The 1957 British film musical version of THE GOOD COMPANIONS (Directed by J. Lee Thompson for Associated British) creates a world far removed from the present in which a different, cosier set of values reigns, which isseductively attractive to those of a certain age. In the opening scene of the film the world of the theatre concert party is compared by a heartless theatre manager with the emerging culture of 'rock n' roll, striptease and television', and indeed the form of the film itself, in its use of widescreen, colour and enchanced sound (it is likely that at the film's premiere engagement at the Warner cinema in London's Leicester Square, the film had enchanced sound, as ABPC Elstree was experimenting with 'perspecta' (pseudo stereo) sound at this time), it directly takes on the new domestic competition of television, which was beginning to take hold of the British viewing public by 1957. In this old world is philanthropic spinster Miss Trant (Celia Johnson), living comfortably in middle age, and very much Laura Jesson from BRIEF ENCOUNTER, if she had not married Fred in that classic film. Her encounter with the struggling concert party, the 'Dinky Doos', and the world of the touring theatre as depicted by J.B. Priestley is well known to English audiences, and was much appreciated by the lyricist Johnny Mercer, who, with composer Andre Previn, worked on a stage musical of the story which played in London at Her Majesty's in 1974. THE GOOD COMPANIONS was previously filmed by Gaumont in 1932 with Jessie Matthews and John Gielgud. Apparently, a remake was planned in 1953 with ABPC contract stars husband and wife team Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray, together with a young and little known actress/dancer named Audrey Hepburn to be cast as Susie Dean. Then Hollywood became interested in Audrey, and Paramount brought her out of her contract with ABPC so she could star in ROMAN HOLIDAY, and the rest, as we know is history. ABPC then shelved the project, and released the others from their contracts. Three years later, they decided to revive the project, brought in new writers to polish the script, and decided to turn it into a CinemaScope musical, with newly commissioned songs from Paddy Roberts and others. They brought in a new cast, mainly composed of young contract talent, which is how Janette Scott, John Fraser and Rachel Roberts became involved.
The 1957 version of THE GOOD COMPANIONS had been out of circulation for many years - it was last shown on British television in the monochrome days of 1964. One had assumed that the colours had faded and that the film was beyond repair. What a joy therefore to see the new print which was first broadcast on Channel Four(UK) in 1997. In the restored print the CinemaScope image is simply wonderful with all colours looking bright and sharp, and TGC is now revealed as one of the most attractive and elegant British films of its decade. The lighting of interiors is exceptional - rooms and decor are beautifully depicted: Jess Oakroyd's living room, public houses, a private dining room at the back of a seedy cafe which takes on a warmth all of its own because of the theatricals seated round the table, theatre interiors, and there is a scene in a lavish hotel dining room with Joyce Grenfell (Lady Parlitt) in which the surroundings are rich in detail. Special praise should go to the director of photography (Gilbert Taylor).
As the setting of the story is updated from 1929 (when touring shows were highly popular) to the 1950's, when they were in decline, the musical style is also updated, and the songs are all catchy in the style of ballads/revue/variety c1956/7. This perhaps explains why the film was not a big commercial hit in 1957, in spite of an Easter release date- it had the misfortune to open just as rock and roll was taking off as the music for the young, and even to the teenagers of 1957 (the target audience defined in the film's press book), it must have seemed terribly old fashioned, looking to the past rather the present. It also had the misfortune to be released in the UK (it was never released theatrically in the USA- not the kind of film Allied Artists, the distributor of Associated British films in the USA was interested in- it had no 'exploitation' angle) in the same month as the Fred Astaire/ Audrey Hepburn FUNNY FACE, one of the all time classics of the musical genre, and critics were tempted to make comparisons with the British musical effort. In hindsight however, this is unfair to THE GOOD COMPANIONS, and with the passing of time the qualities of the film are more evident. For TGC is priceless as a 1950's British film musical which owes nothing to operetta or rock and roll - in its recording and celebration of fifties variety it is unique, bearing in mind that all television variety at the time went out live. In the UK little was filmed and videotape was still several years away. The decline of this form of entertainment is disguised by the triumphant finale, although earlier passing reference is made to the 'three graces' appearing 'stripped to the buff', as in the 1950's touring nude revues. Interestingly, at the same time as THE GOOD COMPANIONS was released, 1957, John Osborne's Play THE ENTERTAINER, with Laurence Olivier as Archie Rice, was premiered at London's Royal Court Theatre (and later filmed in 1960), and it provides a fascinating counterpoint to the essential optimism of TGC. What a fascinating double bill these two films would make! (An interesting foonote: the main location of the film of THE ENTERTAINER is the Lancashire seaside town of Morecambe, where Janette Scott spent her early years. Her grandfather was manager of the theatre used in THE ENTERTAINER, and this was the theatre where her mother, the actress Thora Hird (who incidentally appears in both films) made her stage debut).
