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The Gentle Sex
The Gentle Sex
Directed by	Leslie Howard; Maurice Elvey
Written by	Moie Charles; additional dialogue:; Aimée Stuart
Produced by	Derrick de Marney
Starring	Joan Gates; Jean Gillie; Joan Greenwood; Joyce Howard; Rosamund John; Lilli Palmer; John Justin
Narrated by	Leslie Howard
Cinematography	Robert Krasker
Edited by	Charles Saunders
Music by	John D. H. Greenwood
Production; companies	Derrick De Marney Productions; Two Cities Films
Distributed by	General Film Distributors
Release date	15 April 1943;
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Gentle Sex is a 1943 British black-and-white romantic comedy-drama war film, directed by Leslie Howard and Maurice Elvey and narrated by Howard. It was produced by Concanen Productions, Two Cities Films, and Derrick de Marney.^[2]^[1] It was Howard's last film before his death.^[3]

Synopsis

The documentary-drama follows seven women from different backgrounds who meet at an Auxiliary Territorial Service training camp. "Gentle" British girls, they are now doing their bit to help out in World War II: driving lorries and manning ack-ack batteries. Leslie Howard provides slightly sarcastic narration throughout the film.^[4]^[5]

The girls are allowed to socialise at organised dances with local male troops. Music is contemporary (big band swing) and dancing includes the jitterbug. Several of the girls find romance. The narrator points out that "war is never kind to lovers".

Cast

Best source is at BFI:

ATS volunteers

Joan Gates as Gwen Hayden
Jean Gillie as Dot Hopkins
Joan Greenwood as Betty Miller
Joyce Howard as Anne Lawrence
Rosamund John as Maggie Fraser
Lilli Palmer as Erna Debruski
Barbara Waring as Joan Simpson

Other characters

John Justin as Flying Officer David Sheridan
Mary Jerrold as Mrs Sheridan
John Laurie as Corporal Alexander Balfour
Elliott Mason as Mrs Fraser
Harry Welchman as Captain Ferrier
Miles Malleson as train guard
Jimmy Hanley as first soldier on train (credited as Jimmie Hanley)
Meriel Forbes as Davis, junior commander
Rosalyn Boulter as Sally, telephonist
Tony Bazell as Ted
Frederick Leister as Colonel Lawrence
Everley Gregg as Miss Simpson
Noreen Craven as convoy sergeant
Frederick Peisley as second soldier on train
Ronald Shiner (as Ronnie Shiner) as the racing punter in the pub
Roland Pertwee as captain
Nicholas Stuart (actor) as Canadian private
Frank Atkinson (actor) as lorry driver
Peter Cotes as Taffy
Maud Dunham as Mrs Miller
Leslie Howard as narrator ("observations of a mere man")
and various appearances by members of HM Forces

Box office

Kinematograph Weekly listed a series of films that were "runners up" in its survey of the most popular films in Britain in 1943: The Gentle Sex, The Lamp Still Burns, Dear Octopus and The Adventures of Tartu.^[6]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The emotional content is suggested more often than fully exploited, but it is so true and of such general appeal that the story holds the interest. It is a story which demands considerable directorial ingeniousness – bringing together the threads of these seven lives, separating them, reuniting them. By picking the girls out of a Victoria station crowd with camera and commentary (spoken by himself), Howard has adroitly given each of them background depth almost before the film is under way. ... The strength of the film, however, is the subtlety of its direction. A number of small details rather than one obvious statement are preferred in making essential points of story, of character or of background fact. Judicious mixing of sound and a wide variety of camera angles are used to enrich for the initiated and convey to the uninitiated the experiences of A.T.S. life. ... Remarkable also is the smooth blending of the seven professional actresses with the reallife A.T.S. personnel with whom they train, drill, work and live."^[7]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Viewed today, this drama seems patronising in its depiction of the contribution made to the war effort by seven socially diverse women, who volunteer for service on the same day. Yet it served its purpose both as a morale booster and as a recruitment advertisement, thanks to some astute appeals to the patriotic spirit and some spunky acting by a top-notch cast."^[8]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "very good", writing: "A well-made film: the emotional content rings true, and the action scenes – the air raid, an all-night lorry convoy – are vividly done."^[9]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Unassuming war propaganda, quite pleasantly done and historically very interesting."^[10]

TV Guide noted "some lucid and funny moments in a capable and intelligent production for its time."^[11]

Billy Mowbray wrote for Film 4, "if only social history was this good at school. Funny, fascinating and probably unlike any film you've seen before, The Gentle Sex is a bona fide cultural treasure."^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b "The Gentle Sex". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
^ "The Gentle Sex". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^ "BFI Screenonline: Gentle Sex, The (1943)". screenonline.org.uk.
^ "The Gentle Sex". britmovie.co.uk.
^ "The Gentle Sex (1943) directed by Leslie Howard • Film + cast • Letterboxd". letterboxd.com.
^ Lant, Antonia (1991). Blackout : reinventing women for wartime British cinema. Princeton University Press. p. 231.
^ "The Gentle Sex". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 10 (109): 37. 1 January 1943. ProQuest 1305820219 – via ProQuest.
^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 358. ISBN 9780992936440.
^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 211. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 394. ISBN 0586088946.
^ "The Gentle Sex". TV Guide.
^ "The Gentle Sex". film4.com.