Bond Street (film)

Bond Street
Directed by	Gordon Parry
Produced by	Anatole de Grunwald
Written by	Terence Rattigan Rodney Ackland Anatole de Grunwald
Starring	Jean Kent
Music by	Benjamin Frankel
Cinematography	Otto Heller Bryan Langley
Edited by	Gerald Turney-Smith
Production company	De Grunwald Productions for Associated British Picture Corporation
Distributed by	Associated British-Pathé (UK)
Release dates	25 May 1948 (London) (UK)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	£155,312 (UK)

Bond Street is a 1948 British portmanteau drama film directed by Gordon Parry and based on a story by Terence Rattigan. It stars Jean Kent, Roland Young, Kathleen Harrison and Derek Farr. The film depicts a bride's dress, veil, pearls and flowers purchased in London's Bond Street—and the secret story behind each item.

Cast

• Jean Kent as Ricki Merritt
• Roland Young as George Chester-Barrett
• Kathleen Harrison as Ethel Brawn
• Derek Farr as Joe Marsh
• Hazel Court as Julia Chester-Barrett
• Ronald Howard as Steve Winter
• Paula Valenska as Elsa
• Patricia Plunkett as Mary Phillips
• Robert Flemyng as Frank Moody
• Adrianne Allen as Mrs. Taverner
• Kenneth Griffith as Len Phillips
• Joan Dowling as Norma
• Charles Goldner as Waiter
• James McKechnie as Inspector Yarrow
• Leslie Dwyer as Barman
• Aubrey Mallalieu as Parkins
• Darcy Conyers as Bank Clerk

Critical reception

• 'Britmovie' called the film an "entertaining portmanteau comedy-drama charting the events occurring during a typical 24-hour period on London’s thoroughfare Bond Street. Linking the four stories together is the impending wedding of society girl Hazel Court and Robert Flemyng. Producer Anatole de Grunwald and co-writer Terence Rattigan would later revisit the formula for Anthony Asquith’s The V.I.P.s (1963) and The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964)."
• The New York Times called the film "an entertainment grab bag, which, in this case, means that some of the parts are better than the whole...But this spectator's favorite Bond Street interlude is the final chapter, concerning a bouquet and an old flame who turns up at an inopportune time to claim the groom as her own. Roland Young is vastly amusing as the droll father of the prospective bride...Bond Street is fresh enough to have a certain amount of novelty appeal which helps to compensate for the inconsistencies of its dramatic construction. It may not be in a class with Quartet, a handy point of reference, but the new film can stand on its own merits with any audience that is willing to accept half a loaf."

Trade papers called the film a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1948.

External links

• Review of film at Variety