A Lady Mislaid

{{Short description|1958 British film by David MacDonald}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}} {{Use British English|date=June 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = A Lady Mislaid | image = "A_Lady_Mislaid"_(1958).jpg | caption = Lobby card | director = David MacDonald | producer = Robert Hall | writer = Frederick Gotfurt | based_on = {{based on|''A Lady Mislaid''|Kenneth Horne}} | screenplay = | story = | starring = Phyllis Calvert<br>Alan White<br>Thorley Walters<br>Gillian Owen | music = Sydney John Kay | cinematography = Norman Warwick | editing = Seymour Logie | studio = Welwyn Studios | distributor = Associated British-Pathé (UK) | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1958|12|29}} | runtime = 60 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = | gross = }}

'''''A Lady Mislaid''''' is a 1958 British comedy film directed by David MacDonald and starring Phyllis Calvert, Alan White and Thorley Walters.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=A Lady Mislaid |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150031654 |access-date=9 May 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ae6ecbc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001154223/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ae6ecbc|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 October 2016|title=A Lady Mislaid (1958)|publisher=}}</ref> It was written by Frederick Gotfurt based on the 1948 play of the same name by Kenneth Horne.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&q=a+lady+mislaid+1958+literary+sources&pg=PA830|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|first=Alan|last=Goble|date=1 January 1999|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110951943|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Plot== Esther and her sister Jennifer are spinsters. Esther has bought a remote country cottage, and has invited her novelist sister to stay for recuperation. Esther hasn't told Jennifer that a policeman had called, earlier, had explained that the police wanted to search the house and gardens for the body of the former owner's wife, and that she'd agreed. When a human skeleton is unearthed in the chicken coop, the finger of suspicion points firmly at the previous occupant, Mr. Smith; till it is discovered to be from an ancient Briton.

==Cast== *Phyllis Calvert as Esther Williams *Alan White as Det. Sgt. Bullock *Thorley Walters as Smith *Gillian Owen as Jennifer *Richard Leech as George *Constance Fraser as Mrs. Small *Sheila Shand Gibbs as Betty

==Critical reception== ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote: "An attempt at a short ''comédie noire'', thls film needs a more ruthless and macabre line in humour to exploit a promising situation. Conventional characters and a flagging plot produce, instead of the witty melodrama that might have emerged, a tame piece of make-believe."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1958 |title=A Lady Mislaid |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305821228 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=25 |issue=288 |pages=156 |id={{ProQuest|1305821228}} }}</ref>

The ''Radio Times'' gave the film two out of five stars, writing: "A quaint idea and a decent cast make perfectly respectable entertainment out of an hour-long British programmer, but there's not much more to be said for it."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/film/mwqjh/a-lady-mislaid|title=A Lady Mislaid - Film from RadioTimes|publisher=}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|0198629}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Mislaid}} Category:1958 films Category:1958 comedy films Category:British black-and-white films Category:British comedy films Category:British films based on plays Category:Films directed by David MacDonald (director) Category:Films shot at Associated British Studios Category:1958 English-language films Category:1958 British films Category:Films scored by Sydney John Kay Category:English-language comedy films