His and Hers (film)

This article is about the 1961 film. For other films, see His and Hers (disambiguation).

His and Hers
Directed by	Brian Desmond Hurst
Written by	Jan Englund Robert Lowell (as Mark Lowell) Stanley Mann
Produced by	Hal E. Chester
Starring	Terry-Thomas Janette Scott Wilfrid Hyde-White Nicole Maurey
Cinematography	Ted Scaife
Edited by	Max Benedict
Music by	John Addison
Production company	Sabre Film Production
Distributed by	Eros Films
Release dates	24 January 1961 (1961-01-24) (London, England)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

His and Hers is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Terry-Thomas, Janette Scott and Wilfrid Hyde-White. The film follows an eccentric author who tries to impose his lifestyle on his reluctant wife.

Plot

While researching his latest novel I Conquered the Desert in North Africa, Reggie Blake finds himself lost in the desert. Rescued by a Bedouin tribe, and finally shipped home, Reggie enthusiastically adopts Bedouin dress and customs, much to the frustration of his wife, Fran. She declares herself unable to live with him, so they split their home down the middle. There is further drama when Reggie's publisher rejects his new novel out of hand.

Cast

• Terry-Thomas as Reggie Blake
• Janette Scott as Fran Blake
• Wilfrid Hyde-White as Charles Dunton
• Nicole Maurey as Simone Rolfe
• Joan Sims as Hortense
• Kenneth Connor as Harold
• Meier Tzelniker as Felix McGregor
• Joan Hickson as Phoebe
• Oliver Reed as poet
• Francesca Annis as Wanda
• Dorinda Stevens as Dora
• Kenneth Williams as policeman
• Barbara Hicks as woman
• Billy Lambert as baby
• Colin Gordon as television announcer
• Marie Devereux as wife

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Written as a satire on the sharp practices behind best-sellers, this film might have had both comedy and point. In its present form, it merely shows how ingrown and futile comedy can become when it takes its material, for the nth time, from other comedy instead of from life. It may well be that there is humour in people getting drunk, in men mismanaging the home, in Englishmen dressed as Bedouins, and in dry old sticks being seduced by plump young Frenchwomen (all elements which pad this thin farce), but if so it requires more originality than this to sustain an audience's laughter. The behaviour of literary folk (both hearty and arty) in the film suggests that the scriptwriter's acquaintance with any branch of literature is slight. One grows tired of saying that British film comedy is in the doldrums; and of wondering how long actors who have made the grade as comedians in their own right will continue to do themselves the disservice of appearing in it."

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Probably the main amusement for viewers of this comedy will be in spotting the familiar faces in the cast, not least Oliver Reed as a poet and Kenneth Williams as an unlikely policeman. The under-nourished screenplay has Terry-Thomas as a writer who transforms from silly ass to recognisable human being when forced to confront reality during a research trip on Bedouins in the desert."

Leslie Halliwell said: "The thinnest of comedy ideas becomes a film of almost no substance at all."

External links

• His and Hers at IMDb
• His and Hers then-and-now location photographs at ReelStreets