Till Death Us Do Part (film)

Till Death Us Do Part
Directed by	Norman Cohen
Produced by	Jon Penington
Written by	Johnny Speight
Starring	Warren Mitchell Dandy Nichols
Music by	Wilfred Burns
Cinematography	Harry Waxman
Edited by	Anthony Lenny
Distributed by	British Lion UK
Release dates	1969 (1969)
Running time	100 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Till Death Us Do Part is a 1969 film based on the BBC television series Till Death Us Do Part. The film was directed by Norman Cohen and written by Johnny Speight, the creator of the television version.The film was considered successful enough at the box office to spawn a sequel, The Alf Garnett Saga, in 1972.^[1]

Plot

The film begins in September 1939 shortly before World War II begins. Alf Garnett, a dockyard worker, and his wife Else have been married for only a few weeks, and are already weary of one another. Alf gets called up for military duty but is turned down because he's in a reserved occupation. The film depicts their lives during the London Blitz. Else eventually gets pregnant to Alf and Else's shock, and they have a baby daughter, Rita, in 1942. The war ends in 1945 with a huge street party and Alf, characteristically, gets drunk.

Midway through the film it advances from the end of World War II to the 1966 General Election. Rita is now a young woman and engaged to Mike Rawlins, a long-haired layabout from Liverpool. Alf dislikes him because of his support for the Labour Party. Mike and Rita marry in a Catholic church, further angering Alf. At the wedding supper he fights with Mike's family. But Alf and Mike grow a bit closer, attending the 1966 World Cup final together.

The film ends in 1968 with the family moving to a new tower block in Essex after their East End neighbourhood street is demolished.

Cast

• Warren Mitchell as Alf Garnett
• Dandy Nichols as Else Garnett
• Una Stubbs as Rita (the daughter)
• Antony Booth as Mike (the boyfriend)
• Liam Redmond as Mike's Father
• Bill Maynard as Bert
• Brian Blessed as Sergeant
• Sam Kydd as Fred
• Frank Thornton as Valuation Officer
• Ann Lancaster as Woman at Block of Flats
• Michael Robbins as Pub Landlord
• Pat Coombs as Neighbour
• Kate Williams as Sergeant's Girlfriend
• Shelagh Fraser as Mike's Mother
• John D. Collins as RAF officer at Tube Station
• Geoffrey Hughes as Mike's brother
• Tommy Godfrey as Knowledgeable man in pub
• Bob Grant as Man in Pub
• Edward Evans as Jim (shopkeeper)

Reception

Critical

Time Out wrote, "In its favour, it preserves the original characterisations at something like full strength and doesn't attempt to stitch three weekly episodes together and pass it off as a feature."^[2]

Box office

The film was the third most popular movie at the UK box office in 1969. (The first two were Carry On Camping and Carry On... Up the Khyber.)^[3]

Canon

Its largely unknown whether this was meant to be canon to the series or not. Many contradictions occur. In the movie him and Else are depicted as getting married in 1939, where in the series it was always said to be in 1941. They celebrate their silver wedding in 1966, mention 34 years of marriage in a 1975 episode while shes in Australia and after Else died in 1986 in the sequel series, Rita mentions they were married for 45 years.

Notes

• The theme tune was composed by Ray Davies of the Kinks. Sung by Chas Mills, it is heard briefly at the end of the film over the closing credits.
• Location footage was filmed in Tower Hamlets.

References

External links

• Till Death Us Do Part at the Internet Movie Database