Easy Money (1948)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Bernard Knowles

Writers:

Muriel Box (writer)
Sydney Box (writer)

Release Date:

6 January 1949 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Plot:

A win on the football pools in postwar Britain changes lives. A happy family is turned into an unhappy...

Plot Keywords:

Football Pools | Gambling | Based On Play

Cast

Jack Warner	...	Philip Stafford
Marjorie Fielding	...	Ruth Stafford
Yvonne Owen	...	Carol Stafford
Jack Watling	...	Dennis Stafford
Petula Clark	...	Jackie Stafford
Mabel Constanduros	...	Grandma Stafford
David Tomlinson	...	Martin Latham
Maurice Denham	...	Detective-Inspector Kirby
Mervyn Johns	...	Herbert Atkins
Joan Young	...	Agnes Watkins
Gordon McLeod	...	Cameron
Grey Blake	...	Wilson
Ernest Butcher	...	Clerk
Greta Gynt	...	Pat Parsons
Dennis Price	...	Joe Henty

Runtime:

USA:94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (British Acoustic)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #12798) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1997)

Filming Locations:

Gainsborough Studios, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company:

Gainsborough Pictures

Soundtrack:

Shady Lady Spiv

Anti-gambling propaganda that's boring and lifeless

This post-war short-story compendium is very average, a moralistic collection of four tales that all concern people who've won large prizes on the football pools. Though there are elements of comedy and farce, it comes across as a puritanical response to public hysteria about big lottery wins. The overriding moral is that winning thousands won't necessarily make you happy, in fact it might even make you miserable, as seems to happen to the central characters in the four short stories. There's even a documentary-style intro that seems intended to shock, as the voice-over reads some startling figures about how much Britons spend on the 'harmless fun' of gambling.

In the first story, a seemingly happy family wins the pools and immediately sets about making plans for the future; this causes disagreements and friction between them. The man in the second story is persuaded to quit his job by a domineering wife, even though he is reluctant to retire. Greta Gynt is a nightclub singer in the third story, who conspires with a pools coupon checker to rig a major win. And in the final instalment, a disgruntled double-bass player wins a fortune and leaves the orchestra, only to find things aren't so rosy.

The quality of the stories is not good, they end up being quite predictable and bland, and the intended message is consequently lost in the dreariness and monotony of the whole film.