Huggett Family Collection

Flora Robson

Dennis Price

Jack Warner

Kathleen Harrison

Hazel Court

Yvonne Owen

Esmond Knight

Jimmy Hanley

Peter Hammond

Esma Cannon

John Blythe

Jeannette Tregarthen

Beatrice Varley

Dennis Harkin

Susan Shaw

Maurice Denham

Jane Hylton

Pamele Bramah

Jack Raine

Reginald Purdell

Alfie Bass

Phil Fowler

John Stone

Emrys Jones

Patricia Roc

Muriel Box

Godfrey Winn

Sydney Box

Bob Busby

Alfred Roome

Mabel Constanduros

Ken Annakin

Jack E. Cox

Peter Rogers

Comedy

Holiday Camp

Gainsborough Pictures

J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors

United Kingdom

CinemaSerf

I can safely say that I have never been to an holiday camp - the BBC series "Hi-Di-HI" that ran in the UK in the 1980s always made sure that never happened. By then, though, we had international travel at our fingertips. In the late 1940s, people were still having their food rationed let alone being able to hop on a flight to Florida or Fuerteventura. The "Huggetts" - led by Jack Warner and the indomitable Kathleen Harrison take their family to one such camp for, ostensibly, a nice rest. Ha, well good luck with that - before long they are involved in dodgy card games, and absconded pair of expectant teenagers and a fleeing murderer. (You wonder why i never fancied such places?) The Huggetts were a famous cinema family in the 1940s, their decency and family values imbued well by the strong, likeable cast. Usually their efforts were all augmented by some guest stars - and here, with the rather lonely figure of Flora Robson and the distinctly caddish Dennis Price, is no different. It resonates now, as ever, because it is about ordinary people - not wealthy or profligate, just folks trying to keep their lives afloat after the war and there is plenty of pithy, quick witted comedy that, though dated and a little too stereotyped for 60 years on, is still enjoyable to watch.

English