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| name = Love on the Dole
| name = Love on the Dole
| image = Love on the Dole.jpeg
| image = Love on the Dole.jpeg

| image_size =
| caption = DVD cover
| caption = DVD cover
| director = [[John Baxter (director)|John Baxter]]
| director = [[John Baxter (director)|John Baxter]]
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| language = English
| language = English
}}
}}
'''''Love on the Dole''''' is a 1941 British [[drama film]] starring [[Deborah Kerr]] and [[Clifford Evans (actor)|Clifford Evans]]. It was adapted from the [[Love on the Dole|novel of the same name]] by [[Walter Greenwood]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b73c6c6f9|title=British Film Institute: Love on the Dole (1941)|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]}}</ref> It was the first English-made feature film to show English police wielding batons against a crowd.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hard Men: The English and Violence since 1750|last=Emsley|first=Clive|publisher=Hambledon|year=2005|isbn=1852855029|location=London|pages=141}}</ref>
'''''Love on the Dole''''' is a 1941 British [[drama film]] starring [[Deborah Kerr]] and [[Clifford Evans (actor)|Clifford Evans]]. It was adapted from the [[Love on the Dole|novel of the same name]] by [[Walter Greenwood]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b73c6c6f9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804060142/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b73c6c6f9|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 August 2017|title=British Film Institute: Love on the Dole (1941)|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]}}</ref> It was the first English-made feature film to show English police wielding batons against a crowd.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hard Men: The English and Violence since 1750|last=Emsley|first=Clive|publisher=Hambledon|year=2005|isbn=1852855029|location=London|pages=141}}</ref>


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
The film is set in Hanky Park, part of [[City of Salford|Salford]], in 1930 at the height of the [[Great Depression]].
It is 1930, at the height of the [[Great Depression]]. The Hardcastle family live in Hankey Park, part of [[City of Salford|Salford]]. Mr Hardcastle is a coalminer; his son, Harry, is an apprentice at a local engineering firm and Sally, his daughter, works at a cotton mill.


Mr Hardcastle's mine is put on a three-day week.
The film centres on the Hardcastle family. Mr Hardcastle is a miner; his son, Harry, is an apprentice at a local engineering firm and Sally, his daughter, works at a cotton mill.


Harry wins £22 on his winning thruppence [[Glossary of bets offered by UK bookmakers#Treble|treble]] bet. [[Bookmaker]] Sam Grundy pays up without any trouble. At his father's suggestion, he takes his girlfriend Helen to the seaside resort of [[Blackpool]] on a holiday.
As the depression takes hold, Mr Hardcastle's mine is put on a three-day week and Harry becomes unemployed when his apprenticeship ends.


The family’s plight is made worse by reductions in [[Means-tested benefit|means tested]] [[Unemployment benefits#United_Kingdom| unemployment benefits]] (the dole), whilst the unexpected pregnancy of Harry’s girlfriend, Helen, causes further tensions.
Harry becomes unemployed when his apprenticeship ends. The family’s plight is made worse by reductions in [[Means-tested benefit|means tested]] [[Unemployment benefits#United Kingdom|unemployment benefits]] (the dole), whilst Helen's unexpected pregnancy causes further tensions.


Sally is courting factory worker and [[Labour Party (UK)| Labour Party]] activist Larry Meath, but their marriage plans are put in doubt when Larry loses his job. Larry is fatally injured when he tries to restore calm in a clash with the police during an unemployment march. Sally, reluctantly at first, becomes the mistress of a wealthy local [[bookmaker]] to help keep her unemployed family.
Sally is courted by factory worker and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] activist Larry Meath but their marriage plans are put in doubt when Larry loses his job. Larry is fatally injured when he tries to restore calm in a clash with the police during an unemployment march. Sally reluctantly becomes Grundy's mistress to help keep her unemployed family.


