Vote for Huggett
1949 British film
- February 1949 (1949-02)
Running time
Vote for Huggett is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Susan Shaw and Petula Clark.[2] Warner reprises his role as the head of a London family, in the post-war years.
In this, the third in the series of films about the Huggetts after Holiday Camp (1947) and Here Come the Huggetts (1948), Joe Huggett decides to run as a candidate in the municipal election. It was followed by The Huggetts Abroad (1949).[3]
Plot
After writing a letter to the local newspaper, calling for the construction of a pleasure garden for a new war memorial, Joe Huggett is overwhelmed by the response from the public. However, his call is awkward for a corrupt local councillor who has plans of his own for the space from which his business can profit. Other people see opportunities of their own in supporting Huggett's plan and he is persuaded to stand for election as a local councillor. In her efforts to help his campaign, Pet gets rather too enthusiastic. Meanwhile, Susan's love life gets complicated when her boyfriend Peter proposes marriage and then finds he has competition.
Cast
- Jack Warner as Joe Huggett, Father
- Kathleen Harrison as Ethel Huggett, Mother
- Susan Shaw as Susan Huggett
- Petula Clark as Pet Huggett
- David Tomlinson as Harold Hinchley
- Diana Dors as Diana Gowan
- Peter Hammond as Peter Hawtrey
- Amy Veness as Grandma Huggett
- Hubert Gregg as Maurice Lever
- John Blythe as Gowan
- Anthony Newley as Dudley
- Charles Victor as Mr Hall
- Adrianne Allen as Mrs Hall
- Frederick Piper as Bentley
- Eliot Makeham as Christie
- Clive Morton as Campbell, Huggett's boss
- Norman Shelley as Wilson
- Lyn Evans as Police Sergeant Pike
- Hal Osmond as fishmonger
- Elizabeth Hunt as Mrs Lever
- Ferdy Mayne as Waiter
- Nellie Bowman as eccentric old lady
- Empsie Bowman as eccentric old lady
- Isa Bowman as eccentric old lady
Production
Ken Annakin was reluctant to make the Huggett films, wanting to work on more ambitious material, but did it as a favour to Sydney Box, head of Gainsborough. He also enjoyed working with the cast.[4]
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "the film is well up to the standard set by the first in the series, and relies for its appeal on its homely humour and fine characterisations by Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison as Joe and Ethel Huggett, Susan Shaw and Petula Clark as their daughters and Diana Dors as niece Diana. Strong support is rendered by the remainder of the cast."[5]
TV Guide described Vote for Huggett as "one of three films in the rather dismal 'Huggett Family' series".[6]
The Radio Times praised Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison, "wonderful as mum and dad and yes, that's a young Diana Dors as the troublesome niece".[7]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Standard Huggett shenanigans, quite entertaining."[8]
References
- ^ Andrew Spicer, Sydney Box Manchester Uni Press 2006 p 211
- ^ "Vote for Huggett". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "FAMILY LIFE SERIES by British Producers". The Mercury. Vol. CLXX, no. 24, 665. Tasmania, Australia. 31 December 1949. p. 8. Retrieved 12 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Annakin, Ken (2001). So you wanna be a director?. Tomahawk Press. pp. 40–41.
- ^ "Vote for Huggett". petulaclark.net.
- ^ "Vote For Huggett". TVGuide. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015.
- ^ Baxter, Brian. "Vote for Huggett". RadioTimes. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015.
- ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 258. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
External links
- Vote for Huggett at IMDb
- A Vote for Huggett at Letterbox DVD
- Vote for Huggett at ReelStreets
- Vote for Huggett at BFI
- Complete film at Internet Archive
- v
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Films directed by Ken Annakin
- It Began on the Clyde (1946)
- Fenlands (1946)
- Holiday Camp (1947)
- Miranda (1948)
- Broken Journey (1948)
- Here Come the Huggetts (1948)
- Quartet (1948)
- Vote for Huggett (1949)
- The Huggetts Abroad (1949)
- Landfall (1949)
- Double Confession (1950)
- Trio (1950)
- Hotel Sahara (1951)
- The Story of Robin Hood (1952)
- The Planter's Wife (1952)
- The Sword and the Rose (1953)
- You Know What Sailors Are (1954)
- The Seekers (1954)
- Value for Money (1955)
- Loser Takes All (1956)
- Three Men in a Boat (1956)
- Across the Bridge (1957)
- Nor the Moon by Night (1958)
- Third Man on the Mountain (1959)
- Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
- Very Important Person (1961)
- The Hellions (1961)
- The Fast Lady (1962)
- The Longest Day (1962)
- Crooks Anonymous (1962)
- The Informers (1963)
- Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965)
- Battle of the Bulge (1965)
- The Perils of Pauline (1967, part)
- The Long Duel (1967)
- The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968)
- Monte Carlo or Bust! (1969)
- The Call of the Wild (1972)
- Paper Tiger (1975)
- Murder at the Mardi Gras (1978)
- The Pirate (1978)
- The Fifth Musketeer (1979)
- Institute for Revenge (1979)
- Cheaper to Keep Her (1981)
- The Pirate Movie (1982)
- The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988)
- Genghis Khan (unfinished)
