A vintage double bill of drama and comedy from British director John Guillermin - The Crowded Day (1954) and Song of Paris (1952).
The Crowded Day (1954) is a bittersweet comedy-drama that sees five young women's lives intertwine in a tale of shop-floor intrigue. Set against the busy backdrop of a department store in postwar London, and with interiors shot at Bourne & Hollingsworth on Oxford Street adding authenticity, this engaging, tightly-written ensemble piece is bustling with familiar faces from the golden era of British cinema, including John Gregson, Joan Rice, Thora Hird, Vera Day, Edward Chapman, Rachel Roberts, Dora Bryan, Dandy Nicholls, Prunella Scales, Sid James and Richard Wattis.
A high-quality comedy-drama aimed squarely at the women's market, and billed as 'a story of shop girls and their men'. The Crowded Day was perhaps the most ambitious production of the family-run Adelphi film company. Still resonant today, it offers both top-drawer entertainment and a fascinating insight into women's lives, experiences and aspirations - from fashions to family - in the post-war period.
Song of Paris (1952) is a charming romantic comedy which sees an archetypal Englishman - suavely played by Dennis Price - return from a jaunt abroad to face a dastardly foreign Count in a duel for the hand of a beautiful mademoiselle.
Digitally restored and with new High Definition transfers taken from the original elements preserved at the BFI National Archive
Illustrated booklet with film notes, original promotional materials and new essays by John Guillermin, actresses Prunella Scales and Vera Day, author Mary Cadogan on 'The Crowded Day and the 1950s' and BFI National Archive Curator Vic Pratt.
