A Day to Remember (1953)

Under the captaincy of the rather pompous “Fred” (James Hayter) a gang of blokes who play darts in the same London boozer decide to take their annual seaside trip to the other side of the Channel this year, and so board the ferry to Boulogne. They are an eclectic bunch who rather stereotypically epitomise the English abroad - beer and steak and kidney pudding, a stiff upper lip and some antics with les mademoiselles that come to centre, rather sentimentally, on the rather dreary “Jim” (Donald Sinden) who has a bored girlfriend at home and “Martine” (Odile Versois). That romance does rather drag the pace a bit but even with his character, the reminiscences of the war are never far away and usually rather delicately expressed through a combination of mischief and Churchillian spirit. Stanley Holloway is on solid form too, usually with a pint in hand, still imagining he was of an age when the young ladies might give his “Charley” a second glance, whilst poor old Bill Owen just wants to do his own impersonation of “Gunga Din” because people rib him about being vertically challenged! It’s quite an amiable example of a cinematic entente cordiale, too, as their local hosts prove sporting and hospitable to visitors who might have ten French words between them! This film is not exactly laugh out loud, but more a gently lolling comedic excursion with a cast of professionals taking an oblique look back at war whilst having a fun day au bord de la mer, and I quite enjoyed it.