''Isn't Life Wonderful!'' is a 1953 British

technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

period

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Harold French Harold French (23 April 1897 – 19 October 1997) was an English film director, screenwriter and actor. Biography After training at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Italia Conti School, he made his acting debut age 12, in a produ ...

and starring

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe; 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between 1 ...

Eileen Herlie Eileen Herlie (8 March 1918 – 8 October 2008) was a Scottish-American actress. Personal life Eileen Herlie was born Eileen Isobel Herlihy to an Irish Catholic father, Patrick Herlihy, and a Scottish Protestant mother, Isobel Cowden, in ...

and

Donald Wolfit Sir Donald Wolfit (born Donald Woolfitt; 20 April 1902 – 17 February 1968) was an English actor-manager, known for his touring productions of Shakespeare. He was especially renowned for his portrayal of King Lear. Born to a conventional midd ...

. The film was shot at the Elstree Studios of Associated British with sets designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Terence Verity. It was released in the United States as ''Uncle Willie's Bicycle Shop'', the title of Brock Williams original 1948 novel based on his boyhood experiences.

Plot

In Edwardian England, alcoholic Uncle Willie (Donald Wolfit) is an embarrassment to his family. Head of the household father (Cecil Parker), decides to set Willie up as the manager of a bicycle shop, hoping to impress visiting American heiress Virginia van Stuyden (Dianne Foster). The surprise for everyone comes when Uncle Willie's little shop begins to prosper.

Cast

as Father *

as Mother *

as Uncle Willie *

Peter Asher Peter Asher (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and re ...

as Charles * Eleanor Summerfield as Aunt Kate * Dianne Foster as Virginia van Stuyden * Robert Urquhart as Frank *

Russell Waters Russell Waters (10 June 1908 – 19 August 1982) was a British film actor. Waters was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow and the University of Glasgow. He began acting with the Old English Comedy and Shakespeare Company then app ...

as Green * Cecil Trouncer as Dr. Barsmith *

Philip Stainton Philip Stainton (9 April 1908 – 1 August 1961) was an English actor. Stainton appeared in several Ealing comedies and major international movies. He specialized in playing friendly or exasperated uniformed policemen, but also appeared in ot ...

as Dr. Mason *

Edwin Styles Edwin Styles (13 January 1899 – 20 December 1960) was a British stage comedian, pantomime actor, radio and TV performer and film actor. Partial filmography * ''Hell Below'' (1933) - Herbert Standish - Flight Comdr. * '' On the Air'' (1934) - E ...

as Bamboula * Arthur Young as Sir George Probus * Fabia Drake as Lady Probus * Alec Finter as Uncle Richard * Cicely Paget-Bowman as Aunt Theo * Basil Cunard as Uncle Henry * Viola Lyel as Aunt Jane * John Welsh as Uncle James * Margot Lister as Aunt Betsy * Henry Hewitt as Cousin Arthur * George Woodbridge as Cockie * Wensley Pithey as Sam

Critical reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' called it "A pleasant little charmer"; while

Sky Cinema Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...

wrote, "Director Harold French skilfully milks its situations for all they are worth...No big stars in this film, which makes it an unexpected treat. Based on an equally entertaining novel '' Uncle Willie and the Bicycle Shop''. Donald Wolfit stars as the alcoholic Uncle Willie, Cecil Parker suffers splendidly as Father."

References

External links

''Isn't Life Wonderful!''
at BFI * 1953 films Films directed by Harold French Films set in England Films based on British novels Films set in 1902 British historical comedy films 1950s historical comedy films 1953 comedy films Films shot at Associated British Studios 1950s English-language films 1950s British films Films scored by Philip Green English-language historical comedy films {{1950s-UK-comedy-film-stub