THE GOOD COMPANIONS, although greatly condensed, remains faithful to the essential spirit of Priestley's novel in its celebration of showbusiness and the theatrical life, and in particular, the metaphor of the touring theatre as an escape for the middle aged male from a society that is domesticated, drab and puritanical, epitomised in those apron wearing, dour wives (played by Thora Hird and Beatrice Varley in TGC) who appear at the stage door and attempt to drag their 'erring' husbands away from the chorus girls, and back to a 'reality'. Then there is the sense of community amongst the performers, and of communal travel by steam hauled trains through the length of Great Britain from Wales to Yorkshire, to Bournemouth and on to London. This romantic vision is captured in a beautifully realised montage sequence which commences with a distant shot of a train crossing a viaduct, goes to the train (which looks like a toy train, but isn't) chugging through a verdant green mountain valley, which fades into a travelling shot of the view from a carriage window of a harsh industrial landscape, a steel works, which then cuts directly to the nets of a theatre stage and the performance of a ballad 'If Only' by Susie Dean (Janette Scott). The sequence is linked by the title song on the soundtrack, and the whole effect is strangely moving, perhaps something to do with the power of the entertainer to transform our perception of the world around us, and brighten our lives.
Practically all the minor roles in THE GOOD COMPANIONS are played by performers who subsequently became much more famous, so the film is full of incidental pleasures. Because so many of these artists were also appearing in West End shows in the 1950's, the film provides us with an invaluable snapshot of certain performers at a specific stage of their careers. Some were just beginning and had appeared in West End productions of the period: others were vetrans whose career in musical comedy goes back to the 1930's and earlier. In the latter category was Bobby Howes, who appeared in numerous shows from 1923 onwards, the most well known being Mr.Cinders(1929). In the 1950's he appeared in Paint Your Wagon(Her Majesty's 1953) and in the NY revival of Finian's Rainbow with Jeannie Carson (46th St. Theatre 1960). Joyce Grenfell, a West End revue artist since 1939, appeared in the 1950's revue Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure of your Company (Fortune Theatre 1954 and for one month in NY in 1955). Paddy Stone and Irving Davies had both appeared in Annie Get Your Gun (London Coliseum 1947), in which the latter performed the duet 'Who do you Love, I hope?' with Wendy Toye: both Stone and Davies had also appeared in the aforementioned Joyce Grenfell revue in 1954, in which Irving Davies performed a duet with Joyce ('Ordinary Morning'). They also both appeared with Jeanie Carson in a song and dance number ('In Again/Out Again Heart') in the 1955 film AS LONG AS THEY'RE HAPPY (which was also directed by J. Lee Thompson, and featured Janette Scott). Regrettably THE GOOD COMPANIONS was Paddy Stone's only major featured film appearance. Apart from his brilliant solo chair number ('Where there's You'), he also choreographed all the numbers, with Irving Davies, and is responsible for much of the film's energy. Along with Davies, in the 1960's he became resident choreographer for Lord Lew Grade's Associated Television variety shows (featuring Millicent Martin, Librace, Englebert Humperdinck, Tom Jones and many others, and his most recent screen credit was as choreographer for the 1982 movie of VICTOR,VICTORIA. John Fraser was later to appear in Strike a Light (Piccadilly,London 1966) with Jeanie Carson and Evelyn Laye. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Lord Alfred Douglas to Peter Finch's Oscar Wilde in THE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE (US:THE MAN WITH THE GREEN CARNATION)(1960), and is an amiable romantic lead - there is a charming little scene where Inigo and Susie take a ride on the top deck of a tram in a Midlands town (actually filmed in London). John LeMesurier appeared in Twenty Minutes South ((Greenwell(m) /Browning(l)) at the Players Theatre in 1955. Anthony Newley had appeared in Cranks (Addison(m)/Cranko(l)) in London New Watergate Theatre 1955) and NY (1956). Rachel Roberts had appeared in the revue At the Lyric (Lyric, Hammersmith London 1953). As no recordings of this exist, her featured spot in THE GOOD COMPANIONS ('The Gentleman is a Heel' number) provides a good indication of the style she must have brought to revue. Soon after TGC she appeared in the musical Oh! My Papa! (Garrick, London 1957), and was later to appear in Lionel Bart's Maggie May (Adelphi 1964). So in TGC we can see the star of such classic British 'realist' films as SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING and THIS SPORTING LIFE as a song and dance lady! Incidentally, her co-star in the former film, Shirley Anne Field, appears briefly in TGC as the brunette of the 'three graces', and looks as pretty as a picture as a gold trilby hatted chorine. The distinguished actor Alec McCowen (who incidentally plays Professor Henry Higgins in the 1997 CD recording of the complete My Fair Lady score (TER records)), appears in an early scene as Albert, Jess Oakroyd's son. I will leave you to spot the rest of the familiar faces! Scenes are charmingly played by the two romantic leads, Janette Scott (Susie Dean) and the aforementioned John Fraser (Inigo Jolliphant), an archetypical 1950's 'nice couple',although Susie's calculating sense of ambition at moments threatens this spirit of niceness and prevents Susie from being too cloying.
