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No Time for Tears (film)

Summary

No Time for Tears is a 1957 British drama film directed by Cyril Frankel in CinemaScope and Eastman Color and starring Anna Neagle, George Baker, Sylvia Syms and Anthony Quayle.[1] The staff at a children's hospital struggle with their workload.[2]

No Time for Tears
British theatrical poster
Directed byCyril Frankel
Written byAnne Burnaby
Frederic Gotfurt
Based onan original story by Anne Burnaby
Produced byW.A. Whittaker
StarringAnna Neagle
George Baker
Sylvia Syms
Anthony Quayle
CinematographyGilbert Taylor
Edited byGordon Pilkington
Music byFrancis Chagrin
Production
company
Distributed byAssociated British-Pathé (UK)
Release dates
  • 8 August 1957 (1957-08-08) (London, England)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot edit

The interwoven dramas of staff and patients in Mayfield Children's Hospital, where the doctors and nurses are in the business of restoring children's lives. One small child risks losing his sight, while twin boys fool the doctors over which one has appendicitis. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, new nurse Margaret Collier suffers pangs of unrequited love for houseman Dr. Nigel Barnes.

Cast edit

Production edit

Herbert Wilcox tried to get the rights to the story but they were obtained by Associated British. That company offered a lead role to Wilcox's wife Anna Neagle. It was the first film she appeared in that was not directed by Wilcox for twenty years.[3]

Reception edit

Box office edit

According to Kinematograph Weekly the film was "in the money" at the British box office in 1957.[4]

Critical reception edit

Monthly Film Bulletin said "No Time for Tears neglects none of the characteristic incidents of the hospital picture: the doctor-nurse affair, the touch-and-go operation, a miraculous recovery, supervision by an all-seeing matron, and medical-student humour are all exploited. But the perfunctory way in which the film assembles its material, its shameless reliance on easy emotionalism and disjointed narrative style, make this little more than a hospital soap opera. It is by no means incompetently made, and within its cosy conventions adequately played; its picture of hospital life, though, conveys a sense less of devotion and dedication than of sickly sweetness."[5]

The Observer called it "sentimental but not often silly ... it's overall tone is kind, the atmosphere cheerful."[6]

The Evening Sentinel said "there's just about every clinical cliche on the chart."[7]

Variety called it "a routine comedy-weepie".[8]

Sky Movies gave the film two out of five stars, and wrote, "this is standard medical soap fare and could be mistaken for a bumper edition of Casualty":[9] while TV Guide rated the film three out of four stars, and wrote, "Though the situations are clearly out of the movie medical bag, the ensemble manages to rise above clichés and stereotypes. Neagle carries the film as the head nurse, with good support from Syms as the new nurse on her staff".[10]

Filmink said it "needed less subplots and more soap, but it’s not bad and Syms’ character sings and dances in a random dance number at the end."[11]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Totally predicatable British tearjerker with a happy ending."[12]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Hospital soap opera largely steers clear of stickiness into warmth."[13]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "What else could you call a film whose sole intention is to have you blubbing your eyes out from the off? Anna Neagle stars in this mawkish account of life in a children's hospital. If the triumphs and tragedies of the kiddies don't have you reaching for tissues, then the torrid love life of nurse Sylvia Syms certainly will. The members of the cast work minor miracles despite the string of clichés."[14]

References edit

  1. ^ "No Time for Tears". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  2. ^ "No Time for Tears (1957) - Cyril Frankel - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
  3. ^ "Anna Neagle to Make Picture Sans Herbert Wilcox". Variety. 12 December 1956. p. 12.
  4. ^ Billings, Josh (12 December 1957). "Others in the money". Kinematograph Weekly. p. 7.
  5. ^ "No Time for Tears". Monthly Film Bulletin. 24 (276): 116. 1957 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ Lejeune, C.A. (11 August 1957). "Curing and Killing". The Observer. p. 11.
  7. ^ "90 minute 'weepie' with every cliche". Evening Sentinel. 14 August 1957. p. 6.
  8. ^ "No Time for Tears". Variety. 14 August 1957. p. 6.
  9. ^ "No Time for Tears". sky.com.
  10. ^ "No Time For Tears". tvguide.com.
  11. ^ Vagg, Stephen (22 February 2023). "The Surprisingly Saucy Cinema of Sylvia Syms". Filmink. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  12. ^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 737. ISBN 0586088946.
  13. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 354. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
  14. ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 667. ISBN 9780992936440.

External links edit

  • No Time for Tears at IMDb  
  • No Time for Tears at BFI
  • No Time for Tears at ReelStreets