The Cure for Love

The Cure for Love
Directed byRobert Donat
Written byWalter Greenwood (play)
Albert Fennell
Alexander Shaw
Robert Donat
Produced byRobert Donat
StarringRobert Donat
Renee Asherson
Dora Bryan
CinematographyJack E. Cox
Edited byBert Bates
Music byWilliam Alwyn
Production
company
Distributed byBritish Lion Films
Release dates
  • 29 December 1949 (1949-12-29) (London premiere)
  • 6 February 1950 (1950-02-06) (UK general release)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office£193,781 (UK)[1]

The Cure for Love is a 1949 British comedy film directed and produced by Robert Donat and starring Donat, Renée Asherson and Dora Bryan.[2] It was written by Albert Fennell, Alexander Shae and Donat, based on the 1945 hit play of the same name by Walter Greenwood about a mild-mannered soldier returning home after the Second World War.

Plot

During World War 2, Sergeant Jack Hardacre returns to his Lancashire home on leave from service in the Middle East. Although he believes he is engaged to Jenny Jenkins, he falls in love with his mother's billeted lodger, Milly Southern, a factory girl from London. Jack comes to realise he never actually proposed marriage to Jenny who manipulated him into believing they were engaged, so he breaks up with her and marries Milly. Meanwhile, local publican Henry Lancaster romances Jack's plain-speaking mother.

Cast

Production

Donat had appeared in the stage play in 1945.[3] In 1948 it was announced he would make a film version for Alexander Korda.[4] It was his sole feature credit as director, although he had directed on stage.

Francis Wignall was chosen out of 3,000 boys to play a lead role.[5] Donat battled ill health during pre-production.[6] The film was shot at Shepperton Studios, with sets designed by the art director Wilfred Shingleton.

Reception

Box office

Trade papers called the film a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1950.[7]

Critical

Kine Weekly wrote: "Wartime romantic comedy, spoken with a broad Lancashire brogue. Based on Walter Greenwood's play about a sergeant who is all but ensnared by a trollop, it contains a few obvious laughs, but is seldom witty and never illuminating. Robert Donat is producer, director, star and part author, but the prodigious one man band fails to conceal the film's stage heritage ... The picture, rather like an old-time music hall sketch in its characterisation and make-up, suffers from indifferent, or rather inexperienced, direction. Robert Donat has about as much as he can manage as leading player and his preoccupation cramps the film's growth. Stunted development emphasises the staginess of its types and the transparency of its humour. Without going highbrow, it should have made much more of its rich and storied locale. Even slapstick needs firm and colourful background."[8]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Antediluvian regional farce."[9]

Variety wrote: "Walter Greenwood's romantic romp in Lancashire comes to the screen as an all-Robert Donat production. He is star, director, producer and also collaborator on the script. While The Cure for Love will undoubtedy prove to be a big money winner at home, it seems a pity that the talent invested in it should have been wasted on a production that won't do for the transatlantic market, mainly because of the particularly pronounced Lancashire dialect which American audiences won't get. ... In the early stages, the story is told crisply with some good robust humor. This pace, however, isn't sustained, mainly owing to loose direction and indecisive editing. In consequence tlhe second half tends to drag, thus defeating much of the comedy situations. Donat makes a brave attempt, and being of Lancashire origin, has little difficulty with the dialect. His is a sound and vigorous study of the sergeant, which is best matched by an honest portrayal from Marjorie Rhodes as his seemingly hard, but understanding mother. Renee Asherson displays full measure of charm as the girl to whom he is finally hitched and Dora Bryan plays the little schemer in a hard, monotonous key."[10]

Picturegoer wrote: "The story is unfolded with disarming simplicity, and is always understated, never overdone. It has homeliness, charm and human feeling."[11]

References

  1. ^ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p489
  2. ^ "The Cure for Love". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  3. ^ "Gordon Gilmour's LONDON DIARY". The Sun. No. 11, 072. Sydney. 17 July 1945. p. 6 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 27 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "LATEST FILM NEWS FROM ABROAD". The Sun. No. 11, 912. Sydney. 1 April 1948. p. 17 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 27 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "STARRY WAY". The Courier-Mail. No. 3889. Brisbane. 14 May 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 27 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Hardest-workes man in British films is Donat". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 17, no. 17. 1 October 1949. p. 44. Retrieved 27 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ Murphy, Robert (2 September 2003). Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-90150-0.
  8. ^ "The Cure for Love". Kinematograph Weekly. 395 (2227): 22. 5 January 1950. ProQuest 2732601618.
  9. ^ "The Cure for Love". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 17 (193): 8. 1 January 1950. ProQuest 1305812673.
  10. ^ "The Cure for Love". Variety. 177 (5): 16. 11 January 1950. ProQuest 1285936936.
  11. ^ "The Cure for Love". Picturegoer. 19: 14. 9 January 1950. ProQuest 1705070559.
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