Half a Sixpence (1967)

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

Beverley Cross (book)
Beverley Cross (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 June 1968 (Sweden)

Genre:

Musical

Tagline:

Flash BANG Wallop What a Picture!

Plot:

Arthur Kipps, an orphan apprenticed to a tyrannical owner of a mercantile, has a sudden abrupt change...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Tommy Steele	...	Arthur Kipps
Julia Foster	...	Ann
Cyril Ritchard	...	Harry Chitterlow
Penelope Horner	...	Helen
Elaine Taylor	...	Victoria
Grover Dale	...	Pearce
Hilton Edwards	...	Shalford
Julia Sutton	...	Flo
Leslie Meadows	...	Buggins
Sheila Falconer	...	Kate
Pamela Brown	...	Mrs. Washington
James Villiers	...	Hubert
Christopher Sandford	...	Sid
Jean Anderson	...	Lady Botting
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Wilkins

Runtime:

143 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Ameran Films

Trivia:

Last cinema film of Helen Goss.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the song, "Money to Burn", where Kipps (Steele) is playing the banjo, it's obvious that he's simply playing along to an audio track. But the sound begins several times before he does the strumming to make it happen. This should have been watched/caught in the editing process.

Quotes:

[Kipps opens the shop doors, to find Harry standing outside]
Arthur Kipps: Stay away from me. You've got me in enough trouble as it is!
Harry Chitterlow: Time and tide wait for no man, lend me your ears! I've just come from your solicitor.
Arthur Kipps: And?
Harry Chitterlow: And your late grandfather...
Arthur Kipps: I didn't know I had one!
Harry Chitterlow: You had a mother?
Arthur Kipps: Margaret Euphenia!
Harry Chitterlow: Well, she had a father, your grandfather, and on his deathbed, he decided to recognise his illegimate grandson.
Arthur Kipps: Me?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Version of "Kipps" (1960) (mini)

Soundtrack:

THIS IS MY WORLD

Dreary

HALF A SIXPENCE on the London stage was good. When it came to Broadway,

trimmed and faster paced, it was better. The film, therefore, was keenly

anticipated by anyone, myself included, who loved one or both versions

of the play. What a disappointment. Bloated and overlong with new and

inferior orchestrations and arraingments, the film loses all the charm

that made the musical so delightful. Filters are used for no purpose (a

la Josh Logan with SOUTH PACIFIC), lyrics are dumbed down to inanity,

cameras are moved in and out for no reason and dance numbers are

unimaginative and fall flat! The only saving grace of this mess is the

delightful Tommy Steele who starred on stage and brings his charm and

charisma to the big screen. Without him, HALF A SIXPENCE would be a

disaster; with him it is simply a dreary mis-fire at the end of the

golden age of musical films.....