It Always Rains on Sunday
Encyclopedia
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947
) is a film adaptation of the novel by Arthur La Bern, adapted and directed by Robert Hamer
. In its gritty, unsentimental depiction of everyday life in post-war Britain, and in its exploration of the tedium, frustration and desperation wrought by grinding poverty, the film is a notable precursor to the "kitchen sink
" dramas that would become fashionable over a decade later with the British New Wave
.
(23 March 1947 if the calendars in the film are to be believed) in Bethnal Green
, a part of the East End of London
that is still suffering the effects of bombing and post-war deprivation.
Rose Sandigate (Googie Withers
) is a former barmaid married to a middle-aged man (Edward Chapman
) who has two teenage daughters from a previous marriage. She is a bossy, strident Bethnal Green
housewife, coping with the difficulties of rationing, near-slum
housing and a drab, joyless environment. A former lover (John McCallum
, Withers' real life husband), who was jailed years earlier for robbery with violence, escapes from prison and turns up at her door asking her to hide him until the heat is off. Rose initially refuses outright but, clearly still in love with him, her normal toughness dissolves and he persuades her to let him hide in the family's disused air raid shelter, and then in a bedroom upstairs.
However, it proves extremely difficult to keep the presence of the surprise guest a secret in such a busy, bustling household — particularly with her former lover intent on seducing her. It is Sunday morning and the lunch must be cooked, the girls admonished for their misdemeanours of the previous night and the husband packed off to the pub out of the way. The strain is intolerable and as the day progresses, the police net closes, after a nosey newspaper reporter guesses where the man is hiding.
By nightfall her secret is out and a panic-stricken Rose tries to kill herself, while the prisoner once again flees, only to be cornered in railway sidings and arrested by the detective inspector (Jack Warner
) who has been patiently tracking him.
described the film as "the definitive British noir
", while a series of screenings in New York in 2008 as part of a British Film Noir season elicited tremendous praise from American critics, many of whom were previously unacquainted with the film. Scott Cruddas of Village Voice described it as "a masterpiece of dead ends and might-have-beens, highly inventive in its use of flashbacks and multiple overlapping narratives, and brilliantly acted by Withers and McCallum". The New York Sun
s S. James Snyder observed: "When things go from gray to pitch black in the film's final moments, building to a climax that links the anguish of a prison inmate with the daily routine of a working-class wife, (the film) delivers an existential wallop for the ages". David Denby wrote in The New Yorker
: "A fascinating noirish look at life in London’s East End...the scenes between Withers and McCallum are stunningly erotic", while Stephen Garrett of Time Out summed the film up as: ""Absolutely exhilarating! A bleak thriller realized with utter vibrancy, Robert Hamer’s savory stew of
London’s lower class roils with an emotional brutality and precision that most films don’t dare attempt, let alone achieve."
1947 in film
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) is a film adaptation of the novel by Arthur La Bern, adapted and directed by Robert Hamer
Robert Hamer
Robert James Hamer was a British film director and screenwriter. He was the son of the actor Gerald Hamer ....
. In its gritty, unsentimental depiction of everyday life in post-war Britain, and in its exploration of the tedium, frustration and desperation wrought by grinding poverty, the film is a notable precursor to the "kitchen sink
Kitchen sink realism
Kitchen sink realism is a term coined to describe a British cultural movement which developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose 'heroes' usually could be described as angry young men...
" dramas that would become fashionable over a decade later with the British New Wave
British New Wave
The British New Wave is the name given to a trend in filmmaking among directors in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The label is a translation of Nouvelle Vague, the French term first applied to the films of François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard among others.There is considerable overlap...
.
Plot
The film concerns events one SundaySunday
Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. For most Christians, Sunday is observed as a day for worship of God and rest, due to the belief that it is Lord's Day, the day of Christ's resurrection....
(23 March 1947 if the calendars in the film are to be believed) in Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
, a part of the East End of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
that is still suffering the effects of bombing and post-war deprivation.
Rose Sandigate (Googie Withers
Googie Withers
Georgette Lizette "Googie" Withers CBE, AO was an English theatre, film and television actress. She was a longtime resident of Australia with her husband, the actor John McCallum, with whom she often appeared.-Biography:...
) is a former barmaid married to a middle-aged man (Edward Chapman
Edward Chapman (actor)
Edward Chapman was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. Wilfred Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s.Chapman was born in...
