Genevieve. (1953 film)

Coronavirus notwithstanding, it's still too cold in my garage to work on the Model T and get a couple of fresh tyres on the wheels, ready for the forthcoming driving season.
That's how I found myself watching this classic British film from 1953.
Set against the background of the London to Brighton veteran car run, it is centered around the friendship, (and rivalry) between two friends Alan McKim, (owner of the eponymous 1904 Darracq) played by John Gregson, and Ambrose Claverhouse portrayed by Kenneth More who drives a 1905 Spyker. Along with their long suffering wives and girlfriends played by the stunning Dinah Sheridan and Kay Kendall respectively.
The run goes well for Claverhouse, but not so well for McKim, and as a result the married couple end up spending a night in a rather terrible hotel. This part of the film features a truly hilarious performance from Joyce Grenfell as the hotel receptionist.
After a fractious evening at the post event party, fuelled by alcohol and petty jealousies. McKim and Claverhouse decide to race back to London from Brighton the following day, for the princely sum of one hundred pounds, (which was earlier established be nearly all the McKim's savings). The women being unwitting partners in this highly illegal event.
It is from here on that the film really gathers its comedic steam with farcical situations piled one on top of the other with such frequency it's difficult to keep track of them. Suffice to say that the film reaches a happy ending in its own bizarre way.
It can be difficult to judge a film that is 67 years old. As attitudes, like the times have changed. For instance, though the couples "kiss" you never see their lips touch. Likewise, any amorous activities are shunned. Which does lead to a very amusing double entendre as the film fades from the McKim's bedroom to the to the start of the car run and the commentators voice over could cleverly be taken both ways...
It's not a riotous, laugh out loud comedy. It's driven by the characters and the situations they find themselves in, from the pig headed pride of Alan McKim, to Ambrose Claverhouse's male chauvinism. A man who thinks nothing of telling his girlfriend (Kendall) to "put her back into it" as she stands calf deep in water trying to push the Spyker out of a ford.  As the men battle with each other in their boorish way, the women are content to get along and many times put their partners in their place with a wry glance or a put down remark.

Why should you watch an almost 70 year old film? For a start, it is one of the great films of the twentieth century. A film that is the equal of any British comedy from the great Ealing Studios. Then there's the soundtrack, performed by harmonica virtuoso Larry Alder that perfectly complements the feel. It's a film that portrays a way of life now gone, post war Britain where politeness and good manners worked wonders and an honest sounding "I'm sorry officer" would get you let off a speeding ticket.

I can't finish though, without mentioning one scene about 10 minutes from the end that defines this as the ultimate classic car film. As the two cars chase into London, they are stopped by a policeman directing traffic. An old gentleman, played superbly by Arthur Wontner, comes out of a shop, spies the car, and begins to wax lyrical on how he met and courted his wife in a Darracq like Genevieve. Listening to this old man recount his story as Claverhouse speeds away in the Spyker, McKim is sure to loose the race, the bet, and the car. But it doesn't matter and his face softens as the story lengthens, and in the end he offers to take the old man and his wife for a ride in Genevieve the next day. This is when you realise that this film really "gets" what it means to own a classic car of any vintage. I'm sure we've all come across person looking at one of our cars and has been regailed with tales of how they, or a friend had one. It's always a special moment for me when that happens and this film realises that like no other film had done before, and probably ever will. That is why you should watch it.