Upstairs and Downstairs

Upstairs and Downstairs
Directed by	Ralph Thomas
Produced by	Betty E. Box
Written by	Frank Harvey
Based on	novel by Ronald Scott Thorn
Starring	Michael Craig; Anne Heywood; Mylène Demongeot; Claudia Cardinale
Music by	Philip Green
Cinematography	Ernest Steward
Edited by	Alfred Roome
Production; company	Ralph Thomas-Betty E Box Productions
Distributed by	The Rank Organisation
Release date	27 August 1959
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Upstairs and Downstairs is a 1959 British comedy drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig, Anne Heywood, Mylène Demongeot, Claudia Cardinale, James Robertson Justice, Joan Sims, Joan Hickson and Sid James. It features the first English-language performance of Claudia Cardinale.

[This film is not to be confused with Upstairs, Downstairs, the popular British BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning television series.]

Plot

Richard Barry marries Kate, daughter of his boss, Mansfield. Mansfield tells Richard he needs to take over the entertaining for their firm so Richard decides to hire a servant.

Cast

Michael Craig – Richard Barry
Anne Heywood – Kate Barry
Mylène Demongeot – Ingrid
James Robertson Justice – Mansfield
Claudia Cardinale – Maria
Sid James – P.C. Edwards
Joan Hickson – Rosemary
Joan Sims – Blodwen
Joseph Tomelty – Arthur Farringdon
Nora Nicholson – Edith Farringdon
Daniel Massey – Weslet Cotes
Austin Willis – McGuffey
Margalo Gillmore – Mrs McGuffey
Reginald Beckwith – Parson
Cyril Chamberlain – Guard
Dilys Laye – Agency girl
Irene Handl – Large woman
William Mervyn – Kingsley
Eric Pohlmann – Mario
Jean Cadell – 1st Old Lady
Barbara Everest – 2nd Old Lady
Stephen Gregson – Paul
Nicholas Phipps – Harry
Jeremy Burnham – Frank
Nicholas Parsons – Brian
Madge Ryan – Policewoman
Betty Henderson – Bridget
Barbara Steele – Mary
Susan Hampshire – Minor role
Oliver Reed – Minor role
Shirley Anne Field – Minor role
Sam Kydd – Driver

Production

Ralph Thomas and Betty Box made the film after a series of more expensive adventure films. "I'm glad we're back in comedy", said Box. "I like to make people laugh. I think they get enough crying in daily life. Also the results in comedy are more tangible. You hear where you succeed."[1]

Ralph Thomas later called the film "a light comedy which I liked very much... I had a great cast in that one... For its period it was a very effective, very small little comedy, which I think was really very funny."[2]

Michael Craig said "the jokes and the situations were pretty much the same as in all the other Box/Thomas comedies. That's not surprising as they were mostly written by the same person and had the same casts."[3]

Release

Upstairs and Downstairs was one of seven Rank films bought for release in the US by 20th Century Fox.[4]

References

Melita Knowles (19 May 1959). "Producer Betty Box Prefers Comedies: Good Collaboration". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 4.
Collected Interviews: Voices from Twentieth-century Cinema by Wheeler W. Dixon, SIU Press, 2001 p112
Craig, Michael (2005). The Smallest Giant: An Actor's Life. Allen and Unwin. p. 89.
"Of Local Origin". New York Times. 7 January 1960. p. 25.

External links

Upstairs and Downstairs at IMDb
Upstairs and Downstairs at Britmovie

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[1] Melita Knowles (19 May 1959). "Producer Betty Box Prefers Comedies: Good Collaboration". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 4.

[2] Collected Interviews: Voices from Twentieth-century Cinema by Wheeler W. Dixon, SIU Press, 2001 p112

[3] Craig, Michael (2005). The Smallest Giant: An Actor's Life. Allen and Unwin. p. 89.

[4] "Of Local Origin". New York Times. 7 January 1960. p. 25.