"Always A Bride" is one of those little-known but delightful comedies from what I have always thought of as the Golden Age of British Comedy (late 40s into the 60s). The entire cast is ingratiating, with that wonderful British character actor Ronald Squire a standout. Terence Morgan, an actor I am not always fond of, has never been more likeable, and Peggy Cummins does her usual efficient job in the role of leading lady. The humour tends towards the subtle and wry rather than the broad, and co-scripter Peter Jones can be seen briefly making the best of a supposed foreign lingo in an early scene. Also appearing briefly as a cab driver is Sebastian Cabot.
10 Reviews
Peggy Cummins in British comedy about con-artists on the Riviera...
Doylenf18 May 2007
This is a hidden gem, as someone else commented, and deserves watching. It's a spry comedy about a father and daughter (RONALD SQUIRE and PEGGY CUMMINS) who bilk hotel people out of money with a simple swindle that works every time--with Squire posing as the husband who deserts his wife.
Along comes an honest man (TERENCE MORGAN) who knows nothing about Cummins' background before he falls in love with her. Even when she tells him she's not really the girl he should be chasing, he won't be dissuaded. The plot goes on to include an overly amorous hotel manager, a double cross that's repeated several times and finally, a double double cross that one suspects is coming all along involving a wealthy man who keeps a closet full of currency.
It's highly amusing without resorting to the sort of over-the-top British humor that was more fashionable during the '60s. Here the approach is more subtle and manages to be just as entertaining, due to some charming performances from the cast.
Summing up: Nice to see Cummins having a good time in a comedy and looking so beautiful. Terence Morgan does equally well as the light comedy romantic lead. RONALD SQUIRE is amusing in a role vastly different from the kind he usually played in films like MY COUSIN RACHEL, where he assumed a more serious and sober side of his nature.
Along comes an honest man (TERENCE MORGAN) who knows nothing about Cummins' background before he falls in love with her. Even when she tells him she's not really the girl he should be chasing, he won't be dissuaded. The plot goes on to include an overly amorous hotel manager, a double cross that's repeated several times and finally, a double double cross that one suspects is coming all along involving a wealthy man who keeps a closet full of currency.
It's highly amusing without resorting to the sort of over-the-top British humor that was more fashionable during the '60s. Here the approach is more subtle and manages to be just as entertaining, due to some charming performances from the cast.
Summing up: Nice to see Cummins having a good time in a comedy and looking so beautiful. Terence Morgan does equally well as the light comedy romantic lead. RONALD SQUIRE is amusing in a role vastly different from the kind he usually played in films like MY COUSIN RACHEL, where he assumed a more serious and sober side of his nature.
Moi, Je t'aime Toujours
richardchatten28 June 2021
An escapist fantasy set in a plush hotel in the South of France which does for postwar austerity Britain what 'Only When I Larf' did for the swinging sixties fifteen years later, co.scripted by actor Peter Jones (who has a brief bit as a funny foreigner in a fez).
The agreeable cast milling about a plush hotel in Monte Carlo is headed by a charmingly glossy Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan is more animated than usual as a dashing treasury agent and Ronald Squire is his usual old reprobate with a twinkle in his eye.
The agreeable cast milling about a plush hotel in Monte Carlo is headed by a charmingly glossy Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan is more animated than usual as a dashing treasury agent and Ronald Squire is his usual old reprobate with a twinkle in his eye.
interesting biographical note on film
jjghayter25 November 2006
just thought i would add a piece of film trivia which may or may not be of interest to film buffs!. One of the stars of this film , James Hayter played a character with several children, as he happened to have 5 of his own, they were given tiny parts in one scene where "cash" Dutton is handing out ridiculously large sums of pocket money to the kids. at the end of this scene his character says " don't forget little Herbert" and passes a baby to his wife. as the youngest child at that time and only 5 months old i got my first and only chance at the limelight! i was a source of great satisfaction to my father that i earned 3 guineas! Jonathan Hayter (one of eventually eight Hayter children)
Sort of like the British version of "The Lady Eve".
planktonrules24 April 2018
In many ways, this romantic comedy is like the earlier Hollywood film, "The Lady Eve". So, if you like one, you'll likely enjoy the other as well.
