''Holiday Camp'' is a 1947 British

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Ken Annakin Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE (10 August 1914 – 22 April 2009) was an English film director. His career spanned half a century, beginning in the early 1940s and ending in 2002, and in the 1960s he was noticed by critics with large-scale adventu ...

, starring Flora Robson, Jack Warner,

Dennis Price Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeeve ...

, and Hazel Court, and also features

Kathleen Harrison Kathleen Harrison (23 February 1892 – 7 December 1995) was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett (opposite Jack Warner and Petula Clark) in a trio of British post-war comedies about a worki ...

and

Jimmy Hanley Jimmy Hanley (22 October 1918 – 13 January 1970) was an English actor who appeared in the popular Huggetts film series, and in ITV's most popular advertising magazine programme, ''Jim's Inn'', from 1957 to 1963. Early life Born in Norwich, N ...

. It is set at one of the then-popular

holiday camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with term ...

s. It resonated with post-war audiences and was very successful. It was the first film to feature the Huggett family, who went on to star in "The Huggetts" film series.

Synopsis

Set in a

Butlin's Butlin's is a chain of large Seaside resort, seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one ...

-style holiday camp on the English coast in contremporary post-war Britain, a working class London family have their first visit to a summer

. It was the first film to feature the Huggett family, who went on to star in "The Huggetts" film series. The film is a kaleidoscope of events involving the Huggetts and others, including a pregnant young girl and her boyfriend, a sailor whose girlfriend has jilted him, a girl looking for a husband, a spinster, a pair of dishonest

card sharps A card sharp (also cardsharp, card shark or cardshark, sometimes hyphenated) is a person who uses skill and/or deception to win at poker or other card games. "Sharp" and "shark" spellings have varied over time and by region. The label is n ...

, and a murderer on the run. It captures the round of organised leisure activities at the crowded camp and the ever present camp announcements. As one of the more unusual subplots Esther, a woman holidaying alone and sharing with a stranger Elsie, recognises the voice of the camp announcer, as a former boyfriend. When she eventually finds him, she discovers the correct person, but he was blinded in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He explains he lost his sight and memory in 1918. Joan Hugget wins the

beauty contest A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

and is immediately targeted by Binky, who appears to be one of the more upper-class campers. He then claims to be an investigator looking for the "Mannequin Murderer" but ultimately proves to be the actual killer. Harry Hugget loses a lot of money playing cards against two swindlers, ending up owing them more money than he has. However, his dad Joe wins all the money back a few days later.

Cast

* Flora Robson as Esther Harman *

as Binky Hardwick (aka Jeffrey Baker) an ex-RAF officer * Jack Warner as Joe Huggett * Hazel Court as Joan Martin (née Huggett) * Emrys Jones as Michael Halliday *

as Ethel Huggett * Yvonne Owen as Angela Kirby *

Esmond Knight Esmond Penington Knight (4 May 1906 – 23 February 1987) was an English actor. He had a successful stage and film career before World War II. For much of his later career Knight was half-blind. He had been badly wounded in 1941 while on active ...

as Camp Announcer *

as Jimmy Gardner * Peter Hammond as Harry Huggett * Esma Cannon as Elsie Dawson * John Blythe as Steve *Jeannette Tregarthen as Valerie Thompson *

Beatrice Varley Beatrice Evelyn Varley (11 July 1896 – 4 July 1964) was an English actress who appeared in television and film roles between 1936 and 1964. She made her screen debut in the 1936 film ''Tomorrow We Live'' and began to portray a variety of ch ...

as Valerie's Aunt *

Susan Shaw Susan Shaw (29 August 192927 November 1978) was an English actress. Biography Shaw was born Patsy Sloots in West Norwood, London. She had wanted to become a dress designer and was working as a typist at the Ministry for Information when she di ...

as Patsy Crawford *Pamela Bramah as Beauty Queen *

Alfie Bass Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...

as a redcoat *

M. E. Clifton James Meyrick Edward Clifton James (April 1898 – 8 May 1963) was an actor and soldier, with a resemblance to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. That was used by British intelligence as part of a deception campaign during the Second World War. Ear ...

as himself (Monty's Double) *

Patricia Roc Patricia Roc (born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold; 7 June 1915 – 30 December 2003) was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as ''Madonna of the Seven Moons'' (1945) and '' The Wicked Lady'' (1945), though she only ...

, Cheerful

Charlie Chester Charlie Chester MBE (26 April 1914 – 26 June 1997) was an English comedian, radio and television presenter and writer, broadcasting almost continuously from the 1940s to the 1990s. His style was similar to that of Max Miller. Life and ...

, and Gerry Wilmot as themselves (entertaining the campers) and a young

Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was p ...

dances the

Jitterbug Jitterbug is a generalized term used to describe swing dancing. It is often synonymous with the lindy hop dance but might include elements of the jive, east coast swing, collegiate shag, charleston, balboa and other swing dances. Swing danc ...

Development

The film was directed by Ken Annakin, who had made a number of documentaries for producer

Sydney Box Frank Sydney Box (29 April 1907 – 25 May 1983) was a British film producer and screenwriter, and brother of British film producer Betty Box. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Jay Lewis. He produced and co- ...

