Child in the House

1956 British film by Cy Endfield

14 August 1956 (1956-08-14) (London, UK)

Running time

90 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

Child in the House is a 1956 British drama film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Phyllis Calvert, Eric Portman and Stanley Baker.^[1] It is based on the novel A Child in the House by Janet McNeill. A girl struggles to cope with her uncaring relatives.

Plot

Elizabeth Lorimer is an 11-year-old girl being temporarily looked after by her unhappily-married aunt and uncle, while her mother is in hospital and her criminal father Stephen is allegedly out of the country, but is in fact hiding in London on the run from the police. Stephen secretly meets with Elizabeth, making her promise not to tell anyone where he is. Elizabeth is tricked by her aunt into revealing Stephen's location, and he gives himself up.

Cast

Phyllis Calvert as Evelyn Acheson
Eric Portman as Henry Acheson
Stanley Baker as Stephen Lorimer
Mandy Miller as Elizabeth Lorimer
Dora Bryan as Cassie
Joan Hickson as Cook
Victor Maddern as Bert
Percy Herbert as Detective Sergeant Taylor
Joan Benham as Vera McNally
Martin Miller as Professor Topolski
Christopher Toyne as Peter McNally
Molly Urquhart as Mrs Parsons
Bruce Beeby as Constable Jennings
Peter Burton as Howard Forbes
Maggie Smith as party guest (screen debut, uncredited)
Alfie Bass as ticket collector

Critical reception

Kine Weekly said "Polished an appealing domestric melodrama, set in Belgravia. The distinguished adult players admirably support the young star, the dialogue is crisp and the staging impressive. ... The picture contains much more than that which meets the eye, but neither its child nor its feminine psychology is permitted to soar above the masses' heads."^[2]

Variety said "With a minium of dialog, Mandy [Miller] arouses sympathy for the forlorn defiant child. Phyllis Calvert subtly conveys the underlying malice behind the aunt's apparent solitide. Eric Portman is wasted as her husband, with little to do but offer frigid politeness to his wife, and mute alliance with the youngster. Stanley Baker makes a mixed personality of the crooked father, his characterization being more realistic in the later reels when he is on the run. Dora Bryan brings a breath of cockney joyousness to the role of the sympathetic housemaid, livening the otherwise stilted atmosphere."^[3]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Standard weepie with stars uneasily cast."^[4]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Modest family drama of the novelette type in which adult problems are put right by the wisdom of a child."^[5]

TV Guide called the film a "calculated tearjerker".^[6] The Radio Times wrote "good for a tear or two, though Portman and Calvert are rather oddly cast."^[7]

References

^ "Child in the House". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
^ "Child in the House". Kine Weekly. 471 (2553): 16. 19 July 1956 – via ProQuest.
^ "Child in the House". Variety. 203 (12): 6. 22 August 1956 – via ProQuest.
^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 292. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 194. ISBN 0586088946.
^ "Child In The House | Trailer, Reviews and Schedule". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
^ "Child in the House | Film review and movie reviews". Radio Times. 8 April 2013. Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2014.