When the story begins, an old man checks into a swank hotel on the Riviera with a very, very young wife. What the folks in the hotel don't know is that they are NOT married...they are father and daughter and they are hucksters. The plan is for the 'husband' to disappear their first night together and for the poor wronged 'wife' (Peggy Cummins) on her wedding night to stand back and see what happens next. Well, the residents of the hotel were touched by their story and donate a lot of money to her to help her out in her time of need. The problem is that she meets Terence, a particularly nice guy who tries to help her...because she starts falling in love with the guy! What's next for this huckster and his daughter?
While the film is never hilarious, it is enjoyable and worth seeing. My only reservation is that movies like these tend to make sociopaths seem cute or likable...and they are, in reality, quite evil.
When the story begins, an old man checks into a swank hotel on the Riviera with a very, very young wife. What the folks in the hotel don't know is that they are NOT married...they are father and daughter and they are hucksters. The plan is for the 'husband' to disappear their first night together and for the poor wronged 'wife' (Peggy Cummins) on her wedding night to stand back and see what happens next. Well, the residents of the hotel were touched by their story and donate a lot of money to her to help her out in her time of need. The problem is that she meets Terence, a particularly nice guy who tries to help her...because she starts falling in love with the guy! What's next for this huckster and his daughter?
While the film is never hilarious, it is enjoyable and worth seeing. My only reservation is that movies like these tend to make sociopaths seem cute or likable...and they are, in reality, quite evil.
I'll stick with Stanwyck and Coburn, thank you.
mark.waltz20 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
While not a remake of "The Lady Eve" (That would be "The Birds and the Bees"), this starts off basically the same with a father and daughter pair of grifters (Ronald Squire and Peggy Cummins) showing up at a five star French hotel, pretending to be newlyweds, with Squire sneaking out in the middle of the night to pretend he's abandoned her so Cummins can fleece others in the hotel to get sympathy money. Along comes the handsome Terence Morgan who falls in love with Cummins and tries to help her, only for her to disappear on him. He goes on the search for her, only to find out that she's a reluctant part of a larger group of grifters.
Moderately amusing, this shows off the con artist as charming and urbane, and certainly, Squire and his cohorts are very amusing, and Cummins is a total sweetheart. This British comedy shows that love does conquer all, even in the most precarious of predicaments, and does have a few truly amusing moments, particularly with Sebastian Cabot as a French cab driver (Mr. French speaking French!) tired of hearing arguments over whether to stop the cab and keep going.
Marie Lohr and James Hayter are very amusing as other members of the Squire gang, stealing everything they share with Squire and Cummins. Morgan, unfortunately, is bland, showing that a handsome face doesn't indicate screen magic. Good location footage does help a bit, but like the winding curves of the French waterside roads, this becomes a bit perplexing to retain total interest after a while, making me quickly long for it to conclude.
Moderately amusing, this shows off the con artist as charming and urbane, and certainly, Squire and his cohorts are very amusing, and Cummins is a total sweetheart. This British comedy shows that love does conquer all, even in the most precarious of predicaments, and does have a few truly amusing moments, particularly with Sebastian Cabot as a French cab driver (Mr. French speaking French!) tired of hearing arguments over whether to stop the cab and keep going.
Marie Lohr and James Hayter are very amusing as other members of the Squire gang, stealing everything they share with Squire and Cummins. Morgan, unfortunately, is bland, showing that a handsome face doesn't indicate screen magic. Good location footage does help a bit, but like the winding curves of the French waterside roads, this becomes a bit perplexing to retain total interest after a while, making me quickly long for it to conclude.
