Bond Street (film)

Bond Street is a 1948 British portmanteau drama film directed by Gordon Parry and based on a story by Terence Rattigan. It stars Jean Kent, Roland Young, Kathleen Harrison, and Derek Farr.[3] The film depicts a bride's dress, veil, pearls and flowers purchased in London's Bond Street—and the secret story behind each item.[4]

Bond Street
Directed byGordon Parry
Written by
Produced byAnatole de Grunwald
StarringJean Kent
CinematographyOtto Heller
Bryan Langley
Edited byGerald Turney-Smith
Music byBenjamin Frankel
Production
companies
De Grunwald Productions for
Associated British Picture Corporation
Distributed byAssociated British-Pathé (UK)
Release dates
  • 25 May 1948 (1948-05-25) (London, UK)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£163,629[1]
Box office£155,312 (UK)[2]

Plot

There is no overarching story, other than a series of short stories, each linking to Bond street.

Stories include: a deliberately ripped dress; a man ripping his trousers, and getting a lunch-date with the seamstress; and a man trying to avoid a suddenly materialised love interest from Denmark.

Cast

Critical reception
  • 'Britmovie' called the film an "entertaining portmanteau comedy-drama charting the events occurring during a typical 24-hour period on London’s thoroughfare Bond Street. Linking the four stories together is the impending wedding of society girl Hazel Court and Robert Flemyng. Producer Anatole de Grunwald and co-writer Terence Rattigan would later revisit the formula for Anthony Asquith’s The V.I.P.s (1963) and The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964)."[5]
  • The New York Times called the film "an entertainment grab bag, which, in this case, means that some of the parts are better than the whole...But this spectator's favorite Bond Street interlude is the final chapter, concerning a bouquet and an old flame who turns up at an inopportune time to claim the groom as her own. Roland Young is vastly amusing as the droll father of the prospective bride...Bond Street is fresh enough to have a certain amount of novelty appeal which helps to compensate for the inconsistencies of its dramatic construction. It may not be in a class with Quartet, a handy point of reference, but the new film can stand on its own merits with any audience that is willing to accept half a loaf."[6]

Trade papers called the film a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1948.[7] As of 1 April 1950 the film earned distributor's gross receipts of £104,588 in the UK of which £59,611 went to the producer.[1]


References
  1. Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 355.
  2. Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p487
  3. "Bond Street". IMDb.
  4. "BFI | Film & TV Database | BOND STREET (1948)". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  5. "Bond Street 1948 | Britmovie | Home of British Films". Britmovie. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  6. Crowther, Bosley (30 March 1950). "Movie Review - Bond Street - THE SCREEN: TWO FILMS HAVE LOCAL PREMIERES; Alan Ladd and Wanda Hendrix in 'Captain Carey, U.S.A.,' New Bill at Paramount 'Bond Street,' British Picture, Opens at the Normandie- Roland Young in Cast At the Normandie". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  7. Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 2003 p211
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