IOU: No, My Darling Daughter (1961)

Person I Owe: Casey of Noir Girl. Casey reviewed this film a couple of years ago (see the review here) and recommended the film to me. She burned me a copy and sent it to me in the mail. I've always meant to watch it but Netflix and other things always got in the way. Once you own a movie, it's easy to take advantage of the fact that it's always there.

Review: No, My Darling Daughter (1961) is a British Comedy directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Juliet Mills, Michael Redgrave, James Westmoreland and Michael Craig. Tansy (Mills) is the daughter of a wealthy and overbearing father Sir Carr (Redgrave). He's got a lot of plans for his daughter but free-spirited Tansy has other things in mind. Thomas (Michael Clay), General Barclay's grandson and Sir Carr's grandson, works for Carr's company but also has other plans. Thomas and Tansy seem like two free spirits destined for each other until an American youngster, Cornelius (James Westmoreland), starts to woo Tansy with his adventurousness and naivete about British life. Carr's got plans, Tansy's got plans, Thomas has plans, General Barclay's got plans, Cornelius makes plans eventually but as we all know even the best made plans don't always turn out how we expect.

This is a very light-hearted British comedy. As Casey says in her review, it'll keep you guessing until the very end. And yes Tansy is such a strange name. I kept wanting to call her something else. If you enjoy British films from the 1960s, and I know a lot of you do, this one will be sure to entertain you. It's also void of all of the more taboo elements of other films from this era. It's fresh and wholesome and just fun to watch. I'm not much for early British cinema and while this is not a new favorite, I enjoyed it nonetheless and would recommend it to other folks who like fun films like these.

IOU: Hot Enough for June (1964)

Person I Owe: Kate Gabrielle of Scathingly Brilliant and Discovering Dirk Bogarde. It's no secret that Kate Gabrielle is a huge Dirk Bogarde fan. She really wants to get as many people on the Dirk Bogarde bandwagon because she believes in him that much. She sent me a burnt copy of Hot Enough for June (1964) a long time ago in hopes that I would watch it even if I were to throw it away later. I watched it and I am keeping it. Thanks Kate!

Review: Dirk Bogarde plays Nicholas Whistler, an unemployed writer who has just been placed in a job at a glass manufacturing company. But this company is not really what it seems to be. In fact, it's really a spy agency. They hired Nicholas solely on the fact that he speaks some Czech and they need a decoy to pick up a secret message in Czechoslovakia. Nicholas, reluctant to take the job but happy for the pay, gets sent on a business trip to Czechoslovakia (hey this is 1964 remember!). He has to use the code phrase "Hot Enough for June" and await a certain reply in order to find the person who was to pick up the message. Nicholas meets Vlasta Simoneva (Sylva Koscina) who pretends to be his driver but happens to be a Czech spy. Nicholas gets into deep, deep trouble when he falls in love with Vlasta and tries to escape the country with that important message.

At first the film started out a bit slow. I thought, oh geez, is this going to be a boring British film about a writer making ends meet. But when the spy element of the story started, which was pretty early in the film, and they introduced the lovable Robert Morley, I knew this was the film for me. Hot Enough for June (aka Agent 8-3/4) is a wonderful British spy caper that keeps audiences at the edge of their seats.

"It is nice to know that we are not all going to be murdered in our beds." - Colonel Cunliffe

They make a gorgeous couple don't they?

1960s films are full of shots like these. Gratuitously sexual. I laughed out loud when I saw this!

IOU

I owe you. No really, I do. Chances are you have either lent me a movie, given me a movie or suggested a movie to me and I've neglected your advice and help. So, you know what? Now is the time to make up for that. Next week is IOU week. Each day I'll review a film I owe someone a viewing of. That's seven IOUs. It won't make up for everything but at least it's a start.