==Cast==
==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=28em}}
{{div col|colwidth=28em}}
* [[Deborah Kerr]] as Sally
* [[Deborah Kerr]] as Sally Hardcastle
* [[Clifford Evans (actor)|Clifford Evans]] as Larry
* [[Clifford Evans (actor)|Clifford Evans]] as Larry Meath
* [[George Carney]] as Mr. Hardcastle
* [[George Carney]] as Mr. Hardcastle
* [[Mary Merrall]] as Mrs. Hardcastle
* [[Mary Merrall]] as Mrs. Hardcastle
* [[Geoffrey Hibbert]] as Harry
* [[Geoffrey Hibbert]] as Harry Hardcastle
* [[Joyce Howard]] as Helen
* [[Joyce Howard]] as Helen Hawkins
* [[Frank Cellier (actor)|Frank Cellier]] as Sam Grundy
* [[Frank Cellier (actor)|Frank Cellier]] as Sam Grundy
* [[Martin Walker (actor)|Martin Walker]] as Ned Narkey
* [[Martin Walker (actor)|Martin Walker]] as Ned Narkey
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* [[Marie Ault]] as Mrs. Jike
* [[Marie Ault]] as Mrs. Jike
* [[Marjorie Rhodes]] as Mrs. Bull
* [[Marjorie Rhodes]] as Mrs. Bull
* Terry Conlin as Ted Munter (uncredited)
* Jordan Lawrence as Sam Hardie (uncredited)
* [[Muriel George]] as Landlady (uncredited)
* [[Ben Williams (actor)|Ben Williams]] as Factory Worker (uncredited)
* [[Ben Williams (actor)|Ben Williams]] as Factory Worker (uncredited)
* [[Kenneth Griffith]] as Harry's Pal in Billiard Hall (uncredited)
* [[Kenneth Griffith]] as Harry's Pal in Billiard Hall (uncredited)
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==Critical reception==
==Critical reception==
Although the book was successful, a proposed film version was rejected by the [[British Board of Film Censors]] (BBFC) in 1936 as it was a ''"very sordid story in very sordid surroundings"''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Divided Kingdom: A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present|last=Thane|first=Pat|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2018|isbn=9781107040915|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|pages=124}}</ref> However, in 1940 the BBFC approved a similar proposal, with the film finally released in June 1941.<ref>{{Screenonline title|485682}}</ref>
Although the book was successful, a proposed film version was rejected by the [[British Board of Film Censors]] (BBFC) in 1936 as it was a "very sordid story in very sordid surroundings".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Divided Kingdom: A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present|last=Thane|first=Pat|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2018|isbn=9781107040915|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|pages=124}}</ref> However, in 1940 the BBFC approved a similar proposal, with the film finally released in June 1941.<ref>{{Screenonline title|485682}}</ref>


In a contemporary review, ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote, "Here is a film that ranks with the best we have ever produced. The direction is excellent, the photography admirable, and the casting particularly good."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/mfb/997401/index.html|title=Monthly Film Bulletin review|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>
In a contemporary review, ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote, "Here is a film that ranks with the best we have ever produced. The direction is excellent, the photography admirable, and the casting particularly good."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/mfb/997401/index.html|title=Monthly Film Bulletin review|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>
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{{John Baxter}}
{{John Baxter}}


⚫
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:1941 films]]
[[Category:1941 films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
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[[Category:Films shot at British National Studios]]
[[Category:Films shot at British National Studios]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
⚫
[[Category:1940s British films]]
[[Category:Films about poverty in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Films about social realism]]
[[Category:Welfare in England]]
[[Category:Works about social class]]
[[Category:Social realism]]

Latest revision as of 12:26, 25 October 2024

Love on the Dole
DVD cover
Directed byJohn Baxter
Written byWalter Greenwood (novel and adaptation)
Ronald Gow (play)
Barbara K. Emary
Rollo Gamble
Produced byJohn Baxter
StarringDeborah Kerr
Clifford Evans
CinematographyJames Wilson
Edited byMichael C. Chorlton
Music byRichard Addinsell
Orchestrated, Roy Douglas
Direction, Muir Mathieson
Production
company
Distributed byAnglo-American Film Corporation (UK)
United Artists (USA)
Release dates
  • 28 June 1941 (1941-06-28) (UK)
  • 12 October 1945 (1945-10-12) (US)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Love on the Dole is a 1941 British drama film starring Deborah Kerr and Clifford Evans. It was adapted from the novel of the same name by Walter Greenwood.[1] It was the first English-made feature film to show English police wielding batons against a crowd.[2]

Plot

[edit]

It is 1930, at the height of the Great Depression. The Hardcastle family live in Hankey Park, part of Salford. Mr Hardcastle is a coalminer; his son, Harry, is an apprentice at a local engineering firm and Sally, his daughter, works at a cotton mill.

Mr Hardcastle's mine is put on a three-day week.

Harry wins £22 on his winning thruppence treble bet. Bookmaker Sam Grundy pays up without any trouble. At his father's suggestion, he takes his girlfriend Helen to the seaside resort of Blackpool on a holiday.

Harry becomes unemployed when his apprenticeship ends. The family’s plight is made worse by reductions in means tested unemployment benefits (the dole), whilst Helen's unexpected pregnancy causes further tensions.

Sally is courted by factory worker and Labour Party activist Larry Meath but their marriage plans are put in doubt when Larry loses his job. Larry is fatally injured when he tries to restore calm in a clash with the police during an unemployment march. Sally reluctantly becomes Grundy's mistress to help keep her unemployed family.

Cast

[edit]

Critical reception

[edit]

Although the book was successful, a proposed film version was rejected by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) in 1936 as it was a "very sordid story in very sordid surroundings".[3] However, in 1940 the BBFC approved a similar proposal, with the film finally released in June 1941.[4]

In a contemporary review, The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "Here is a film that ranks with the best we have ever produced. The direction is excellent, the photography admirable, and the casting particularly good."[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "British Film Institute: Love on the Dole (1941)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017.
  2. ^ Emsley, Clive (2005). Hard Men: The English and Violence since 1750. London: Hambledon. p. 141. ISBN 1852855029.
  3. ^ Thane, Pat (2018). Divided Kingdom: A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 124. ISBN 9781107040915.
  4. ^ Love on the Dole at the BFI's Screenonline
  5. ^ "Monthly Film Bulletin review". www.screenonline.org.uk.
[edit]
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