Miss Tulip Stays the Night

Miss Tulip Stays the Night is a 1955 British comedy crime film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring Diana Dors, Patrick Holt, Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge.[2] The screenplay concerns a crime writer and his wife who stay at a country house, where a mysterious corpse appears.

Miss Tulip Stays the Night
Directed byLeslie Arliss
Produced byJohn O. Douglas
Bill Luckwell
associate
Derek Winn
Written byJohn O. Douglas
uncredited
Jack Hulbert
Bill Luckwell
Based onplay by Nan Marriott-Watson
StarringDiana Dors
Patrick Holt
Jack Hulbert
Cicely Courtneidge
CinematographyKenneth Talbot
Edited bySam Simmonds
Production
company
Distributed byAdelphi Films Ltd. (UK)
Release date
July 1955 (UK)
Running time
68 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£40,000[1]

It was also known as Dead by Morning. It was the last major feature film from director Leslie Arliss.[3]

Plot

A novelist (Patrick Holt) and his wife (Diana Dors) are sleeping peacefully in their new cottage when a mysterious older lady (Cicely Courtneidge) arrives, apparently stranded in a storm. She hands the writer her gun and some jewellery for safe-keeping, and asks for a bed for the night. Unfortunately, someone shoots her during the night and the author is accused of the crime. He is forced to turn detective to defend himself.

Cast

Production

The script was based on radio play by Nan Marriott-Watson. This had been performed on Australian radio in 1948.[4][5]

Ron Randell was reportedly offered the lead.[6]

Hulbert and Courtnidge's casting was announced in August 1954.[7] It was the first time they had made a film together since 1939. It was the first film made by a company formed by ex-publicity officer William Luckwell and D Winn. Producer John Douglas did sound on early Hulbert films and director Leslie Arliss had written scripts for Courtidge and Hulbert. It was shot at the studio at Walton on Thames.[1] Filming took place in July 1954. Dors' fee was £1,500.[8][9]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin called it "a remarkably poor piece of craftsmanship in almost every sense."[10]

The Manchester Guardian said "the stupendous silliness of its plot and dialogue gives a certain wild period charm" to the movie.[11]

TV Guide called the film "badly done on all counts";[12] whereas The Digital Fix wrote, "Miss Tulip manages to combine comedy and murder with efficient ease".[13]

Filmink argued the film should have focused on Dors rather than Holt.[14]

References
  1. Hulberts in a light case of murder Author: Cecil Wilson Date: Wednesday, July 28, 1954 Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) p 3
  2. "Miss Tulip Stays the Night". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
  3. British Adventure Film Director Leslie Arliss Dies at Age 86: [FINAL Edition] The Washington Post 3 Jan 1988: d13.
  4. "The Week in Wireless". The Age (29057). Victoria, Australia. 12 June 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 10 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Comedy Thriller Over 2GB". ABC Weekly. Vol. 10. 8 May 1948. p. 22.
  6. "Australian Ron Randell's new movie offers". The Australian Women's Weekly. 22 (5). Australia. 30 June 1954. p. 26. Retrieved 10 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "London". Variety. 4 August 1954. p. 62.
  8. Diana Dors is sued . . . then sues back Author: By Daily Mail Reporter Date: Tuesday, Jan. 15, 1957 Publication: Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 18892 page 5
  9. Dors, Diana (1960). Swingin' Dors. World Distributors. p. 110.
  10. MISS TULIP STAYS THE NIGHT Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 22, Iss. 252, (Jan 1, 1955): 124.
  11. FALSE EVIDENCE OF MURDER: Death Penalty Problem W. L. W. The Manchester Guardian (1901-1959); Manchester (UK) [Manchester (UK)]13 Nov 1956: 5.
  12. "Miss Tulip Stays The Night". TVGuide.com.
  13. "Miss Tulip Stays the Night / The Great Game". Film @ The Digital Fix.
  14. Vagg, Stephen (7 September 2020). "A Tale of Two Blondes: Diana Dors and Belinda Lee". Filmink.


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