A Lady Mislaid is a 1958 British comedy film directed by David MacDonald and starring Phyllis Calvert, Alan White and Thorley Walters.[1][2] It was written by Frederick Gotfurt based on the 1948 play of the same name by Kenneth Horne.[3]
Plot
Esther and her sister Jennifer are spinsters. Esther has bought a remote country cottage, and has invited her novelist sister to stay for recuperation. Esther hasn't told Jennifer that a policeman had called, earlier, had explained that the police wanted to search the house and gardens for the body of the former owner's wife, and that she'd agreed. When a human skeleton is unearthed in the chicken coop, the finger of suspicion points firmly at the previous occupant, Mr. Smith; till it is discovered to be from an ancient Briton.
Cast
- Phyllis Calvert as Esther Williams
- Alan White as Det. Sgt. Bullock
- Thorley Walters as Smith
- Gillian Owen as Jennifer
- Richard Leech as George
- Constance Fraser as Mrs. Small
- Sheila Shand Gibbs as Betty
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An attempt at a short comédie noire, thls film needs a more ruthless and macabre line in humour to exploit a promising situation. Conventional characters and a flagging plot produce, instead of the witty melodrama that might have emerged, a tame piece of make-believe."[4]
The Radio Times gave the film two out of five stars, writing: "A quaint idea and a decent cast make perfectly respectable entertainment out of an hour-long British programmer, but there's not much more to be said for it."[5]
References
- ^ "A Lady Mislaid". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
- ^ "A Lady Mislaid (1958)". Archived from the original on 1 October 2016.
- ^ Goble, Alan (1 January 1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110951943 – via Google Books.
- ^ "A Lady Mislaid". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 25 (288): 156. 1 January 1958 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "A Lady Mislaid - Film from RadioTimes".
External links