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Some Will, Some Won't
Some Will, Some Won't is a 1970 British comedy film directed by Duncan Wood, starring an ensemble British cast including Michael Hordern, Ronnie Corbett, Dennis Price, Leslie Phillips and Arthur Lowe.[1] It is a remake of Laughter in Paradise (1951). In Henry Russell's will, four family members are left £150,000 on condition they do the bizarre tasks Russell has set out for them. PlotIn his will, eccentric practical joker Henry Russell leaves his four relatives £150,000 each, but with stipulations designed to make each of them step completely out of character, and prove themselves as human beings. Bossy Agnes Russell must work as a maid for a month, Herbert must overcome his natural shyness and rob a bank, woman chasing bachelor Simon has to marry the first single woman he speaks to, and crime writer Denniston is asked to commit a crime and be sent to jail for a month. When the four individuals report back to the executor, their lives are transformed for the better. But Henry still has one more surprise up his sleeve. Cast
ProductionLaughter in Paradise (1951) was produced by Mario Zampi and edited by his son Giulio, who produced this film. An early release of Nat Cohen's Anglo-EMI, it carried over from the production schedule of the earlier Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), the studio which had made the original film.[2] Critical receptionThe Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Tired remake of the 1951 Laughter in Paradise. This kind of Ealing comedy idea died with the Fifties, but no one involved here seems to have noticed since the only concession to nearly twenty years of changing values is the fact that the four beneficiaries of the practical joker's will now stand to inherit three times more than they did in the original. Humour, unfortunately, keeps pace with inflation: laboriously directed, the film visibly strains over some well-tried situation comedy formulas. But though the cast work hard, only Michael Hordern as the put-upon crime novelist (Alastair Sim in the original) manages to raise a reluctant smile, notably during his frantic efforts at conspicuous shop-lifting in a crowded department store. It all ends, after a singularly weak sting in the tail, with the cast rolling about in laughter; but there won't be many joining them when there's better comedy to be seen on television most nights of the week."[3] David Parkinson, reviewing in the Radio Times, commented: Some people really will find this comic calamity funny, but they'll be in a very small minority. Laughter in Paradise was a patchy, but thoroughly amiable slice of whimsy .... If this insipid remake is supposed to be a comedy, however, it's not only an insult to the memory of the original, but it also breaches the Trades Descriptions Act. What makes this an even more depressing experience is the utter waste of a cast ... as the quartet forced to humiliate themselves to benefit from joker Wilfrid Brambell's will. If you hear any laughter, it'll be the chortling spirit of Laughter in Paradise director Mario Zampi.[4] References
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