Just My Luck (1957 film)

Just My Luck
Directed by	John Paddy Carstairs
Written by	Peter Cusick Alfred Shaughnessy Peter Blackmore
Produced by	Earl St. John Hugh Stewart
Starring	Norman Wisdom Margaret Rutherford Jill Dixon Leslie Phillips
Cinematography	Jack E. Cox
Edited by	Roger Cherrill
Music by	Philip Green
Production company	Rank Organisation
Distributed by	Rank Film Distributors
Release date	14 November 1957 (1957-11-14)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Just My Luck is a 1957 British sports comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Norman Wisdom, Margaret Rutherford, Jill Dixon and Leslie Phillips. It was written by Peter Cusick, Alfred Shaughnessy and Peter Blackmore.

Plot

Norman Hackett is employed in a jeweller's workshop and is innocently preoccupied with dreaming of meeting the window dresser in the shop across the street from his workplace. He wants to purchase a diamond pendant for her and, after persuasion, gambles a pound on a six-horse accumulator at the Goodwood races. The bookmaker grows concerned when it appears Hackett, after winning on the first five races, could win over £16,000.

Cast

• Norman Wisdom as Norman Hackett (and his own father)
• Margaret Rutherford as Mrs. Dooley
• Jill Dixon as Anne
• Leslie Phillips as the Hon. Richard Lumb
• Delphi Lawrence as Miss Daviot
• Joan Sims as Phoebe
• Edward Chapman as Mr. Stoneway
• Peter Copley as Gilbert Weaver
• Vic Wise as Eddie Diamond
• Marjorie Rhodes as Mrs. Hackett
• Michael Ward as Cranley
• Marianne Stone as tea bar attendant
• Felix Felton as man in cinema
• Michael Brennan as masseur
• Cyril Chamberlain as Goodwood official
• Eddie Leslie as gas man
• Freda Bamford as Mrs. Crossley
• Robin Bailey as steward
• Campbell Cotts as steward
• Sam Kydd as craftsman
• Raymond Francis as Ritchie
• Ballard Berkeley as starter at Goodwood (uncredited)
• Jerry Desmonde as racegoer (uncredited)
• Hal Osmond as hospital visitor with flowers (uncredited)

Production

The film was shot at Pinewood Studios near London with sets designed by the art director Ernest Archer.

Reception

Box office

Kinematograph Weekly listed it as being "in the money" at the British box office in 1958.

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said "With a good script and firm, imaginative direction, Norman Wisdom might still be able to make an individual contribution to British comedy. This however is a rather thin "yes-it-is-no-it-isn't" affair, which shows little real appreciation of Wisdom's characteristic qualities."

Leslie Halliwell said: "Flat star vehicle."

According to BFI Screenonline, "Just My Luck is not a piece of comedic genius, nor even the best of Wisdom's films, but it's an amiable, well-constructed piece that recalls a gentler age".

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Pleasant Wisdom comedy, if hardly tailored to his talents."

See also

• List of films about horse racing

External links

• Just My Luck at IMDb
• Just My Luck at the BFI's Screenonline