Raising a Riot
Raising a Riot is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Wendy Toye and starring Kenneth More, Shelagh Fraser and Mandy Miller about a naval officer who attempts to look after his three children in his wife's absence.[2][3]
| Raising a Riot | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Wendy Toye |
| Written by | Ian Dalrymple Hugh Perceval |
| Based on | novel by Alfred Toombs |
| Starring | Kenneth More |
| Music by | Bruce Montgomery |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | British Lion Films |
Release date | 1955 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | £231,148 (UK)[1] |
Plot summary
Commander Peter Kent of the Royal Navy and his wife May have three children, ranging from five to eleven years: Peter, Anne and Fusty. Kent comes home after three years abroad with no idea how to handle the children. When Mary has to fly to Canada, Peter takes his children to his father's new country home, which turns out to be a windmill. They end up clashing with an American family in the neighbourhood.
Cast
- Kenneth More – Peter Kent
- Shelagh Fraser – Mary Kent
- Mandy Miller – Anne Kent
- Gary Billings – Peter Kent
- Fusty Bentine – Fusty Kent
- Ronald Squire – Grampy
- Olga Lindo – Aunt Maud
- Lionel Murton – Hary
- Mary Laura Wood – Jacqueline
- Jan Miller – Sue
- Nora Nicholson – Miss Pettigrew
- Anita Sharp-Bolster – Mrs Buttons
- Michael Bentine – The Professor
- Dorothy Dewhurst – Mother
- Robin Brown – Junior
Production
The film was based on a book by American writer Alfred Toombs. The book was based on Toombs' real life experience of having to look after his children after having been away from them at war for three years.[4]
One of the children is an uncredited Caroline John, who would later play Liz Shaw in Doctor Who.
Reception
Box office
The film was the eighth most popular movie at the British box office in 1955.[5][6]
According to the National Film Finance Corporation, the film made a comfortable profit.[7]
Critical
The New York Times wrote, "Withal, it makes agreeable entertainment. Mr. More is a comical chap, particularly when he has a dog to cope with, as he had in the memorable Genevieve...Raising a Riot is an amiable little film";[8] while more recently, the Radio Times called it "an inconsequential, one-joke comedy, kept moving by the polished More, but old-fashioned and rather flat";[9] and AllMovie described how the film "goes off on several directions, many of them hilarious: some of the best scenes involve the kids' ongoing feud with a bunch of American children."[10]
References
- Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p506
- "Raising a Riot (1955)". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
- "Family comedy". The Australian Women's Weekly. 21 March 1956. p. 47. Retrieved 6 May 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- "The amusing story of a young father who takes on family housekeeping "RAISING A RIOT"". Western Mail. Perth. 28 May 1952. p. 13. Retrieved 18 July 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Dirk Bogarde favourite film actor". The Irish Times. Dublin, Ireland. 29 December 1955. p. 9.
- Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32 no. 3. p. 259.
- "U.S. MONEY BEHIND 30% OF BRITISH FILMS: Problems for the Board of Trade". The Manchester Guardian. 4 May 1956. p. 7.
- https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9901E7DB1631E63ABC4053DFB366838C649EDE
- Robin Karney. "Raising a Riot". RadioTimes.
- Hal Erickson. "Raising a Riot (1955) – Wendy Toye – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.