Lock Up Your Daughters
Original British quad poster
Directed byPeter Coe
Written byBernard Miles
Willis Hall
Keith Waterhouse
Based onmusical Lock Up Your Daughters
based on play Rape upon Rapeby Henry Fielding
adapted by Bernard Miles
music by Laurie Johnson lyrics by Lionel Bart
Produced byDavid Deutsch
StarringChristopher Plummer
Susannah York
Glynis Johns
Ian Bannen
CinematographyPeter Suschitzky
Edited byFrank Clarke
Music byRon Grainer
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Domino Films
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
(UK & US)
Release dates
  • 30 March 1969 (1969-03-30) (London)
  • October 15, 1969 (1969-10-15) (New York City)
  • October 21, 1969 (1969-10-21) (United States)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£878,986[1]

Lock Up Your Daughters! is a 1969 British comedy film directed by Peter Coe and starring Christopher Plummer, Susannah York and Glynis Johns.[2] It is an adaptation of the 1959 stage musical of the same name set in 18th-century Britain, which in turn is based on the 1730 comedy, Rape upon Rape, by Henry Fielding It lacks all the songs from the original stage production. It was one of a number of British costume films released in the wake of the success of the Tom Jones (1963).[3]

Plot

A bawdy yarn concerning three sex-starved sailors on leave and on the rampage in a British town.

Cast

Production

The musical ran for four years in England but never had a major production in the US. It had a run at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1967.[4]

It was Christopher Plummer's first musical since The Sound of Music (1959). Filming started in Ireland in March 1968.[5]

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A lively cast, impeccable production values (notably Peter Suschitzky's camerawork and Alan Barrett's costumes) and confident direction contribute to an entertainment in the tradition of Tom Jones, with the raffish Restoration world of rakes and doxies, beggars and rogues, social-climbing tradesmen and deceitful ladies, depicted with bawdy zest. ... Susannah York is excellent as the tomboyish Hilaret, while Jan Bannen, Tom Bell and Jim Dale provide clearly contrasted portraits of masculine frustration. But it is the riper roles which provide the best opportunities: Christopher Plummer as the ineffable Foppington, all towering wigs, ribbons and painted Cupid's bows; Fenella Fielding as Lady Eager, whimpering scarcely audible cries for help when about to be boarded in her bedroom; Fred Emney as a chairborne nobleman whose insolent demand for right of way provokes a magnificent battle with wet codfish."[6]

In his review in The New York Times, Roger Greenspun wrote: "...a three-strand plot that has been so smothered in atmosphere, activity and authenticity that even the great traditions of theatrical untruth cannot breathe life into it. The production values of Lock Up Your Daughters! are ambitious enough to fill three movies, but they are not sufficient to substitute for one."[7]

References

  1. ^ Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 361
  2. ^ "Lock Up Your Daughters". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  3. ^ Murphy, Robert (1992). Sixties British CInema. London: British Film Institute. p. 6. ISBN 0851703240.
  4. ^ 'Father' to Be Revived Smith, Cecil. Los Angeles Times 13 Sep 1967: e16.
  5. ^ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Plummer Gets Musical Lead Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 2 Mar 1968: 19.
  6. ^ "Lock Up Your Daughters". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 36 (420): 93. 1 January 1969 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ "Lock Up Your Daughters! A Comic Resolution", The New York Times, October 16, 1969

External links

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