The Card (also known as The Promoter in US) 1952 UK black and white, 85 minutes runtime Go-Getters In Vintage Movies: Review by Esmerelda Jones Adapted from the novel by Arnold Bennett Original Music by William Alwyn Alec Guinness as Edward Henry 'Denry' Machin Glynis Johns as Ruth Earp Valerie Hobson as Countess of Chell Petula Clark as Nellie Cotterill Edward Chapman as Mr. Duncalf Veronica Turleigh as Mrs. Machin George Devine as Mr. Calvert Joan Hickson as Mrs. Codleyn Set in the 1880's in the five-towns Potteries of North Staffordshire, England. With a tagline "He's the cheekiest man in town!" The Card (Alec Guinness) will teach you a few tricks about how to make it in business from scratch. Alec Guinness plays the witty and self-basting Denry, a slum baby who uses his merry attitude to scoot himself along in life, capping it off with some clever smooching to be voted in as town mayor. Their is no encouragement from his mother (a washerwoman widow), who clutches onto her poverty as if it's the last thread of security. She is even afraid of money. Denry has heard her pinched warnings about hard work and council housing being good enough for his father. Dreary years scraping will not do for The Card however. He's going to escape. Denry decides that the only way to gain entry to college is to re-arrange his exam results. He enjoys his free education with the sons of gentlemen, although suffering the necessary pelting for being a washerwoman's boy. By seeing opportunity in every moment Denry walks into a clerical position and then obtains employment as a rent collector from a dissatisfied client of the company (Miss Marple fans will see Joan Hickson). His cunning ability is spotted by a flustered agent who offers him the rent roll. Coins clink against coins and Denry proudly watches the funds grow in his bank account. While calling on Miss Ruth's Academy For Dancing to collect embarrassingly overdue rent, he encounters a charming kindred spirit on the prowl for money (gold-digger Glynis Johns). He works out a solution for repayments and she pins herself to him in gratitude. She realizes that Denry is a jackpot but needs some gentle guidance to obtain his ideals. Now he is ready to invest. He knows instinctively that business multiplication is the route to riches. After a few quick turnovers for profit, Denry has two women on his arms; Nellie the coy dove and Ruth the materialistic beauty. Denry plots the approval of the Countess of Chell and begins a social climb. He launches the Universal Thrift Club where customers may purchase on credit, but only at the stores that oblige him with prime percentages. Even an awful mishap with a donkey cart turns into glory for Denry. The mossy rock of fortune keeps rolling. Denry's mother submits to his gift of a fur coat, but not before she has scorned the gorgeous frippery and threatened to box it up in mothballs because it is too fine to wear. While you watch Denry (Alec Guinness) stride through his blueprint for fortune, don't miss the smart tactics of Ruth (Glynis Johns). No wonder he chose to marry the soft Nellie; Ruth was sharp competition (but how did he resist those amorous blue eyes and pouting appeals?). She urged him to stand for mayor while Nellie was happy with pennies. It's a satisfying ending, but Denry would have been a bigger cracker with Ruth. Secret Symbols: Bank accounts, a bag full of coins that spill onto the floor, the Universal Thrift Club membership for approved shops only. Ferret out this crackly black and white classic; it's worth 85 minutes of your time. Writers and entrepreneurs: view it with notebook and pen. My rating: a 9-star must. Full graphics version here |
