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Just William's Luck
Just William's Luck
	Cover of the "making of" book
Directed by	Val Guest
Written by	Richmal Crompton; Val Guest
Produced by	James A. Carter (as James Carter)
Starring	William Graham ; Garry Marsh
Cinematography	Leslie Rowson (uncredited)
Edited by	Anne Barker
Music by	Robert Farnon
Distributed by	United Artists Corporation
Release date	17 December 1947 (London);
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Just William's Luck is a 1947 British comedy film directed by Val Guest and starring William Graham, Garry Marsh and Jane Welsh.^[1]^[2] It was written by Richmal Crompton and Guest, based on Crompton's Just William series of books. Crompton was impressed with the film^{[citation needed]} and wrote a novel Just William's Luck based on the events of the film. The following year a second film, William Comes to Town, was made.^[3]

Plot

William Brown, leader of his gang, "The Outlaws", while exploring/playing in a "haunted house", stumble across a gang of fur thieves. The children are kidnapped and are bundled into the back of a lorry which drives off. Spotting a large bag of flour, the boys proceed to kick it open. Its contents spill through a gap in the floorboards of the truck's cargo bay. This leaves a trail on the road for the police to follow who ultimately catch and foil the gang of fur robbers.^[4]

Cast

William Graham as William Brown
Garry Marsh as Mr. Brown
Jane Welsh as Mrs. Brown
Hugh Cross as Robert Brown
Kathleen Stuart as Ethel Brown
Leslie Bradley as the Boss
A. E. Matthews as the tramp
Muriel Aked as Emily, the maid
Brian Roper as Ginger
Brian Weske as Henry
Audrey Manning as Violet Elizabeth
Hy Hazell as Gloria Gail
Patricia Cutts as Gloria's secretary
James Crabbe as Douglas
Michael Balfour as Jenks
Ivan Hyde as Glazier
Joan Hickson as Hubert's mother
John Powe as policeman
Anne Marie as masseur
Leslie Hazell as Hubert's gang
Peter David as Hubert's gang
John O'Hara as Hubert's gang
Michael Medwin as the Boss's gang
John Martell as Johnnie
Ivan Craig as the Boss's Gang

Production

Val Guest had some troubles working with children but said otherwise production went smoothly and both William films were "very successful."^[3]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "William Graham gives an impish and very effective interpretation of Richmal Crompton's lovable brain-child. The individuality and variety promised by other members of the cast is somehow never quite fulfilled, although they each contribute a competent performance. One feels that the action has been deliberately slowed up, possibly with the idea of its being more easily assimilated by children. After the first few sequences, however, the film seems to find its own feet and is very enjoyable fun."^[5]

Picturegoer wrote: "Richmal Crompton's William has been rather heavily handled in this first of a new series. The way he rounds up a gang of black marketeers has its amusing moments, but some of the slapstick lacks spontaneity. The quieter moments in the family circle are much more effective. Juveniles, of course, will love it. William Graham is good, but perhaps not quite the ideal William."^[6]

Radio Times wrote, "while William Graham captures something of the scruffy boisterousness of Richmal Crompton's timeless comic creation, director Val Guest's screenplay smoothes away the rougher edges to produce a sanitised tale of childhood mayhem, suitable for young eyes. The same paternalism dogged the sequel, William at the Circus."^[7]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Quite lively schoolboy romp that could have done with a scruffier William."^[8]

Sky Movies wrote, "it's a lively romp with a jolly knockabout climax in a house that William and his gang of `outlaws' are trying to haunt."^[9]

References

^ "Just William's Luck". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
^ "Just William's Luck (1947) - BFI". BFI. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012.
^ ^a ^b Fowler, Roy (1988). "Interview with Val Guest". British Entertainment History Project.
^ Best Of British magazine. June 2022 issue, page 16
^ "Just William's Luck". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 15 (169): 3. 1 January 1948 – via ProQuest.
^ "Just William's Luck". Picturegoer. 17: 10. 5 March 1948 – via ProQuest.
^ David Parkinson. "Just William's Luck". RadioTimes.
^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 222. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
^ "Just William's Luck". Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.