One Wild Oat *** (1951, Robertson Hare and Stanley Holloway, with June Sylvaine, Sam Costa, Andrew Crawford) – Classic Movie Review 13,586

The 1951 British comedy film One Wild Oat stars comic geniuses Robertson Hare and Stanley Holloway, along with June Sylvaine, Sam Costa and Andrew Crawford, plus pre-stardom Audrey Hepburn and Roger Moore.

Director Charles Saunders’s 1951 British black and white comedy film One Wild Oat stars comic geniuses Robertson Hare and Stanley Holloway, along with June Sylvaine, Sam Costa and Andrew Crawford, plus pre-stardom Audrey Hepburn and Roger Moore.

One Wild Oat is a static, stagey but amusing and nicely played version of Vernon Sylvaine’s once renowned 1948 comic stage play about two old foes, solicitor / barrister Humphrey Proudfoot (Robertson Hare) and greyhound trainer Alfred Gilbey (Stanley Holloway), battling their children’s attempts to marry. Hare’s daughter Cherrie (June Sylvaine) is planning to wed Holloway’s son Fred (Andrew Crawford), so Proudfoot (Hare) probes Fred’s philandering past, threatening to reveal it, while Gilbey (Holloway) digs up a wild oat Hare is supposed to have sown years ago.

One Wild Oat is obviously dated (that’s part of its charm) but happily not too faded farcical goings-on, with many jolly laughs, two lovely stars, a super cast, and a fast pace. Plus all the acting is still very appealing, with appearances from a delicious cast notably including Andrew Crawford, Irene Handl as Emily Pepys (Audrey), Joan Rice as Annie the maid, and Audrey Hepburn as the hotel receptionist, and Roger Moore in an uncredited bit part as Man Watching Elevator Repair. Overall, it is a connoisseur’s nostalgic delight.

It is shot at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London. It was released in the UK on May 16, 1951 (London).

It is likely that Audrey Hepburn role was originally larger before censors forced it to be cut as her character was the Wild Oat of the title.

The cast are Robertson Hare, Stanley Holloway, June Sylvaine, Sam Costa, Andrew Crawford, Vera Pearce, Robert Moreton, Irene Handl, Joan Rice, Audrey Hepburn, Constance Lorne, Ingeborg von Kusserow [Ingeborg Wells], Charles Groves, Gwen Cherrell, Fred Berger as Samson, William Fox as the porter, and Roger Moore in an uncredited bit part.

Roger Moore must have wondered if his career would ever start. Moore made his film debut six years earlier in Alexander Korda’s Perfect Strangers (1945). Things looked up when MGM signed Moore to a seven-year contract in March 1954 but then they released from his contract (ie dumped him) after two years.

One Wild Oat is directed by Charles Saunders, runs 78 minutes, is made by Coronet Films, is released by Eros Films (UK), is written by Vernon Sylvaine and Lawrence Huntington, based on Vernon Sylvaine’s play, is shot in black and white by Robert Navarro, is produced by John Croydon, is scored by Stanley Black, and is designed by Ivan King.

The stage version was directed by Jack Buchanan and starred Robertson Hare, who reprises his role for the film, and Alfred Drayton.

Alfred Drayton had a successful partnership with Robertson Hare, a veteran of the  Aldwych Farces, on film and stage. He was appearing with Hare in the play One Wild Oat at the Garrick Theatre, London, at the time of his death on 26 April 1949. Arthur Riscoe replaced Drayton,  and Stanley Holloway replaced both of them for the film.

June Sylvaine, the wife of Vernon Sylvaine, played Cherrie Proudfoot both on stage and film.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,586

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