{{Short description|1964 British film by Robert Hartford-Davis}} {{Use British English|date=March 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = Saturday Night Out | image = "Saturday_Night_Out".jpg | caption = | director = [[Robert Hartford-Davis]] | producer = [[Michael Klinger (producer)|Michael Klinger]]<br>[[Tony Tenser]] | writer = [[Derek Ford]]<br>Donald Ford | based_on = | starring = [[Heather Sears]]<br>[[John Bonney (actor)|John Bonney]]<br> [[Bernard Lee]] | music = Robert Richards | cinematography = [[Peter Newbrook]] | editing = [[Alastair McIntyre]] | studio = Compton Films<br>Tekli British Productions | distributor = Compton-Cameo Films (UK) | released = {{Film date|1964|04||UK}} | runtime = 100 minutes | language = English | country = United Kingdom | budget = }} '''''Saturday Night Out''''' is a 1964 British [[comedy film|comedy]]-[[drama film]] directed by [[Robert Hartford-Davis]] and starring [[Heather Sears]], [[John Bonney (actor)|John Bonney]], [[Bernard Lee]], [[Erika Remberg]], [[Francesca Annis]], [[Margaret Nolan]] and [[David Lodge (actor)|David Lodge]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=The Black Torment |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150052950 |access-date=2 December 2023 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> It was written by [[Derek Ford]] and Donald Ford. It is known for its portrayal of early [[Swinging London]].<ref name="hamilton">John Hamilton, ''Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Film Career of Tony Tenser'', Fab Press, 2005, p 30-33</ref>
==Plot== A trio of merchant seamen and several passengers disembark from their ship when it arrives at the [[Pool of London]] and go out for a Saturday night's entertainment in the city.
==Cast== * [[Heather Sears]] as Penny * [[John Bonney (actor)|John Bonney]] as Lee * [[Bernard Lee]] as George Hudson * [[Erika Remberg]] as Wanda * [[Colin Campbell (actor)|Colin Campbell]] as Jamey * [[Francesca Annis]] as Jean * [[Inigo Jackson]] as Harry * [[Vera Day]] as Arlene * [[Caroline Mortimer]] as Marline * [[Margaret Nolan]] as Julie * [[David Lodge (actor)|David Lodge]] as Arthur * [[Nigel Green]] as Paddy * Toni Gilpin as Margaret * Barbara Roscoe as Miss Bingo * [[Martine Beswick]] as barmaid * [[Patricia Hayes]] as Edie's mother * [[Derek Bond]] as Paul * [[Freddie Mills]] as Joe * [[The Searchers (band)|The Searchers]] as themselves * [[David Burke (British actor)|David Burke]] as manager * Shirley Cameron as Edie * Patsy Fagan as barmaid * Gerry Gibson as doorman * [[Barry Langford]] as barman * Janet Milner as waitress * Wendy Newton as Kathy * Jack Taylor as landlord
==Production== The film was an [[independent film|independent]] production shot at [[Shepperton Studios]] and [[location shooting|on location]] around [[London]]. Locations in East London include Pennyfields, Poplar High Street and West India Dock Road.<ref>https://www.reelstreets.com/films/saturday-night-out/</ref> The film's set were designed by the [[art director]] [[Peter Proud]].
==Critical reception== ''[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote: "Routine multi-stranded story of sailors on the town – meeting nice girls, meeting floozy girls, getting drunk, being robbed and so forth. Both script and direction, though striving hard to inject a flavouring of sex and wit, are colourless; but the acting is in general rather better than anything else in the film."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1964 |title=Saturday Night Out |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305824069 |journal=[[Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=31 |issue=360 |pages=77 |id={{ProQuest|1305824069}} }}</ref>
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said: " Robert Hartford Davis is a sound director, but ''Saturday Night Out'' has fallen apart mainly because of poor, undistinguished dialog and predictable situations. There are some good glimpses of thesping, and locales are satisfactorily presented. ... Hartford-Davis has done a routine but uninspired job as director and producer. Perhaps the greatest disappointment in the film is the appearance of Miss Sears, after a longish layoff, in a role which gives poor scope for her talent."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=18 March 1964 |title=Saturday Night Out |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1014827683 |journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |volume=234 |issue=4 |pages=6 |id={{ProQuest|1014827683}} }}</ref>
The ''[[New Statesman]]'' wrote: "Consistently ridiculous, ''Saturday Night Out'' is the latest thing to come from that egregious team who gave us ''[[The Yellow Teddy Bears|The Yellow Teddybears]]''. In this one Robert Hartford-Davis follows the fortunes of four disembarked matelots and a passenger (Bernard Lee), separately hotfoot after a bit of you-know-what in and around London's square-mile of vice. The lackadaisical direction, particularly inept in a kind of [[Christopher Robin]] interlude with a girl beatnik that is patently there to lend both tone and scope to an otherwise sordid outing, incredibly sharpens during a little descent into a Soho clip-joint – admonitory and marvellously played."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1964 |title=Saturday Night Out |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1306916318 |journal=[[New Statesman]] |volume=67 |issue= |pages=375 |id={{ProQuest|1306916318}} }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0057472|Saturday Night Out}} * [https://www.reelstreets.com/films/saturday-night-out/ ''Saturday Night Out''] at [https://www.reelstreets.com/ ReelStreets] {{Robert Hartford-Davis}}
[[Category:1964 films]] [[Category:1964 comedy-drama films]] [[Category:Films directed by Robert Hartford-Davis]] [[Category:British comedy-drama films]] [[Category:Films set in London]] [[Category:Films shot in London]] [[Category:Films shot at Shepperton Studios]] [[Category:1964 English-language films]] [[Category:1964 British films]] [[Category:English-language comedy-drama films]]