Touch and Go (1955)

Crappy film

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Jack Hawkins who is usually associated with action/adventure films in the British cinema gets a change of pace in Touch And Go. Hawkins stars in this Ealing comedy about a man who feeling unappreciated at his job decides to throw it all overboard and move bag and baggage and family to Australia. All except the family cat Heathcliff a black cat who crosses many paths and proves the catalyst for a lot of events in the film.Wife Margaret Johnston dutifully goes along, but daughter June Thorburn really has doubts when she meets the boy of her dreams John Fraser on one of the Thames River bridges. In fact Heathcliff is most certainly the catalyst there in a very funny but touching sequence.I could really identify with how they felt about Heathcliff. When I made the move from New York City to Buffalo it cost me a lot of extra money to take Simba with me. This family was going a lot farther and Hawkins just wanted to give him away. Heathcliff does have a few tricks up his sleeve.James Hayter has a nice turn as Hawkins's pompous oaf of a boss. He's enough to drive anyone to quit.This Ealing comedy has not dated a bit if the fashions in dress and music have changed a lot. Family pets are universal.

Opening scene: a man drinking a cup of the in a Haddon Hall cup. Undoubtedly it announces we are going to see a 100% British film with that characteristic Ealing bitter touch. This is an entertaining picture about a man who, having enough of a job where he is merely a furniture piece decides to quit to Australia with his family in search of a new life. But as the trip day approaches they feel less and less moody of leaving home... *Spoiler* Needless to say they will never leave England in the end...with the whole family consequent great joy. Connected with another Ealing 50's classic Another shore, the story of a family dream land will give a twist when they realize they do already live in it: their beloved England town. As in Jerome K Jerome's book the importance of the house pet is a key element in the story that has not much intrigue but results quite entertaining. Nice performances by the entire cast and an uncommon comedy role for Jack Hawkins. Enjoy it.

Like the previous reviewer I had never seen this film before until it was shown on London Live.It was made at a time when Australia was offering nine pounds assisted passages to people prepared to emigrate.This was an offer taken up by many people.This was long before TV programmes showed prospective emigrants what their new life would be like.Also in those days it seems to have been the husband who made important decisions unilaterally.Jack Hawkins plays the husband and it is so unusual to find him playing a role of this type.It is an amiable sort of film shot in a rather garish Eastman colour.This film came towards the end of Balcons reign at Ealing.

Touch and Go, a light and airy comedy from Ealing Studios is probably not one of the legendary company's best known films. It doesn't seem to have been included in any of the British box sets that feature titles like The Titfield Thunderbolt or Passport to Pimlico. That fact notwithstanding, Touch and Go is unmistakably Ealing in its plot, pacing and execution. The story finds Jim Fletcher (Jack Hawkins) planning to emigrate to Australia after a row with his employer (James Hayter). As one might expect, the decision to move lock,stock and barrel to another continent is not without pitfalls. Jim's wife is less than enthusiastic about the move, and with two days to go before the trip, his daughter meets a young man. Like most Ealing films, Touch and Go features a quirky storyline, though admittedly not AS quirky as,say, Man in the white suit. The social polemic is here (20th century everyman takes a stand against bureaucracy)and the above par acting, right down to the casting of the extras seems absolutely right. Although by no means a great film, Touch and Go, in lovely Technicolor, eschews belly laughs for gentle comedy and does so with style and wit.