TGC is not an integrated musical - the songs (with composition shared between Paddy Roberts(m/l), C. Alberto Rossi(m/l), and Geoffrey Parsons(l) do not further character or plot, and the lyrics are not related to the story, except in a most tenuous way. All musical numbers are performed either on the theatre stage or in rehearsal. Nevertheless, they are staged with a professionalism that is rare in a fifties British musical film. Although imitative of Hollywood models, staging and colour design show some flair - for example the finale ('Round the World'), in the use of orange and red in the casbah scene and cool blue for 'Flo's Ice Club'. The lavish orchestral arrangements were provided by Laurie Johnson, later to compose the music for many films and television shows (ie THE AVENGERS), as well as the music for Lock up your Daughters (Mermaid Theatre London. 1959). The large ABPC studio orchestra was conducted by distinguished vetran conductor LOUIS LEVY, whose film credits go back to the 1930's, and fondly remembered for his work with the Gaumont British Symphony Orchestra. Eighteen year old Janette Scott (placed under contract by Associated British as a child actress, and groomed for stardom as a teenager throughout the 1950's, and once, according to David Frost (in volume one of his autobiography) in the running for the lead in My Fair Lady on Broadway in 1956) does not receive top billing, but clearly emerges as the star of THE GOOD COMPANIONS, and remains a potent icon of a past age of innocent screen romance. She displays great spirit and loads of charm, especially in 'Today will be a Lovely Day' in which she appears with Paddy Stone and Irving Davies as her two partners in a very slick routine, which starts with a gamine Jan liltingly responding to her suitors' invitation 'Whatya doin' Tonight?' - her enthusiasm is also quite infectious in the skilfully staged finale, when accompanied by a large troupe of dancers, she is joyously swept across the Elstree soundstage on a luggage trolley, and lifted into flight to exotic climes across the CinemaScope screen. Her youthful joie de vivre led one English critic, Peter Baker of 'Films and Filming' to write (April 1957) that he sees in Janette Scott 'that vivacity and unaffected warmth which marked the young Judy Garland in THE WIZARD OF OZ, BABES IN ARMS and LITTLE NELLY KELLY'. Reviewing the premiere at the Warner Cinema in London's Leicester Square, Variety's correspondent writes more modestly that 'Miss Scott makes a refreshing and appealing showing as the concert party star with ambitions'. At the conclusion of the 'Round the World' number, the pampered, overweight cigar smoking critic, sitting in his private box with his blonde 'secretary' comments directly to camera (ie to the cinema audience ):'It is my job to extinguish lights, but tonight I've seen a little light that one day may become a star', and we, the spectator, are invited to collude with this. However, this was the last musical film made by Janette Scott, and ABPC's next musical project was THE YOUNG ONES(1960), a much bigger commercial success which incorporated rock and roll (amongst the more traditional musical numbers by Peter Myers and Ronnie Cass) in the form of Cliff Richard and the Shadows. The type of musical represented by TGC was no longer a box office attraction. Janette made many later films of course, including the classic SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS and several sci -fi films (such as THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS), but none of the later films have the spontaneous innocence of THE GOOD COMPANIONS, which is uniquely a film of its time. Janette Scott retired from feature films after her marriage (1966 to 1977) to Mel Torme.
I would also single out for praise Eric Portman, who is perfect in the role of Jess Oakroyd, and brings richness and depth to the role. There is a wonderful moment at the end of TGC, when after Susie Dean's triumph, he nods leans forward and glances towards Miss Trant, who is sitting in the same row of the theatre stalls, and almost telepathically communicates with her to share Susie's moment of triumph with a thumbs up sign followed by the removal of a handkerchief from his top pocket in order to dry his eyes. THE GOOD COMPANIONS has several moments like this (those looks that Jess Oakroyd (in the wings operating some piece of equipment) gives to Susie as she is performing, speak volumes. TGC is strong in rich character acting in a very English tradition (even a theatre manager has an individuality about him, even though he appears only briefly with one line of dialogue). It is also to the credit of the direction and the writing, that with such a large cast the characters are so clearly defined and the narrative remains focused. It is these qualities, together with the film's excellent production values and the charm of the performances make the film such good entertainment.
Back in April 1957, I saw THE GOOD COMPANIONS as an Easter treat at my local ABC cinema when it was first released. I was nine at the time and the film made a deep impression on me. Seeing it again for only the second time forty years later in 1997, I was amazed to find how much I could remember from the first viewing. A film must have something rather special to remain in one's memory so clearly for so long. I cannot think of any other British film of the 1950's that evokes so vividly a sense of time and place - of steam trains, rides on trolleybuses, tea rooms, provincial theatres and touring variety - it is all there in colour and CinemaScope, and thankfully, has been preserved.
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