''The Fast Lady'' is a 1962 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

, 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 ...

. The screenplay was written by Henry Blyth and Jack Davies, based on the 1925 novel of the same name by

Keble Howard Keble Howard was the pen name of John Keble Bell (8 June 1875 – 29 March 1928). He was an English writer and journalist, who wrote a large number of novels, short stories, sketches and plays, mainly light comic pieces, often depicting subur ...

Don Sharp Donald Herman Sharp (19 April 192114 December 2011) was an Australian film director. His best known films were made for Hammer in the 1960s, and included '' The Kiss of the Vampire'' (1963) and '' Rasputin, the Mad Monk'' (1966). In 1965 he d ...

directed second unit. "The Fast Lady" is the name of a

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

Bentley. The film opened at the

Odeon Marble Arch The Odeon Marble Arch (known as the Regal from 1928 to 1945) was a cinema in London located opposite Marble Arch, at the top of Park Lane, with its main entrance on Edgware Road. It operated in various forms from 1928 to 2016, and is most famo ...

in London in December 1962. A loose sequel, '' Father Came Too!'', was released in February 1964.

Plot

Murdoch Troon ( Stanley Baxter) is a proud

Scot The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

living and working for a local government authority somewhere in south London. A shy young man, his main excitement comes from cycling. After he's forced off the road by an impatient car driver, he tracks down the owner, only to find that he is Commander Chingford ( James Robertson Justice), the domineering and acerbic owner of a sports car distributorship. Chingford reluctantly pays for the damage to Murdoch's cycle, but more significantly, Murdoch meets Claire (

Julie Christie Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...

), Chingford's beautiful blonde daughter, and is smitten with her. She tells him she loves sports cars and would love to have one but "her great dictator" (meaning her father) won't allow it. Despite not being able to drive, Murdoch is talked into buying a car to impress her by his friend and fellow lodger, Freddie Fox (

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. ...

), a used car salesman and serial

cad Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

. Freddie sees a chance to ingratiate himself with Chingford and also to sell Murdoch a car. The car is a 1927 vintage

Bentley 4½ Litre The Bentley 4½ Litre is a British car based on a rolling chassis built by Bentley Motors. Walter Owen Bentley replaced the Bentley 3 Litre with a more powerful car by increasing its engine displacement to . A racing variant was known as the Blo ...

Red Label Speed model, painted in

British Racing Green British racing green, or BRG, is a colour similar to ''Brunswick green'', ''hunter green'', ''forest green'' or '' moss green'' ( RAL 6005). It takes its name from the green international motor racing colour of the United Kingdom. This origina ...

and named ''The Fast Lady''. Murdoch has his first driving lesson in a less exciting car, an

Austin A40 Farina :''See Austin A40 for other (previous) Austin A40 models.'' The Austin A40 Farina is a small, economy car introduced by Austin in saloon (1958) and A40 Countryman (1959) estate versions. It has a two-box body configuration. It was badged, lik ...

, which proves to be a comedy of disasters with a nervous instructor (

Eric Barker Eric Leslie Barker (12 February 1912 – 1 June 1990) was an English comedy actor. He is most remembered for his roles in the popular British '' Carry On'' films, although he only appeared in the early films in the series, apart from returning ...

). Freddie then makes a deal with Murdoch and offers to teach him, but the results are equally disastrous. Unwilling to give up, and determined to prove his love for Claire, Murdoch bets her father that he can drive the car. An experienced racing driver, Chingford is convinced that Murdoch has no hope of achieving this — and bets him that he cannot. Murdoch takes Chingford for a drive in the Bentley and loses the bet. But the tables are turned when Chingford loses Murdoch's counter-bet that Chingford cannot drive back home in less than 30 minutes. He then reluctantly allows Claire to go out with Murdoch in the car. The day comes for Murdoch's driving test. Freddie has set him up with a 'bent' examiner, but Murdoch draws the 'wrong' examiner. As the test comes to an end (and the examiner is almost certainly going to fail Murdoch), the car is commandeered by police to chase a

