Please Turn Over

Please Turn Over

Directed by	Gerald Thomas
Written by	Norman Hudis Basil Thomas (play)
Produced by	Peter Rogers
Starring	Ted Ray Leslie Phillips Julia Lockwood
Cinematography	Edward Scaife
Edited by	John Shirley
Music by	Bruce Montgomery
Color process	Black and white
Production company	Beaconsfield Productions
Distributed by	Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors
Release date	December 1959 (1959-12)
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Please Turn Over is a 1959 British comedy film written by Norman Hudis, produced by Peter Rogers and directed by Gerald Thomas.^[1] It featured Ted Ray, Julia Lockwood, Jean Kent, Joan Sims, Leslie Phillips, Charles Hawtrey, Lionel Jeffries and Victor Maddern.^[2] The screenplay concerns an English town that is thrown into chaos when the daughter of one of the residents publishes a book detailing the supposed secrets of the inhabitants.^[3] It was based on the play Book of the Month by Basil Thomas.^[4]

The various story threads are unconnected other than that they are all covered within the controversial book.

The sexually ambiguous and provocative title is typical of British comedies of the period and has no direct link to the plot and only tangentially connects as a phrase that the doctor might say. It refers to a message commonly printed at the bottom of a card printed on two sides.

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Transcription

Plot

In a quiet English town, seventeen-year-old Jo Halliday lives a fairly boring life working as a hairdresser and living at home, with her nagging mother, pompous father (Ted Ray), and fitness-obsessed aunt. Her father, an accountant, continually wishes that his dreamy, untidy daughter could be more like his secretary, Miss Millicent Jones.

One morning, the local newspaper reveals that Jo has written a book—Naked Revolt—which is an instant bestseller. It tells the story of a young girl who discovers the truth about her family and neighbours, and flees to London to become a prostitute.

Unfortunately, the town's residents believe the book to be a true portrait of the family. Her father finds himself under suspicion at work, as his colleagues believe he has been stealing money, and her mother is regarded as a harlot who has been conducting a twenty-year affair with a retired army officer (Lionel Jeffries) who gives her driving lessons and is Jo's real father. Her local doctor (Leslie Phillips) is portrayed as a philanderer who is sexually involved with a number of his patients while ignoring the desperate advances of his drunken assistant, Jo's aunt.

In fact, none of this is true: her father is scrupulously honest and in love with her mother; the local doctor is a shy man, and the former army officer is simply a family friend. Jo has left town for London with a young playwright, Robert Hughes, who is interested in turning her book into a play. After discovering they are kindred spirits, the two become engaged.

When they return home, Jo is confronted by her angry family and neighbours. The doctor is threatening to sue, and her father and mother have begun questioning each other's fidelity.