Pink String and Sealing Wax is a 1945 British drama film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Mervyn Johns. It is based on a play with the same name by Roland Pertwee. It was the first feature film Robert Hamer directed on his own.[2]
| Pink String and Sealing Wax | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Robert Hamer |
| Written by | Robert Hamer (script contribution) |
| Screenplay by | Diana Morgan |
| Based on | Pink String and Sealing Wax (play) by Roland Pertwee |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Starring | Mervyn Johns |
| Cinematography | Stanley Pavey |
| Edited by | Michael Truman |
| Music by | Norman Demuth |
| Color process | Black and white |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Eagle-Lion Distrib. Ltd[1] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $620,000[3] |
The title derives from the practice of pharmacists in the Victorian and Edwardian age of wrapping drugs in a package sealed with pink string and sealing wax to show the package had not been tampered with.
Summary edit
The story is set in Brighton around 1880. Pharmacist Sutton, a strict, arbritary father, scolds his son David (Gordon Jackson) for writing love verses instead of seeing to business at the pharmacy. At home, he refuses permission for his older daughter Victoria to train as a professional singer. Sutton then dismisses Peggy, his younger daughter, for her objections to his vivisection of guinea pigs. After supper, David reacts to his dad's tough-as-nails attitude by visiting a local pub. While there, he overhears two women gossiping about the landlord's wife, Pearl, and her liaison with another man. Later, David, feeling tipsy, bumps into Pearl outside and engages her in conversation. By the time he arrives home, he is barely sober enough to prepare for bed.
Later, Victoria and Peggy, forbidden from seeing a popular opera singer's concert, decide to wait outside the stage door. Victoria gains the singer's attention by singing "There's No Place Like Home" (Home! Sweet Home!). The singer invites them to supper and arranges for Victoria to attend an audition at London's Royal College of Music. They collect enough money to pay for Victoria's train fare to London. Her audition is a success. She receives a full scholarship offer, which she accepts against the wishes of her father. Back in Brighton, Pearl visits David at the pharmacy to treat a cut she got from Joe, her husband. David tends to her injury and warns her of tetanus. He discusses the various poisons on the shelf. Pearl steals some of them while he is out of the room fetching her a glass of milk.
Pearl returns to the bar and is told Joe has collapsed drunk upstairs. Pearl cuts Joe's hand with a cut-throat razor while he sleeps. When Pearl eventually plucks up courage to poison him, she is shocked by the ferocity of his death. She locks the door but then bashes on it crying, "Let me in!" Later, a doctor pronounces Joe dead. He suspects death was caused by tetanus from the cut. However, after Joe's burial, a police inspector informs Pearl that her husband's body is to be exhumed for a post mortem. Pearl attempts to avoid suspicion. She visits Mr. Sutton and claims David gave her the poison but said it was to "put Joe off the drink". However, Sutton sees through the ruse and reveals that it was his expert opinion to the police that caused her dead husband's exhumation in the first place. She weeps but gets little sympathy from Sutton. Afterwards, she wanders in a daze to the outer edge of the promenade and throws herself off a cliff.
Cast edit
- Mervyn Johns as Mr. Edward Sutton
- Mary Merrall as Mrs. Ellen Sutton
- Gordon Jackson as David Sutton
- Jean Ireland as Victoria Sutton
- Sally Ann Howes as Margaret "Peggy" Sutton
- Colin Simpson as James Sutton
- David Wallbridge as Nicholas Sutton
- Googie Withers as Pearl Bond
- John Carol as Dan Powell
- Catherine Lacey as Miss Porter the gossip
- Garry Marsh as Joe Bond
- Pauline Letts as Louise
- Maudie Edwards as Mrs. Webster
- Frederick Piper as Dr. Pepper
- John Owers as Frank a barman
- Helen Goss as Maudie a barmaid
- Margaret Ritchie as Madame Adelina Patti
- Don Stannard as John Bevan
- John Ruddock as Judge
- Ronald Adam as Clerk of the Court
- Charles Carson as Editor
- Valentine Dyall as Police Inspector
- David Keir as Stage Door Keeper
Release edit
The film premiered in London on 3 December 1945 at the Tivoli Cinema on The Strand and the Marble Arch Pavilion. The critic in The Times praised Googie Withers and Gordon Jackson for their roles, and concluded that Robert Hamer, "has made, in spite of occasional lapses and longueurs, a promising beginning as a director."[2]
References edit
- ^ a b BBFC: Pink String and Sealing Wax Linked 2015-04-25
- ^ a b c The Times, 3 Dec. 1945, page 6: New Films In London Linked 2015-04-25
- ^ "London West End Has Big Pix Sked". Variety. 21 November 1945. p. 19. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
