Dear Octopus (film)

Dear Octopus is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Harold French and starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding and Celia Johnson.[1] It is based on a 1938 play Dear Octopus written by Dodie Smith. It was also released as The Randolph Family.[2]

Dear Octopus
Directed byHarold French
Produced byEdward Black
Written byPatrick Kirwan
R.J. Minney
Esther McCracken (adaptation)
Based onthe play by Dodie Smith
StarringMargaret Lockwood
Michael Wilding
Celia Johnson
Music byHubert Bath
CinematographyArthur Crabtree
Edited byMichael C. Chorlton
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • 20 September 1943 (1943-09-20) (UK)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Well-to-do couple Dora and Charles Randolph are celebrating their golden wedding, and three generations meet at the Randolph country home. As the relatives gather, each reveals his or her personal quirks and shortcomings. Caught in the middle is family secretary Penny Fenton (Margaret Lockwood), who has the unenviable task of sorting and smoothing out the family's deep-set hostilities and jealousies so that a good time can be had by all.[3][4]

Cast

Critical reception

TV Guide described the film as a "routine English comedy of manners", but added, "it has its moments";[5] while Allmovie wrote "the film is variations on a single theme, albeit consistently amusing ones."[6]

Box Office

Kinematograph Weekly listed a series of films that were "runners up" in its survey of the most popular films in Britain in 1943: The Gentle Sex, The Lamp Still Burns, Dear Octopus and The Adventures of Tartu.[7]

References
  1. "Dear Octopus". BFI.
  2. Vagg, Stephen (29 January 2020). "Why Stars Stop Being Stars: Margaret Lockwood". Filmink.
  3. "Dear Octopus". BFI.
  4. "The Randolph Family (1943) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  5. "The Randolph Family". TV Guide.
  6. "The Randolph Family (1943) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  7. Lant, Antonia (1991). Blackout : reinventing women for wartime British cinema. Princeton University Press. p. 231.


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