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

car driven by escaping bank robbers. The high speed chase takes them through town and country, across a golf course (leaving in its wake, a trail of disasters) and eventually the robbers are caught. The now furious examiner says that Murdoch not only fails but is "banned for life", but Chingford pooh-poohs this. Rather, he so admires Murdoch's driving skill that he will allow the couple to get engaged. The film features cameos and performances by many well-known comedy and character actors, including

Dick Emery Richard Gilbert Emery (19 February 19152 January 1983) was an English comedian and actor. His broadcasting career began on radio in the 1950s, and his self-titled television series ran from 1963 to 1981. Life and career Richard Gilbert Emery was ...

as a car salesman,

Clive Dunn Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn (9 January 19206 November 2012) was an English actor. Although he was only 48 and one of the youngest cast members, he was cast in a role many years his senior, as the elderly Lance Corporal Jones in the BBC sitcom ' ...

Gerald Campion Gerald Theron Campion (23 April 1921 – 9 July 2002) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his role as Billy Bunter in a 1950s television adaptation ('' Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School'') of books by Frank Richards (Charles Hamil ...

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...

Bill Fraser William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play '' ...

'Monsewer' Eddie Gray Edward Earl Gray (10 June 1898 – 15 September 1969), who performed as Monsewer' Eddie Gray, was an English stage comedian. He appeared in music halls as a solo act and also as a member of the Crazy Gang. Gray was apprenticed to a juggler at ...

and Fred Emney. A racing sequence also features brief appearances by drivers

John Surtees John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...

and

Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in and as well as being runner up on three occasions (1963, 1964 and 1965). Despite ...

, along with Raymond Baxter and celebrated automotive journalist John Bolster.

The Car

''The Fast Lady'' is a 1927 Bentley 4.5-litre Red Label Speed model with

Vanden Plas Vanden Plas is the name of coachbuilders who produced bodies for specialist and up-market automobile manufacturers. Latterly the name became a top-end luxury model designation for cars from subsidiaries of British Leyland and the Rover Group, ...

short chassis fabric body, registration number TU5987. It was sold by a specialist dealer in 2010.

Cast

* James Robertson Justice as Charles Chingford *

as Freddie Fox * Stanley Baxter as Murdoch Troon *

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 ...

as Mrs Staggers *

as Claire Chingford *

as Wentworth, driving instructor * Oliver Johnston as Bulmer *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

as Bodley, driving examiner * Heidi Erich as Grunhilde, one of Freddie's girlfriends (at the beach) * Esma Cannon as Lady on Zebra Crossing *

as Shingler, Freddie's boss * Deryck Guyler as Doctor Blake the police doctor * Victor Brooks as Policeman *

Terence Alexander Terence Joseph Alexander (11 March 1923 – 28 May 2009) was an English film and television actor, best known for his role as Charlie Hungerford in the British TV drama ''Bergerac (TV series), Bergerac'', which ran for nine series on BBC One be ...

as Policeman on Motorcycle *

Trevor Reid Trevor Reid (25 January 190816 April 1965) was an English actor. Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK. He acted in 47 films from 1938 to 1965. He died at age 57 in London. Selected filmography * '' Dangerous Cargo'' (1954) - Watson * ' ...

as Examiner *

as Road Workman in Hole *

as man on stretcher *

as old man in burning house *

as a golfer (uncredited) Cameos by

, Raymond Baxter and Dickie Davies in race scene in Murdoch's dream

Reception

It was one of the 12 most popular films at the British box office in 1963.

Critical

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote "A thin idea is pumped up into a reasonably brisk, amusing situation comedy, which is helped by a cast of experienced farceurs. In dialog, the pic is short on wit but there is enough slapstick fun."

DVD release

''The Fast Lady'' was issued on Region 2 DVD in the UK on 2 February 2004. A high definition restoration from the original film elements was released on DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

by Network on 24 February 2020.

Notes

References

External links

''The Fast Lady (1963)''
on

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fast Lady, The 1962 films British comedy films 1962 comedy films Films directed by Ken Annakin 1960s English-language films 1960s British films