Dry Rot
Brian Rix and Ronald Shiner
Directed byMaurice Elvey
Written byJohn Chapman (as John Roy Chapman)(from his play)
Produced byJack Clayton
StarringRonald Shiner
Brian Rix
Peggy Mount
Sid James
CinematographyArthur Grant
Edited byGerry Hambling
Music byPeter Akister
Lambert Williamson
Production
company
Distributed byIndependent Film Distributors
Release date
  • 31 October 1956 (1956-10-31)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Dry Rot is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey, and starring Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Peggy Mount, and Sid James.[1]

The story is an adaptation of a 1954 Whitehall farce by John Chapman, who also wrote the screenplay, in which the sketchy story plays second fiddle to the quick-paced action and unlikely situations.[2] The plot concerns the practice of gambling, which was illegal in the United Kingdom at the time, other than at racecourses.

Plot

Three dodgy bookies, Alf Tubbe, Flash Harry, and Fred Phipps plan to rig a horse race by kidnapping the fancied horse and its French jockey. They stay at a country house hotel near the racecourse, run by Colonel and Mrs Wagstaff, where they conceal the horse Sweet Lavender (and later the jockey) in a hidden cellar.

They substitute Fred for the real jockey, expecting him to lose, but this plan backfires when he wins.

A subplot sees the dimwitted Fred fall in love with the hotel chambermaid Beth.

A final chase scene has the main characters on a fire engine being pursued by the police.

The title Dry Rot refers to the rotten wood on the hotel stairs, which regularly catches every character unawares.

Cast

Locations

The horse-racing sequences were filmed at Kempton Park Racecourse, Sunbury-on-Thames.[3]

Critical reception

In a contemporary review Kine Weekly said "Boisterous farcical comedy. ... The jokes contain plenty of corn, but the co-stars flog them hard and finally prove that unvarnished knockabout is no mean substitute for wit. Its riotous fire engine chase climax alone warrants the price of admission. Very good British rib-tickler."[4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Amazingly bungled version of runaway stage farce; very slow."[5]

The Radio Times wrote, "This tale of crooked bookies plods along more slowly than a doped horse, but there is the compensation of the polished performances of expert farceurs Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, and Sid James."[6]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Flat filming of a long-running theatrical farce."[7]

Sky Movies wrote, "Heather Sears makes her screen debut, Joan Sims giggles infectiously, and the charms of Shirley Ann Field can be very briefly glimpsed as a waitress at the Three Frogs Cafe. But Peggy Mount sweeps all else before her in a relatively short, but devastating, appearance as the indomitable Sergeant Fire."[8]

References

  1. ↑ ""Dry Rot"". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Production of Dry Rot | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  3. ↑ "Reelstreets | Dry Rot". www.reelstreets.com.
  4. ↑ ""Dry Rot"". Kine Weekly. 474 (2567): 16. 25 October 1956 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 304. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
  6. ↑ "Dry Rot | Film review and movie reviews". Radio Times. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 299. ISBN 0586088946.
  8. ↑ "Dry Rot - Sky Movies HD". Skymovies.sky.com. 23 May 2002. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
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