No Time for Tears (film)

No Time for Tears is a 1957 British drama film directed by Cyril Frankel in CinemaScope and Eastman Color and starring Anna Neagle, George Baker, Sylvia Syms and Anthony Quayle.[1] The staff at a children's hospital struggle with their workload.[2]

No Time for Tears
British theatrical poster
Directed byCyril Frankel
Written byAnne Burnaby
Frederic Gotfurt
Based onan original story by Anne Burnaby
Produced byW.A. Whittaker
StarringAnna Neagle
George Baker
Sylvia Syms
Anthony Quayle
CinematographyGilbert Taylor
Edited byGordon Pilkington
Music byFrancis Chagrin
Production
company
Distributed byAssociated British-Pathé (UK)
Release dates
  • 8 August 1957 (1957-08-08) (London, England)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The interwoven dramas of staff and patients in Mayfield Children's Hospital, where the doctors and nurses are in the business of restoring children's lives. One small child risks losing his sight, while twin boys fool the doctors over which one has appendicitis. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, new nurse Margaret Collier (Sylvia Syms) suffers pangs of unrequited love for houseman Dr. Nigel Barnes (George Baker).

Cast

Production

Herbert Wilcox tried to get the rights to the story but they were obtained by Associated British. That company offered a lead role to Wilcox's wife Anna Neagle. It was the first film she appeared in that was not directed by wilcox for twenty years.[3]

Box office

According to Kinematograph Weekly the film was "in the money" at the British box office in 1957.[4]

Critical reception

The Observer called it "sentimental but not often silly... it's overall tone is kind, the atmosphere cheerful."[5] The Evening Sentinel said "there's just about every clinical cliche on the chart."[6] Variety called it "a routine comedy-weepie".[7]

Sky Movies gave the film two out of five stars, and wrote, "this is standard medical soap fare and could be mistaken for a bumper edition of Casualty":[8] while TV Guide rated the film three out of four stars, and wrote, "Though the situations are clearly out of the movie medical bag, the ensemble manages to rise above clichés and stereotypes. Neagle carries the film as the head nurse, with good support from Syms as the new nurse on her staff".[9]

Filmink said it "needed less subplots and more soap, but it’s not bad and Syms’ character sings and dances in this random dance number at the end."[10]

References
  1. BFI.org
  2. "No Time for Tears (1957) - Cyril Frankel - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
  3. "Anna Neagle to Make Picture Sans Herbert Wilcox". Variety. 12 December 1956. p. 12.
  4. Billings, Josh (12 December 1957). "Others in the money". Kinematograph Weekly. p. 7.
  5. Lejeune, C.A. (11 August 1957). "Curing and Killing". The Observer. p. 11.
  6. "90 minute 'weepie' with every cliche". Evening Sentinel. 14 August 1957. p. 6.
  7. "No Time for Tears". Variety. 14 August 1957. p. 6.
  8. "No Time for Tears".
  9. "No Time For Tears".
  10. Vagg, Stephen (22 February 2023). "The Surprisingly Saucy Cinema of Sylvia Syms". Filmink. Retrieved 23 February 2023.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.