The Family Way
| The Family Way | |
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| Directed by | Roy Boulting |
| Produced by | John Boulting |
| Written by |
Bill Naughton Roy Boulting Jeffrey Dell |
| Starring |
Hayley Mills Hywel Bennett John Mills Marjorie Rhodes Murray Head Avril Angers |
| Music by | Paul McCartney |
| Cinematography | Harry Waxman |
| Edited by | Ernest Hosler |
| Distributed by |
Boulting Brothers British Lion Films Warner Brothers |
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Release date
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Running time
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115 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2,225,000 (US/ Canada) |
The Family Way is a 1966 British comedy-drama film based on Bill Naughton's play All in Good Time (1963). It began life in 1961 as a television play, Honeymoon Postponed. The film was produced and directed by John and Roy Boulting, respectively, and starred father and daughter John Mills and Hayley Mills. Naughton adapted the play himself.
Following the wedding of young, virginal Jenny Piper (Hayley Mills) to sensitive, bookish cinema projectionist Arthur Fitton (Hywel Bennett), a rowdy reception is held at a local pub in their Lancashire town. The couple return to the Fitton home to spend their first night together, prior to leaving for a honeymoon in Majorca - only to find Arthur's father Ezra (John Mills) leading the drunken singing with some party guests in the living room. Arthur clashes with Ezra, a lifelong gasworks employee who doesn't understand his son's enjoyment of reading and classical music. After a strained evening, the newlyweds finally retire, only for their marital bed to collapse as the result of a practical joke played by Arthur's boorish boss, Joe Thompson (Barry Foster). Jenny laughs at the situation, but Arthur imagines she is laughing at him and then is not able to consummate their marriage. Arthur assures Jenny that all will be well once they get to Majorca, but the next day the couple discover that the travel agent who sold them their tickets has absconded with the money, resulting in them missing their honeymoon.
Unable to obtain a home of their own, Jenny and Arthur have to go on living in the crowded Fitton house with Arthur's parents and adult brother Geoffrey, where the thin walls and lack of privacy exacerbate Arthur's discomfort. As days pass into weeks, the marriage remains unconsummated, and the strain between the couple steadily worsens, not helped by Arthur's job keeping him away from the house at night, when Jenny is home from her day job. Jenny begins to go out socially with Geoffrey, who is attracted to her, although she puts off his advances. After a plea from Jenny, Arthur visits a marriage guidance counsellor, but his visit is overheard by a gossipy charwoman who spreads the story. Eventually, Jenny confides in her mother and Jenny's parents visit Arthur's parents to tell them. Lucy (Marjorie Rhodes) reminisces to the Pipers how Ezra took Billy, his close male friend since childhood, along on their honeymoon and spent more of his time with Billy than with her. Later, Lucy tells Mrs Piper of the evening she spent alone with Billy when Ezra was working late, which immediately preceded the abrupt disappearance of Billy from their lives, with no explanation. Jenny also confides in her Uncle Fred and he advises her that Arthur's problem would likely be resolved if she and Arthur lived in their own home instead of in Arthur's father's house.
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Wikipedia