Bank Holiday (also known as Three on a Weekend) is a 1938 British drama film directed by Carol Reed and starring John Lodge, Margaret Lockwood, Hugh Williams and Kathleen Harrison. The film was popular and helped establish Carol Reed's reputation.
Contents
Plot
On a 1930s bank holiday weekend, a number of people rush for trains to head to the seaside. They include: an unmarried couple, nurse Catherine Lawrence and her boyfriend Geoffrey. Catherine is distracted by thoughts of Stephen Howard, widower of a patient who died in childbirth; May and Arthur and their working-class family; two female friends, Doreen and Milly, looking for romance and Doreen to win a beauty contest.
Cast
John Lodge as Stephen Howard
Margaret Lockwood as Catherine Lawrence
Hugh Williams as Geoffrey
Rene Ray as Doreen Richards
Merle Tottenham as Milly
Linden Travers as Ann Howard
Wally Patch as Arthur
Kathleen Harrison as May
Garry Marsh as 'Follies' manager
Jeanne Stuart as Miss Mayfair
Wilfrid Lawson as Police sergeant
Felix Aylmer as surgeon
Leonard Sharp as Jack, the petrol pump attendant
Michael Rennie as Welsh Guardsman (uncredited)
Production
It was the third collaboration between Reed and Lockwood. Actor Michael Rennie appeared (uncredited) as a Welsh Guardsman in the film.
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The comedy of the Cockney family, and of "Miss Balham" the would-be beauty queen and her confidante, is rather hackneyed also the playing of the cockney characters is inclined to be theatrical, except in the case of Wally Patch, who gives a delightfully naturalistic performance. The dramatic element is extremely well-served by John Lodge, who is really moving as the young husband, and by Margaret Lockwood. An unforgettable piece of character acting is provided by Wilfred Lawson as a police sergeant who has to interrogate Margaret Lockwood when the car in which she has begged a lift to London is stopped by the police. There are many minor improbabilities in the plot, and the use of strong tragedy as a kind of subplot is perhaps open to question; but the excellent acting and brilliant direction, coupled with the fact that the plot deals with the realities of English life, give it a vividness that makes it definitely a film to see."
The Sunday Express called it "'one of the ablest pieces of picture-making to come out of a British studio."
Lockwood was voted third best actress of 1938 by the readers of Film Weekly.