Next to No Time

Next to No Time is a 1958 British comedy, filmed in colour, starring Kenneth More, Betsy Drake, John Laurie, Sid James and Irene Handl. It was written and directed by Henry Cornelius and was based on Paul Gallico's short story "The Enchanted Hour".[1]

Next to No Time
Original UK 1-sheet poster
Directed byHenry Cornelius
Written byHenry Cornelius
Based on"The Enchanted Hour" (short story)
by Paul Gallico
Produced byAlbert Fennell
StarringKenneth More
Betsy Drake
CinematographyFreddie Francis
Edited byPeter R. Hunt
Music byGeorges Auric
Production
company
Montpelier
Distributed byBritish Lion Film Corporation (UK)
Release date
  • August 1958 (1958-08)
(London)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

It was the last completed feature film from Cornelius, who died in 1958.[2]

Plot

A mild-mannered British planning engineer is sent across the Atlantic by his firm to negotiate a deal, a task for which he feels hugely out of his depth. However, a friendly barman, with the help of one of his special cocktails, convinces him that his personality changes during the hour when the clocks on the ship are stopped when it enters a new time zone in its progress west.

Cast

Production

In March 1957 Henry Cornelius travelled to the US to look for an American co-star to appear opposite Kenneth More.[3]

Cinematographer Freddy Francis called it "a bit of a mess of a film" and said Henry Cornelius was "a lovely man but a bit of a muddler. And the film didn't make a lot of sense, it needed a bit of stronger direction and by now, unfortunately, one of the problems may have been, by now Kenny More who I liked very much, Kenny More was a bit of a law un to himself and Corny hadn't done anything for a long time. So I've an idea that Kenny may have been a bit too strong for Corny."[4]

Release

The film was premiered at the cinema on the Queen Elizabeth, where some of the film was shot, while the ship was docked at Southampton.[5] It was released in the US by Rank Distributors of America - the first time that company had distributed a non-Rank movie.[6]

Critical reception

Variety called it "a flimsy comedy" with "impeccable casting".[7]

The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Cornelius' little frolic is very much like the bubbles cascading around the opening title and credits—thin, transparent and bouncy."[8] Radio Times called it a "pleasant time-killer".[9] Filmink argued "More was miscast in an Alec Guinness/Norman Wisdom type part, as a nerdy engineer who gets brave at certain times of the day – More is always so cheery and confident that the device of the “worm turning” doesn't work. (And why not have him romance Betsy Drake?)"[10]

After Cornelius' death, a friend of his wrote how "intensely personal, of all this films", Next to No Time was to the writer-director, adding:

A man of acute introspection and self-examination, he identified himself closely with The Little Guy in the story... The character in the film, played by Kenneth More, is a planning engineer in a large factory who finds a difficulty in convincing his employers of his ability. “I know I’ve got it in me” the character says in effect, “but when it comes to putting myself over to people, 1 don’t know how to do it.” In the course of the story. The Little Guy learns how to do it, and becomes a Big Guy. Remembering his own early struggles to convince people of his ability, studying his own development as a man, ever grateful for the success which his ability and determination attained, Cornelius had a passionate belief that his new film, for all its trappings of comedy, would give help and encouragement to the millions of Little Guys who would be given an opportunity to see it. This perhaps serves best to illustrate his overall attitude towards film-making. From boyhood, he saw the medium as a means of disseminating ideas. And the idea that seemed most to excite him is that in our world,The Big Guy is only The Little Guy who has crossed the rubicon by his belief in himself. His death robs the British cinema of its most serious comedy maker.[2]

References
  1. "Next to No Time! (1958)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  2. Danischewsky, Monja (Summer 1958). "Henry Cornelius and the Little Guy". Sight and Sound. Vol. 27, no. 5. p. 262.
  3. "London". Variety. 13 March 1957.
  4. "Interview with Freddie Francis". British Entertainment History Project. 1993–1994.
  5. Richards, Dick (7 January 1959). "Beacoup British Showmanship in Selling Yank and Anglo Pix". Variety. p. 177.
  6. "Rank to Handle Outside British Film in U.S.". Variety. 19 November 1958. p. 12.
  7. "Next to No Time". Variety. 20 August 1958. p. 10.
  8. Thompson, Howard (28 May 1960). "Movie Review – Next to No Time – Screen: Breezy Charade:' Next to No Time' Bows at Little Carnegie". New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  9. Jenkinson, Philip (18 November 1971). "This Week's Films". Radio Times. Vol. 193, no. 2506. BBC. p. 11.
  10. Vagg, Stephen (16 April 2023). "Surviving Cold Streaks: Kenneth More". Filmink.
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