Second Fiddle

BFI Most Wanted: the hunt for Britain's missing films

Directed by Maurice Elvey, 1957

Veteran director Maurice Elvey's last film for cinema, a comedy concerned with gender relations, including women's opportunities in the workplace.

Bill (Richard Wattis) casts an admiring eye over Pauline (Lisa Gastoni)

Credits

Director Production Company Producer Script Script & Original Story Original Story Photography	Maurice Elvey A.C.T. Films Robert Dunbar Allan MacKinnon Robert Dunbar Mary Cathcart Borer Arthur Graham
Cast: Adrienne Corri (Deborah); Thorley Walters (Charles); Lisa Gastoni (Pauline); Richard Wattis (Bill Turner); Bill Fraser (Nixon); Aud Johansen (Greta)
73 mins, 6,597 feet, sound, black & white.

Why are we so keen to find it?

Maurice Elvey directed his first film in 1913 and maintained a busy career in the British film industry - as well a short stint working for Fox in USA in the mid-1920s - for over 40 years. Many of Elvey's films have been said to search for contemporary relevance within a popular form. From what we can glean of it, this might be true of Second Fiddle: a lightweight domestic comedy attempting to engage with the transformation of women's roles in the workplace. This is Elvey's last film, made shortly before failing eyesight forced his retirement.

What's it about?

From the Monthly Film Bulletin (August 1957):

"When Charles and Deborah, a young couple employed by the Pontifex Advertising Agency, announce their plans to marry, the rest of the staff petition the directors to revoke the company policy of not employing married women. The directors agree. When Deborah goes to America on business, Charles falls easy prey to Pauline, his man-chasing secretary. On the evening of Deborah's return, however, Charles finds Pauline entertaining another male colleague, and returns home just in time to welcome Deborah back."

Last seen?

The film was released in the UK in August 1957. There is no evidence of any subsequent distribution.

What else do we know about it?

Second Fiddle was co-written and produced by Robert Dunbar, who began his career as a production assistant on Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949) and later became a director himself. His co-writer was Allan MacKinnon, who wrote many British feature films through the 1940s and 1950s. The story was devised with the scriptwriter Mary Cathcart Borer.

Does anything survive?

Stills and a poster are held in the BFI National Archive.

Reviews

The film did not receive unbridled praise, but Kinematograph Weekly wrote that "both the cast and the director see that essential momentum is maintained... The picture has many strings to its plot... all securely tied at the finish." The paper commented on the "shrewd feminine angle", adding "A lightly clad poster girl adds a touch of spice to the proceedings."

The Monthly Film Bulletin described the setting - in an advertising agency - as 'novel' and compliments the "often bright, amusing script", while Today's Cinema felt the film "brightly told". Of the cast, it judged, "Maurice Elvey has got the best out of them all. As clean, fresh, British lightweight comedy this rings the bell".

Ivan Mowse, Information Officer, BFI National Library

Read about some of Maurice Elvey's surviving films, including video clips for users in UK schools, colleges, universities and public libraries, at BFI Screenonline.