Dear Octopus
Encyclopedia
Dear Octopus is a 1943 British comedy film
directed by Harold French
and starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding
and Celia Johnson
. It is based on a 1938 play Dear Octopus
written by Dodie Smith
. It was also released as Randolph Family.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Harold French
Harold French
Harold French was an English director and actor of stage and screen. As an actor most of his roles occurred between 1912 and 1936. He did not garner as much attention as an actor as he would as a director. From 1940 to 1955 he had a several solid box-office successes...
and starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding
Michael Wilding (actor)
-Early life:Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Wilding was a successful commercial artist when he joined the art department of a London film studio in 1933. He soon embarked on an acting career.-Career:...
and Celia Johnson
Celia Johnson
Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson DBE was an English actress.She began her stage acting career in 1928, and subsequently achieved success in West End and Broadway productions. She also appeared in several films, including the romantic drama Brief Encounter , for which she received a nomination for the...
. It is based on a 1938 play Dear Octopus
Dear Octopus (play)
Dear Octopus is 1938 play by the British writer Dodie Smith. It was first staged at the Queen's Theatre with John Geilgud and was a major success.-Adaptation:...
written by Dodie Smith
Dodie Smith
Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith was an English novelist and playwright. Smith is best known for her novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Her other works include I Capture the Castle and The Starlight Barking....
. It was also released as Randolph Family.
Cast
- Margaret Lockwood - Penny Randolph
- Michael WildingMichael Wilding (actor)-Early life:Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Wilding was a successful commercial artist when he joined the art department of a London film studio in 1933. He soon embarked on an acting career.-Career:...
- Nicholas Randolph - Celia JohnsonCelia JohnsonDame Celia Elizabeth Johnson DBE was an English actress.She began her stage acting career in 1928, and subsequently achieved success in West End and Broadway productions. She also appeared in several films, including the romantic drama Brief Encounter , for which she received a nomination for the...
- Cynthia - Roland CulverRoland CulverRoland Culver OBE was a British stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:...
- Felix Martin - Helen HayeHelen HayeHelen Haye was a British stage and film actress.She began acting on the stage in 1898 and debuted in London in 1911 as Gertrude in Hamlet. Her film career began in 1917. She often worked with director Alexander Korda...
- Dora Randolph - Athene SeylerAthene SeylerAthene Seyler, CBE was an English actress.Although better known as a stage actress, she first appeared on the stage in 1909 and made her film debut in 1921, and became known for playing slightly dotty old ladies....
- Aunt Belle - Jean CadellJean CadellJean Cadell was a Scottish character actress.Born in Edinburgh, she performed in the cinema and on the stage. One of her best known cinema roles was in the Ealing Studios comedy Whisky Galore! . She once performed opposite W.C. Fields in Hollywood, cast as Mrs...
- Vicar's wife - Basil RadfordBasil RadfordBasil Radford was an English character actor who featured in many British films of the 1930s and 1940s. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his first stage appearance in July 1924...
- Kenneth - Frederick LeisterFrederick Leister-Filmography:* The Glorious Adventure * The Message * Bracelets * Dreyfus * Down River * The World, the Flesh, the Devil * Evensong * The Iron Duke...
- Charles Randolph - Nora SwinburneNora SwinburneNora Swinburne was a British actress, born Leonora Mary Johnson in Bath, Somerset, daughter of Henry Swinburne Johnson and his wife Leonora Tamar ....
- Edna - Antoinette CellierAntoinette CellierAntoinette Cellier was an English film and theatre actress.-Early life and education:She was born in Broadstairs, Kent, England. Her father, Frank Cellier, was a film and theatre actor...
- Hilda - Madge Compton - Marjorie
- Kathleen HarrisonKathleen HarrisonKathleen Harrison was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett in a trio of British post-war comedies about a working class family's misadventures. To modern viewers she is better remembered as Mrs...
- Mrs Glossop - Ann StephensAnn StephensAnn Stephens was a British actress, popular in the 1950s. She was born in London. In July 1941 she recorded several songs including a setting of one of AA Milne's verses about Christopher Robin: "Changing Guard at Buckingham Palace" which often featured on the BBC Light Programme's Children's...
- Scrap - Derek Lansiaux - Bill
- Alistair Stewart - Joe
- Evelyn Hall - Gertrude
- Muriel GeorgeMuriel GeorgeMuriel George was an English singer and film actress. She appeared in some 55 films between 1932 and 1955.She also appeared on the variety stage and sang on radio with her husband, Ernest Butcher for thirty years...
- Cook - Annie EsmondAnnie EsmondAnnie Esmond was a British film actress.Annie Esmond was born in Surrey, England on 27th September 1873. She made her stage debut in pantomime in Sheffield in 1891 and later appeared on the American as well as British stage for many years before going into silent films and later talkies...
- Nannie - Irene HandlIrene Handl-Life:Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the daughter of an Austrian banker father and French mother. She took to acting at the relatively advanced age of 36, and studied at the acting school run by the sister of Dame Sybil Thorndike...
- Flora - Arthur Denton - Mr Glossop
- Pamela Western - Deirdre
- Arty AshArty Ash-Selected filmography:* The Love Race * Josser on the River * Soldiers of the King * Sporting Love * Guilty Melody * Chinatown Nights * Dear Octopus...
- Burton - Graham MoffattGraham MoffattGraham Moffatt was a British character actor and comedian.Born in Hammersmith, London, he is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': an insolent, overweight, overgrown-schoolboy type character, loosely reminiscent of Billy Bunter.His first...
- Fred the Chauffeur - Henry Morrell - Vicar