Easy Money (1948 film)

Infobox Film
name = Easy Money


image_size =
caption = Original poster
director = Bernard Knowles
producer = A. Frank Bundy
writer = Arnold Ridley (play)
Muriel Box
Sydney Box
narrator =
starring = Petula Clark
Mervyn Johns
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Gainsborough Pictures
released = January 20 1948
runtime =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:90264
imdb_id = 0040309

"Easy Money", a satirical 1948 British film about one of the most beloved traditions of the English middle class, the football pool, is comprised of a quartet of tales about the effect a major win has on four different groups in the postwar period. Written by Muriel and Sydney Box and directed by Bernard Knowles, it was released by Gainsborough Pictures.

Plot

In the first story, a comedy, a content suburban family, headed by Jack Warner, is turned into an unhappy lot when they believe that they have the winning coupon in the football pool. But when it's discovered that the winning coupon apparently wasn't mailed by the younger daughter (Petula Clark), they regain their previously happy lives that had been made unhappy by plans they made regarding how to spend their winnings. Then, when it is discovered that the winning coupon was, in fact, mailed, they decide that they have learned their lesson and resolve not to let the money ruin their happiness. The second is more tragic, with a mild-mannered clerk (Mervyn Johns) concerned about quitting his mundane job. The third is a suspenseful crime caper involving a coupon checker (Dennis Price) and his nightclub singer girlfriend (Greta Gynt in a send-up of Rita Hayworth's "Gilda") who devise a scheme to embezzle the winning pot. The final episode, another comedy, concerns a dispirited bass player (Edward Rigby) who discovers he misses the orchestra he left.

Reception

Critics at the time noted the film was faintly reminiscent of the all-star 1932 Hollywood release "If I Had a Million". It earned mixed reviews, but proved to be popular with audiences - still reeling from the effects of World War II - seeking lighthearted entertainment.

References

"Gainsborough Melodrama", edited by Sue Aspinall and Robert Murphy, published by the British Film Institute, London, 1983

External links

*imdb title|id=0040309