Silly Unfunny Comedy
malcolmgsw7 August 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Peggy Cummins and Ronald Squire are a pair of con artists who make a living from fleecing expensive hotels and their guests.Terence Morgan is a very unlikely man from the Treasury looking out for people exceeding their travel allowance.What a surprise when he falls for Cummins.Squires and his assistant Geoffrey Sumner,attempt to sell a hotel to James Hayter using forged documents.Hayter is also a con man and the notes he uses are forged.Squires gets caught by the French police but Morgan and Cummins escape to get married.Unfortunately I didn't laugh once.The script was poor. Morgan is not great at playing comedy.There are some really good British films of the 1950s but this is not one of them.
A waste of time
roslein-674-87455630 January 2014
With boring actors and a dull script, this movie doesn't even pass the basic test of credibility. We are asked to believe that a con man has made a lot of money over a great many years with a scheme that looks very unlikely to bring in any money at all. (And if it did, surely gossip in the hotel trade or newspaper reports would soon put an end to it.) The film is full of details that accentuate the sloppiness of the idea. The crook at one point has a handful of false passports. He could not possibly afford these with the money he makes. At another point, the crook and his henchman meet another crook and take him into their scheme, even though he is very poor at what he does AND it would mean less money for each of them AND they don't need another man to pull the scheme off! He is only around so we can (presumably) be amused by his (presumably) funny face and accent. Though this film tries to belong to the genteel- but-naughty tradition of English comedy, it is neither, just clumsy and prissy.
A hidden gem!
aOTRfan17 August 1999
Film does not get big reviews in most film books, but that doesn't mean it's not a good movie. The movie is a fun romantic comedy. Taxman (Morgan) goes on holidays only to fall into the middle of a bunch of conmen (and woman), who he falls in love with. Cast, camera and director all became workers for ITC television shows of the 50's. Should you see the movie for sale- buy it! If it shows up on the late-show, tape it!
Disappointing!
JohnHowardReid2 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
SYNOPSIS: A small town ne'er-do-well hopes to win the girl of his choice by running for office as town mayor.
NOTES: The stage play opened on Broadway at the Ambassador on 28 September 1925 and ran a very satisfactory 90 performances. Alan Dinehart both starred as the small-town backslapper and directed.
COMMENT: The story of this film has hardly any affinity with its title. The plot mainly centers on the hero (George Reeves) winning the mayoral race against the firmly entrenched incumbent (Ferris Taylor). The fact that he will also win the girl (the lovely Rosemary Lane) seems almost incidental, as he is also keen to put down the town blowhard (John Eldredge), especially as that particular loudmouth has marriage designs on Miss Lane.
The plot holds promise but unfortunately it is not realized, despite valiant efforts by Miss Lane and Mr Reeves. Oddly, it's the support cast that lets the side down, due both to miscasting (Francis Pierlot is right outside his range as the heroine's dad) and to Noel Smith's dull, listless, uninvolved direction. Yet another problem lies with a far too talkative screenplay that often gives the impression of a filmed stage play.
Sad to say, photography and other credits are equally uninspired. Production values rate no more than average for a "B" feature. Perhaps slightly less.
NOTES: The stage play opened on Broadway at the Ambassador on 28 September 1925 and ran a very satisfactory 90 performances. Alan Dinehart both starred as the small-town backslapper and directed.
COMMENT: The story of this film has hardly any affinity with its title. The plot mainly centers on the hero (George Reeves) winning the mayoral race against the firmly entrenched incumbent (Ferris Taylor). The fact that he will also win the girl (the lovely Rosemary Lane) seems almost incidental, as he is also keen to put down the town blowhard (John Eldredge), especially as that particular loudmouth has marriage designs on Miss Lane.
The plot holds promise but unfortunately it is not realized, despite valiant efforts by Miss Lane and Mr Reeves. Oddly, it's the support cast that lets the side down, due both to miscasting (Francis Pierlot is right outside his range as the heroine's dad) and to Noel Smith's dull, listless, uninvolved direction. Yet another problem lies with a far too talkative screenplay that often gives the impression of a filmed stage play.
Sad to say, photography and other credits are equally uninspired. Production values rate no more than average for a "B" feature. Perhaps slightly less.
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