) who has two teenage daughters from a previous marriage. She is a bossy, strident Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
housewife, coping with the difficulties of rationing, near-slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
housing and a drab, joyless environment. A former lover (John McCallum
John McCallum (actor)
John Neil McCallum, AO, CBE was an Australian theatre and film actor. He was also a television producer.McCallum was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1918, son of theatre owner and entrepreneur John Neil McCallum Sr., who built and for many years ran the 2,000 seat Cremorne Theatre on the banks of...
, Withers' real life husband), who was jailed years earlier for robbery with violence, escapes from prison and turns up at her door asking her to hide him until the heat is off. Rose initially refuses outright but, clearly still in love with him, her normal toughness dissolves and he persuades her to let him hide in the family's disused air raid shelter, and then in a bedroom upstairs.
However, it proves extremely difficult to keep the presence of the surprise guest a secret in such a busy, bustling household — particularly with her former lover intent on seducing her. It is Sunday morning and the lunch must be cooked, the girls admonished for their misdemeanours of the previous night and the husband packed off to the pub out of the way. The strain is intolerable and as the day progresses, the police net closes, after a nosey newspaper reporter guesses where the man is hiding.
By nightfall her secret is out and a panic-stricken Rose tries to kill herself, while the prisoner once again flees, only to be cornered in railway sidings and arrested by the detective inspector (Jack Warner
Jack Warner (actor)
Jack Warner OBE was an English film and television actor. He is closely associated with the role of PC George Dixon, which he played until the age of eighty....
) who has been patiently tracking him.
Reputation
In the decades since its release, the reputation of It Always Rains on Sunday has grown from that of a neatly engrossing slice-of-life drama to a film often cited as one of the greatest and most overlooked achievements of late-1940s British cinema. Writing in Films in Review in 1987, William K. EversonWilliam K. Everson
William Keith "Bill" Everson was an English-American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector and film historian. He often discovered lost films.-Early life and career:...
described the film as "the definitive British noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
", while a series of screenings in New York in 2008 as part of a British Film Noir season elicited tremendous praise from American critics, many of whom were previously unacquainted with the film. Scott Cruddas of Village Voice described it as "a masterpiece of dead ends and might-have-beens, highly inventive in its use of flashbacks and multiple overlapping narratives, and brilliantly acted by Withers and McCallum". The New York Sun
New York Sun
The New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...
s S. James Snyder observed: "When things go from gray to pitch black in the film's final moments, building to a climax that links the anguish of a prison inmate with the daily routine of a working-class wife, (the film) delivers an existential wallop for the ages". David Denby wrote in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
: "A fascinating noirish look at life in London’s East End...the scenes between Withers and McCallum are stunningly erotic", while Stephen Garrett of Time Out summed the film up as: ""Absolutely exhilarating! A bleak thriller realized with utter vibrancy, Robert Hamer’s savory stew of
London’s lower class roils with an emotional brutality and precision that most films don’t dare attempt, let alone achieve."
Cast
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Alfie Bass Alfred Bass was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; their parents had fled persecution in Russia... • Dicey Perkins Jack Warner (actor) Jack Warner OBE was an English film and television actor. He is closely associated with the role of PC George Dixon, which he played until the age of eighty.... • Detective Sergeant Fothergill Frederick Piper Frederick Piper was an English actor who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Never a leading player, Piper was usually cast in minor, sometimes uncredited, parts although he also appeared in some more substantial supporting roles... • Detective Sergeant Leech Michael Howard (actor) Michael Howard is an American actor, director, and master teacher, and founder of Michael Howard Studios in New York City.-Early life:... • Slopey Collins Hermione Baddeley Hermione Baddeley was an English character actress of theatre, film and television. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Room at the Top and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here... • Doss-house keeper John Salew -Selected filmography:* The Silent Battle * Sailors Don't Care * Once a Crook * One of Our Aircraft Is Missing * The Day Will Dawn * Secret Mission * It Always Rains on Sunday... • Caleb Neesley Gladys Henson Gladys Henson was a British actress whose career lasted from 1932 to 1976 and included roles on stage, radio, films and television series... • Mrs Neesley Vida Hope -Selected filmography:* Champagne Charlie * English Without Tears * Hue and Cry * Nicholas Nickleby * It Always Rains on Sunday * Woman Hater * For Them That Trespass... • Mrs Wallis Arthur Hambling Arthur Hambling was a British actor, he was best known for appearances in the films Henry V and The Lavender Hill Mob .-Selected filmography:* The Scoop * French Leave... • Yardmaster Grace Arnold Grace Arnold was an English actress. Her first film was Men Without Honour in 1939, where she starred opposite an actor named Ian Fleming.-Selected filmography:* Guilt * Spare a Copper * Went the Day Well?... • Landlady |