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Touches You

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This delightful comedy has only one strike against it, so let's get that - or rather him - out of the way quick smart. mean Bonar Colleano. I can't stand him at the best of times but here he is especially obnoxious. True, the character is supposed to be a pain, but Mr Colleano's efforts to irritate the audience go far, far beyond the call of duty. Fortunately his role is comparatively small, so don't let his presence put you off seeing this most entertaining film.Aside from Colleano, the acting throughout is excellent. Nino Martini not only has a great voice but an amazing (for a singer anyway) air of self-deprecation, which is not only unusual but highly winning. As for the charming, if somewhat agreeably self-centered Patricia Roc, she has the best role of her career, and she plays it perfectly. A less skilful actress would be unable to keep such judicious balance. No matter how selfish the character's actions we still like her. No matter how stupid her whims and caprices, we are still firmly on her side.Stanley Holloway does a marvelous pantomime bit as the impressed tramp, the script cleverly managing the plot so that he doesn't speak a single word throughout his comic ordeal. Guy Middleton has his usual part, fortunately not large enough to cause him to out-stay his welcome. There are many delightful cameos, too numerous to list, though we cannot pass by Hugh Wakefield's wonderfully bizarre old-school-tie encounter with Martin Miller, or Irene Worth's superb put-downs.As you all know, I'm a pushover for movies with a movie background. This one is especially fascinating, not only because it brings all the cumbersome panoply of a recording session to the forefront, but because of all the light-hearted jests thrown at the audience. (One unintended jest of course has Christopher Lee in a tiny role as the voluble Willy Fueter's assistant).I could go on and on talking about some of the more interesting scenes, but I'd rather you discovered all the joys of this wonderful little gem yourself. Perhaps "little" is the wrong adjective, as the budget is remarkably lavish by British "A" standards, with lots of eye-catching location photography, pleasing sets and costumes, and hordes of extras milling around. The direction is most pleasantly smooth, even stylish. The normally humdrum Young has excelled himself here. The pace is right, the humor is exquisitely balanced between realism and fantasy, the acting is so winning (with one exception), it's a puzzle how he managed it. Especially as comedy is far from his usual James Bond forte.Other credits are equally adept, with special hurrahs for the arresting camerawork and highly polished film editing. The songs are melodious too.OTHER VIEWS: How come such an irresistibly fascinating, stylishly sophisticated, winningly off-beat, likeably satiric and gently self-mocking comedy has not been discovered by the cultists? It has everything that the undergraduate set most admire in movies. It pokes fun at authorities and officialdom, ridicules pomposity, explodes egos, is anti-conformity and pro individual liberty, is cynical, quick-witted, inventively out-of-the-rut, pleasingly stylish and parades so many amusingly off-beat characters. The facts that the movie is so well made, the songs so tuneful and that cult hero Chris Lee has an early walk-on are yet further assets.

In the first twenty minutes we have rather a funny story.Stanley Holloway is a petty thief who gets into Nino Matinellis train compartment steals his clothes and Walter.When the train arrives at its destination Holloway getting off in Martinellis clothes is mistaken for the singer and taken to a film studio as he is supposed to be starring in a film.There is a truly hilarious sequence where different earpieces are tried on him.Finally he is taken onto a sound stage where he is supposed to sing.Martinellis has found his way to the studios and starts to sing.After that the entertainment comes to an end.Martinellis and Patricia Fox find themselves stranded without any money.The rest is predictable and uninteresting save for a brief appearance by Richard Hearne as a trailblazer.

This picture is actually two pictures in one. The central romantic comedy of the two strangers (Nino Martini and Patricia Roc) missing their trains and being stranded together for the night is contained within the framework of a satire on movie-making in which an incompetent Italian film producer, Fogliati (Charles Goldner), is trying to get his three scriptwriters to come up with a plot suitable for his latest singing discovery. It is in the latter which, for me at least, the best moments of the film come. Of note are the ten minutes in which Stanley Holloway steals the film without a line of dialogue, and the ending, suspiciously similar to one Woody Allen used many years later. I wonder how many other times this device has been used.The core story is pleasant enough, but nothing out of the ordinary. It is however beautifully lit. Patricia Roc is pleasing as usual, but Nino Martini although a fine singer, is a bit hard to believe as a romantic lead. I have always however found Bonar Colleano's performances grating (you will know him from countless performances in English films of this period as an abrasive American), and here he is more so than usual.The parallels drawn to "It Happened One Night" unfortunately elude me. Finally, for those interested, you will also find a very brief appearance by Christopher Lee as one of Fogliati's assistants.

You'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching It Happened One Night, for that's what One Night With You appears to be loosely based on. In the red corner, the gorgeous Patricia Roc takes on the Claudette Colbert role with splendour. In the blue corner, Nino Martini is a bit old and loose around the jowels to play a Clark Gable, but he at least has a nice singing voice. The pair, total strangers, miss their trains and end up stuck together for the night in Italy, with no food, clothes, or money. A lot ensues before the next morning, including a stay in the local prison! Mary (Roc)'s father, fiance, and lover also tag along for part of the ride. 8/10