Cocktails in the Kitchen

A British comedy far ahead of its time. A unique view of the hardships faced by young newlyweds in postwar London. This film marked the defining roles for several actors/actresses. A solid performance by Dirk Bogarde, possibly overshadowed by the debut of Pia Terri.

FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE is an early film in the long-running career of J. Lee Thompson, the British director best known for his hard-knuckle thrillers starring the likes of Charles Bronson. This one's a kitchen sink comedy, made before the kitchen sink drama became popular with the release of ROOM AT THE TOP in the late 1950s. The film stars the ubiquitous Dirk Bogarde alongside Susan Stephen as a young couple, madly in love, who want to get married but find life working against them. The humour is of the dated and genteel variety rather than the laugh-out-loud antics of, say, the CARRY ONs or Ealing films of the era. The snapshots of social life during the era are engaging, as are supporting players including Cecil Parker, Sid James, James Hayter, Thora Hird and Dennis Price, but this is very much a lesser work.

In the 50s British films tried to combat the growing influence of TV.One of the first sitcoms was on BBC and was called "The Grove Family" about what would then be called a working class family.This is an upmarket version of that set in Kensington in colour.However it all falls very flat as a comedy.Firstly there is a major problem with Susan Stephen ,as she is simply not very good.It is difficult to understand the couples circumstances,where Bogarde doesn't earn enough money,Stephen sits home all day and they employ Thora Hird as a daily woman.There are all sorts of well known faces coming and going through this film but alas they do not enliven what is a very forced farce.Bogarde would of course have a very successful career ahead of him whilst Stephen would soon slip into obscurity.