barefoot-gal from United States gave a spot on review of this allegorical film. Yes, it represented the decline of the British Empire after WW2. The Egyptians had just dared to thumb their noses at Great Britain by seizing the Suez Canal, and thus showed them that the Empire was finished. Other colonies were not far behind in defying the country which they felt had exploited them for so long, for which they had no loyalty. By using the dysfunctional impoverished Rice family as a metaphor, the film showed the end of an era as the once immensely popular music hall was grinding to a halt in run down theaters in seedy seaside towns, themselves coming to the end of their hey-day as package holidays to the Mediterranean were becoming popular and affordable. Entertainment by fading vaudevillians which which would have appealed to a captive audience of servicemen and people who could not go abroad in war time no longer had appeal. The audience wanted something new.
The audience had no loyalty to a form of entertainment which had held a monopoly until alternatives arrived, just as today's audiences have deserted the cinema for TV, and now are deserting TV for DVD's and Internet downloads. Supermarket checkouts have replaced individual service in groceries, and on line retailing is replacing department stores. Why should they care? Those who cannot adapt, perish.
Archie Rice is the son of a popular music hall star of the Edwardian era, without his talent; nevertheless, it is the only life he knows and he is trying to make a living for himself and his family. We see this many times as the son of a star, with Jr. tacked on to the famous name, tries and fails to follow in his father's footsteps and cash in on his name, but there is only room for one. Archie Rice knows that he will never make it, but he has to go on as it is all he knows. As barefoot-gal noted, we are still seeing this today as proud occupations are superseded by a new technology and the skilled worker becomes obsolete.
Archie makes a desperate attempt to raise money for a new show and make himself feel he still has what it takes by seducing a beauty contest runner up whose affluent mother will put up the money in return for a role for her daughter. We never see whether she is anything more than a pretty face awed by a whiff of show biz.
Had Archie been born 20 years earlier he may well have made a good living on the halls performing the same act week after week for years as he travelled around the provinces, but there is little demand for live entertainment and millions of people are seeing a variety act at once via TV. Times are changing and he either gives in, or just goes on day after day putting one foot in front of the other and trying to hold it all together. This is a film which is uncomfortable to watch, but makes the viewer think and remember for a long, long, time. Someone referred to it as a Greek Tragedy, and I would agree.
The audience had no loyalty to a form of entertainment which had held a monopoly until alternatives arrived, just as today's audiences have deserted the cinema for TV, and now are deserting TV for DVD's and Internet downloads. Supermarket checkouts have replaced individual service in groceries, and on line retailing is replacing department stores. Why should they care? Those who cannot adapt, perish.
Archie Rice is the son of a popular music hall star of the Edwardian era, without his talent; nevertheless, it is the only life he knows and he is trying to make a living for himself and his family. We see this many times as the son of a star, with Jr. tacked on to the famous name, tries and fails to follow in his father's footsteps and cash in on his name, but there is only room for one. Archie Rice knows that he will never make it, but he has to go on as it is all he knows. As barefoot-gal noted, we are still seeing this today as proud occupations are superseded by a new technology and the skilled worker becomes obsolete.
Archie makes a desperate attempt to raise money for a new show and make himself feel he still has what it takes by seducing a beauty contest runner up whose affluent mother will put up the money in return for a role for her daughter. We never see whether she is anything more than a pretty face awed by a whiff of show biz.
Had Archie been born 20 years earlier he may well have made a good living on the halls performing the same act week after week for years as he travelled around the provinces, but there is little demand for live entertainment and millions of people are seeing a variety act at once via TV. Times are changing and he either gives in, or just goes on day after day putting one foot in front of the other and trying to hold it all together. This is a film which is uncomfortable to watch, but makes the viewer think and remember for a long, long, time. Someone referred to it as a Greek Tragedy, and I would agree.