Genevieve
Dir: Henry Cornelius
1953
***
I'm a big fan of Car races and Car chases films of the 50's/60's/70's. The Great Race, The Great Chase, Monty Carlo or Bust, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad world, the Herbie films..., I love them all. So it was a disappointment to me that after years of wanting to see Genevieve that I felt a bit underwhelmed after watching. It's dated but that is not really a very good excuse. I loved the Cars, the scenery and the views of old England. I have lived in both London and Brighton so it was great to see them both as they were in the early 50's. I just didn't find the film funny. The script is a bit amateurish, a bit simple and not particularly well written. I can only compare this film to others of the time and there are so many greats that it is unfair to purely say 'It's dated' and leave it at that. It's not a film I grew up with and I'm sure people who did would have a few things to say to me as it is a well loved classic. It's just not as good as its reputation would have you believe...in my humble opinion etc etc.

Passport To Pimlico
Dir: Henry Cornelius
1949
****
Passport to Pimlico is classic Ealing Comedy. It was one of the first so it may be a little rough round the edges compared to the films that came after but the cast is brilliant; Stanley Holloway, Hermione Baddeley, Margaret Rutherford, Michael Hordern, Harry Locke and a rather young Charles Hawtrey to name a few. The best of British comedy (and Hammer Horror come to think of it). The story still stands today though, it's particularly clever, very witty and thoroughly British. I love it. The best line of the Film: "We always were English, and we'll always be English, and it's just because we are English that we're sticking up for our rights to be Burgundians!"