During the first nine months of 1945, Monica Richardson saw more than 75 films. (In the early 21st century the average person probably sees about five films a year at the cinema.) Apart from a couple whose titles she couldn’t remember, they are listed here. She rated almost all of them on the following scale (although I’m willing to entertain debate about the correct ranking of each assessment). The numbers in brackets indicate the distribution of films in each rank.
Very good indeed (1)
Very good (6)
Jolly good (1)
Good (14)
Quite good (31)
Not bad (10)
Wasn’t terribly struck (1)
Not much good (2)
Awful (1)
Utter nonsense (1)
And a parallel rating system for comedies:
Very funny (1)
Funny (1)
Quite funny (1)
For a transcript of the diary from which these notes were taken, click here.
| Film | Rating | Remarks |
| [No title – film starring George Formby] | Not bad | |
| 7 Doors to Death | Not bad | |
| A Medal for Benny | Quite good | |
| A Song to Remember | Good | Lovely music. The life of Chopin but not very accurate as to facts. Still, it was worth seeing just for the music. Jose Iturbi played. Cornel Wilde was Chopin. He was quite good but not much like Chopin to look at. |
| A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | Good | |
| Abroad With Two Yanks | Very funny | |
| Action in Arabia | Good | |
| Alibi | Good | |
| And Now Tomorrow | Good | |
| Arsenic and Old Lace | Good | |
| Can’t Help Singing | Quite good | Though not very storified |
| Captain Blood | Not bad | |
| Captain Caution | Not much good | |
| Constant Nymph | Quite good | A bit sad at the end, but only then, so I didn’t mind |
| Dark Waters | Very good | |
| End of the Road | Good | |
| Everything Happens at Night | Quite good | |
| For the Love of You | [No rating] | Ancient, about 1920 I should think. Gave us a laugh anyway |
| Frenchman’s Creek | Wasn’t terribly struck | |
| Ghost Catchers | Utter nonsense | |
| Goodnight Sweetheart | Not bad | |
| Guess What? | Quite good | |
| Guest in the House | Quite good | Better than I expected |
| Harvest Days | Quite good | |
| He Snoops to Conquer | Quite good | |
| Here Come the Waves | Quite good | |
| Horse Sense | [No rating] | A documentary about horses |
| Hotel Berlin | Good | |
| I Met Him in Paris | Good | |
| I’ll Be Seeing You | Very good | |
| I’ll Remember April | Good | |
| If I Had My Way | Quite good | |
| International Lady | Good | |
| Jamaica Inn | [No rating] | Seemed a bit silly on a second showing |
| Janie | Quite good | |
| Johnny Doesn’t Live Here Any More | Quite good | Rather balmy |
| Jungle Rhapsody | Not bad | Not bad of its kind, though we see too many documentaries about the jungle |
| Lady Let’s Dance | Quite good | |
| Love Story | Quite good | |
| Marked Woman | Good | Old, but good. |
| Marshall of Gunsmoke | [NO RATING] | |
| Mr Emmanuel | Quite good | |
| Murder, He Says | Quite funny | Absolutely balmy but quite funny in spots. |
| Music for Millions | [No rating] | With Margaret O’Brien (child prodigy). Didn’t think much of it (or her). Was rather bored. Gerry too. Quite nice music though classical |
| My Ain Folk | Not bad | Not bad for a Butcher [Butler?] film |
| My Best Gal | Not much good | |
| My Pal Wolf | Good | |
| None Shall Escape | Very good | Very good film although it was a war film |
| Old Acquaintance | Very good indeed | |
| Pride and Prejudice | Jolly good | One of its best features is the nice English spoken. Quite a pleasant change from the modern slang. |
| Rembrandt | Quite good | |
| Rose Marie | Not bad | |
| Sally O’Rourke | Quite good | |
| Secret motive | Not bad | Though a bit senseless |
| Senorita from the West | Quite good | |
| She gets her man | Funny | Balmy, crazy, dotty & mad. Funny though |
| Since You Went Away | Quite good | Though rather slushy in parts |
| South of the Border | Not bad | |
| The Climax | Quite good | Though far fetched |
| The Hitler Gang | Quite good | About Hitler’s rise to power. Interesting |
| The Keys of the Kingdom | Very good | Gregory Peck was Fr Chisholm & was just right for the part. |
| The Right to Live | Quite good | And had a medical flavour |
| The Suspect | Quite good | Charles Laughton was quite good for a change |
| The Thin Man Goes Home | Quite good | Though I can’t stand William Powell |
| The Town Went Wild | Quite good | |
| They Live in Fear | Not bad | |
| They Were Sisters | Very good | Good acting |
| Thoroughbreds | Quite good | |
| Time Flies | Quite good | |
| To Have and Have Not | Good | |
| Tomorrow the World | Quite good | |
| Tropicana | Awful | Mae West! She’s completely out of date. Rotten acting anyway |
| Waterloo Road | Quite good | |
| Western Approaches | Very good | |
| Wilson | Quite good | Though very political. Good acting & in technicolour |
It does make me want to see these films to see if I agree with her ratings, doubt if many of them would be available now, though.
It would probably take a lifetime anyway. But take the eight films she rates as either Very good indeed, very good or jolly good.
Dark Waters – currently available on Amazon (costs £30 though)
I’ll Be Seeing You – currently available on Amazon £3.97
None Shall Escape – Doesn’t seem to be available
Old Acquaintance – currently available on Amazon £8.59
Pride and Prejudice – currently available on Amazon £11.53
The Keys of the Kingdom – currently available on Amazon £5.32
They Were Sisters – currently available on Amazon (but £30 on VHS)
Western Approaches – currently available on Amazon £8.65
So only 3 out of 8 are too expensive to bother with or unavailable.
This is brilliant! So mad that she saw that many in just a few months. The main one I want to see is Horse Sense (a documentary about horses). 🙂 We do need to try and get some of these films together thought