. When Box took over

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

he hired Annakin to make ''Holiday Camp''. It was part of Box's initial slate of pictures for the company, others including '' Jassy'' and '' Good Time Girl''. The original story was by magazine writer Godfrey Winn. He went to a Butlin's holiday camp at Filey with Annakin to research. Annakin remembers Winn "put together a very good story" but Sydney and Muriel Box "decided we should add extra elements".McFarlane p 25 He says

Muriel Box Violette Muriel Box, Baroness Gardiner, (22 September 1905 – 18 May 1991) was an English screenwriter and director, Britain's most prolific female director, having directed 12 feature films and one featurette. Her screenplay for ''The Seventh ...

worked on the Dennis Price character, inspired by the Heath Murders, then they held a round table conference with

Ted Willis Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (13 January 1914 – 22 December 1992) was an English playwright, novelist and screenwriter who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party. In 1941 he became the General Secretary of the Young Co ...

Peter Rogers Peter Rogers (20 February 1914 – 14 April 2009) was an English film producer. He is best known for his involvement in the making of the ''Carry On'' series of films. Life and career Rogers began his career as a journalist for his loc ...

and

Mabel Constanduros Mabel Constanduros (' Tilling; 29 March 1880 – 8 February 1957) was an English actress and screenwriter. She gained public notice playing Mrs.Buggins on the radio programme '' The Buggins Family'', which ran from 1928 to 1948. As well as writi ...

. "Godfrey wasn't terribly happy about it because he thought he was going to have a single screen credit", says Annakin. Peter Rogers had worked as Muriel Box's assistant. He says he wrote "the screenplay and most of the stories... but Mabel Constanduros and one or two other people had little ideas. Sydney oxwas always on the side of writers and always gave writers credit, even if they just had two lines in the script."McFarlane p 493 Rogers claims it was his idea to introduce the Dennis Price character and "the only bit that Mabel Constanduros contributed was the scene between Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison on the cliffs."

Production

Camp exteriors were shot at Butlin's, Filey. The opening scenes of a train arriving at a seaside cliff-top station and of the passengers boarding buses outside the station were filmed at

Sandsend railway station Sandsend railway station was a railway station on the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway. It was opened on 3 December 1883, and served the villages of Sandsend and Lythe. It closed on 5 May 1958. The station building is now a privat ...

. Sydney Box used the film to introduce a number of new actors, including Susan Shaw and Hazel Court. It was

' second film appearance. Some brief moments of Warner and Harrison exercising from the film, (and

Michael Shepley Arthur Michael Shepley-Smith (29 September 1907 – 28 September 1961), known professionally as Michael Shepley, was a British actor, appearing in theatre, film and some television between 1929 and 1961. He was born in Plymouth, Devon. Shepl ...

playing golf), were re-used at the beginning of

Into the Blue (1950 film) ''Into the Blue'' is a 1950 British comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Michael Wilding, Odile Versois and Jack Hulbert. It is also known as ''Man in the Dinghy''. In the film, a couple hire a yacht for what they hope will be a ...

Reception

Box office

The film was the sixth most popular movie at the British box office in 1947. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'' the 'biggest winner' at the box office in 1947 Britain was ''

The Courtneys of Curzon Street ''The Courtneys of Curzon Street'' (also titled ''The Courtney Affair'' or Kathy's Love Affair, in the U.S.) is a 1947 British drama film starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding. It is a study of class division and snobbery in Britain in the la ...

'', with "runners up" being ''

The Jolson Story ''The Jolson Story'' is a 1946 American musical biography film which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson. It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes as Julie Benson (approximating Jolson's wife, Ruby Keeler), William Demares ...

'', ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

'', ''

Odd Man Out ''Odd Man Out'' is a 1947 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, and starring James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, and Kathleen Ryan. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it follows a wounded Nationalist leader who attempts to evade polic ...

'', '' Frieda'', ''Holiday Camp'' and '' Duel in the Sun''. Annakin attributed this in part "perhaps because I had come from documentary and British cinema at that time was very artificial. The Huggetts absolutely caught the spirit and feeling that existed after the war... People didn't want more fairy stories; they wanted something in which they could recognise themselves. Being of lower-middle-class origins myself, I felt at home with these people who were having a fine holiday in a very cheap place which provided wonderful entertainment. I think I caught the spirit of the holiday camps and we had a very warm, natural cast." Peter Rogers thought the film was a hit "the same way that the '' Carry On''s caught on – you've got ordinary people doing amusing things." The film made a reported profit of £16,000.

Critical

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

'' wrote, "Time has mellowed the documentary quality of the film, and location shooting and authentic detail now seem less important than the presence of the whole range of British acting talent, from

Dame Flora Robson Dame Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 19027 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from q ...

to Cheerful

, among the cast of thousands."RMy
Holiday Camp
''Time Out London'' "I'm not embarrassed about ''Holiday Camp''", said Annakin years later, "although the later Huggett films don't hold up well."

References

*Brian McFarlane, ''An Autobiography of British Cinema'', Methuem Film, 1997

External links

*
''Holiday Camp''
at British Film Institute
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Holiday Camp (Film) 1947 films 1947 comedy-drama films Films about vacationing Films directed by Ken Annakin Gainsborough Pictures films Films produced by Sydney Box Films with screenplays by Muriel Box Films with screenplays by Sydney Box Films with screenplays by Peter Rogers Films with screenplays by Ted Willis, Baron Willis British black-and-white films British comedy-drama films Films shot in North Yorkshire The Huggetts (film series) 1947 directorial debut films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films