruth Jones does a great job, she makes Hattie sweet, conflicted and incredibly feminine. Great job from Bathurst also.

John Le Mesurier has always struck me as such a sad character, adorable, but definitely somewhat withdrawn, I wonder if this is exactly what he was like. Could anyone exist in such a situation?

Loved it, 9/10

I'd love to know what John's car was.