Small Hotel
| Small Hotel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | David Macdonald |
| Produced by | Robert Hall |
| Written by | Wilfred Eades |
| Based on | the play Small Hotel by Rex Frost |
| Starring |
Gordon Harker Marie Lohr Janet Munro |
| Music by | Louis Levy |
| Cinematography | Norman Warwick |
| Edited by | Seymour Logie |
Production company |
A Welwyn Films Ltd. Production |
| Distributed by | Associated British-Pathé (UK) |
Release dates | October 1957 (UK) |
Running time | 58 min [1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Small Hotel is a 1957 British comedy film directed by David MacDonald.[2]
Plot
Albert, a crafty old waiter in a country hotel known as The Jolly Fiddler, suddenly finds he must work new tricks on management after he is told that he is too old for the job and will be replaced by a hard-nosed young waitress named Miss Mallet.
Cast
- Gordon Harker.....Albert
- Marie Lohr.....Mrs. Samson-Fox
- John Loder.....Mr. Finch
- Irene Handl.....Mrs. Gammon
- Janet Munro.....Effie Rigler
- Billie Whitelaw.....Caroline Mallet
- Ruth Trouncer.....Sheila
- Francis Matthews.....Alan Pryor
- Frederick Schiller.....Foreigner [speaking in German and then in English]
- Derek Blomfield.....Roland
- Dorothy Bromiley.....Rosemary
Critical reception
TV Guide gave the film two out of five stars and called it an "Average comedy";[3] in the Radio Times, David McGillivray also rated the film two out of five stars, calling it "no great shakes as comedy, but interesting as a vehicle built around a much-loved British star at the end of his career"[4] whereas Britmovie noted, "Twenty years after appearing on stage in this lively Rex Frost play, in his penultimate film Gordon Harker reprises the role of a belligerent hotel waiter having to use all his wit and cunning to save his job. This low-budget film features Harker in typically jovial form, dominating comic proceedings with typical polished expertise, and with a less assured cast this thin comedy wouldn’t be worthwhile. There are early roles for Billie Whitelaw and Janet Munro, and the doughty Irene Handl is cast as the hotel’s spirited cook."[5]