Tony Draws a Horse

1950 British film

June 1950 (1950-06)

(UK)

Running time

91 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishBudget£93,400^[1]Box office£80,000^[1]

Tony Draws a Horse is a 1950 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Cecil Parker, Anne Crawford and Derek Bond.^[2] It was adapted from a 1939 play of the same name by Lesley Storm.^[3]

Plot

When their eight-year-old son Tony (Anthony Lang) draws a horse on his father's office wall, complete with reproductive organs, surgeon father (Cecil Parker) and psychiatrist mother (Anne Crawford) come to blows over how to deal with the boy's behaviour. The father favours discipline and a beating for the child, the mother wants to spare the rod and reward Tony for so freely expressing himself. The resulting marital bust up causes the wife to leave for her parents home, and from thence to Dieppe.

Cast

Cecil Parker as Dr. Howard Fleming
Anne Crawford as Clare Fleming
Derek Bond as Tim Shields
Barbara Murray as Joan Parsons
Mervyn Johns as Alfred Parsons
Barbara Everest as Mrs. Parsons
Edward Rigby as Grandpa
Dandy Nichols as Mrs. Smith
Gabrielle Blunt as Grace
Marjorie Gresley as Mrs. Carey Brown
David Hurst as Ivan
Anthony Lang as Tony Fleming
Kynaston Reeves as Dr. Bletchley

Critical reception

In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote, "To spank or not to spank, that is the question which gayly precipitates a clash of parental personalities and a consequent explosion of domestic strife in the Park Avenue Theatre's new attraction, the British comedy, 'Tony Draws a Horse'....It is out of this cozy situation that Mr. Williams (from Mr. Storm) has propelled a tempest of family complications that rocks with hilarity...it is a toss-up as to which is more fun—Cecil Parker as the pompous father or Anne Crawford as the mother with new ideas. Mr. Parker does a richly amusing characterization of a righteous fuddy-dud and Miss Crawford is blithe and beguiling as a lady who is a little light in the head. Barbara Everest fumes and fusses like a school-marm as the matron who worships routine, Mervyn Johns is gentle as her husband and Edward Rigby is a card as grandpa. Dandy Nichols, David Hurst and Marjorie Gresley are amusing in other character roles; Derek Bond and Barbara Murray are good as love-birds and Anthony Lang is fit to slaughter as the kid. Under the facile direction of John Paddy Carstairs, the whole lot turn out a rollicking little picture that is loaded with chuckles and guffaws".^[4]

Leonard Maltin called the film an "Occasionally funny but overly talky (not to mention outdated) satire".^[5]

More recently, the Radio Times wrote, "Prolific comedy director John Paddy Carstairs here turns in a workmanlike, but nevertheless likeable, adaptation of Lesley Storm's stage play."^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 102. Income is producer's share of receipts.
^ "Tony Draws a Horse (1950)". BFI. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016.
^ Goble, Alan (8 September 2011). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110951943 – via Google Books.
^ "Movie Reviews". 27 March 2020 – via NYTimes.com.
^ "Tony Draws a Horse (1950) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
^ "Tony Draws a Horse – review | cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online". Radio Times.