John Mills / H G Wells - The History of Mr Polly (1949)

Being the naif that I am, I was unaware of the comedy side of both H.G. Wells and John Mills, so this film came as a surprise to me. I guess it is an enduring story, having been filmed no less than 4 times, thrice for the little box.

Mr. Polly is a dreamer who is driven to distraction such that he has a hard time holding down a job. When, upon being abruptly fired, he learns of the death of his father, and a tidy sum in inheritance, he chooses another unlikely path - running his own show - and a woman to follow (plucked from a bevy of young things who seem to swarm about him for dubious reasons). He slogs along with this misbegotten adventure for many years...

Well, he keeps up his dreaming, and keeps messing things up, but with a fair amount of charm.

I found John Mills a bit Michael Palin-like, especially in the first half (his youth). Also charming was the hatchet job he made on \"big words\".


Uncompressed PAL DVD5 VIDEO_TS files