View source for A Boy, a Girl and a Bike

{{Short description|1949 British film by Ralph Smart}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = A Boy, a Girl and a Bike
| image          = A_Boy,_a_Girl_and_a_Bike_(1949_film).jpg
| caption        = British quad poster
| director       = [[Ralph Smart]]
| screenplay     = [[Ted Willis]]
| story          = [[Ralph Keene]] <br>& [[John Sommerfield]]
| producer       = Ralph Keene <br> [[Alfred Roome]]
| starring       = [[John McCallum (actor)|John McCallum]] <br> [[Honor Blackman]] <br> [[Patrick Holt]] <br> [[Diana Dors]]
| narrator       =
| cinematography = [[Ray Elton]] <br> [[Phil Grindrod]]
| editing        = [[James Needs]]
| music          = Kenneth Pakeman
| studio         = [[Gainsborough Pictures]]
| distributor    = [[General Film Distributors]] {{small|(UK)}}
| released       = {{Film date|1949|05|23|UK|df=y}}
| runtime        = 92 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = [[English language|English]]
| budget         =
| gross          = £61,000 (by 1953)<ref name="box">[https://books.google.com/books?id=sY1LGFNtCOEC&dq=sydney+box+film+producer&pg=PA232 Andrew Spicer, ''Sydney Box'' Manchester Uni Press 2006 p 211]</ref>
}}
'''''A Boy, a Girl and a Bike''''' is a 1949 British [[romantic comedy]] film directed by [[Ralph Smart]] and starring [[John McCallum (actor)|John McCallum]], [[Honor Blackman]] and [[Patrick Holt]],<ref>Spicer p.214</ref> with [[art direction]] by [[George Provis]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=A Boy, a Girl and a Bike |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150019113 |access-date=6 October 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a63ed4b|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326052639/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a63ed4b|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 March 2017|title=A Boy, A Girl and a Bike (1949)|publisher=}}</ref> The screenplay was by [[Ted Willis, Baron Willis|Ted Willis]]. The film is set in Wakeford and in the [[Yorkshire Dales]] and features cycle sabotage and cycling tactics.
==Plot==
Young couple Sue and Sam are members of a Yorkshire cycling club, the Wakeford Wheelers. Romantic complications ensue when wealthy David becomes smitten with Sue and joins the club to pursue her, much to Sam's dismay.
==Cast==
* [[John McCallum (actor)|John McCallum]] as David Howarth
* [[Honor Blackman]] as Susie Bates
* [[Patrick Holt]] as Sam Walters
* [[Diana Dors]] as Ada Foster
* [[Maurice Denham]] as Bill Martin
* [[Leslie Dwyer]] as Steve Hall
* [[Anthony Newley]] as Charlie Ritchie
* [[Megs Jenkins]] as Nan Ritchie
* [[John Blythe (actor)|John Blythe]] as Frank Martin
* [[Hal Osmond]] as Mr. Bates
* [[Thora Hird]] as Mrs. Bates
* [[Amy Veness]] as Grandma Bates
* Maggie Hanley as Ginger
* [[Cyril Chamberlain]] as Bert Gardner
* [[Barry Letts]] as Syd
* Vera Cook as Helen Gardner
* [[Julien Mitchell]] as Mr. Howarth
* [[Alison Leggatt]] as Mrs. Howarth
* Lyn Evans as Policeman in Cafe
* Margot Bourke as Mary Bates
* Geoffrey Best as Harry
* John Howlett as Alf Pearson
* Patrick Halstead as Willie
* Joan Seton as Beryl Howarth
* Dennis Peck as Norman Bates
* Vera Williams as Jill Bates
* [[Bernard Hepton]] as Cyclist
* Gerald Lawson as Dog Seller
* [[Barbara Murray]]
* Valerie Pearson as Cyclist
* Charles Saynor as Policeman
* [[Marianne Stone]]
* [[Ben Williams (actor)|Ben Williams]] as New Houseowner
==Production==
The film is based on an original idea by Sydney Box, who was head of production at Gainsborough. Box devised the idea while out for a Sunday drive and assigned the script to [[Ted Willis]], who had worked for Box on the scripts for ''[[Holiday Camp (film)|Holiday Camp]]'' and ''[[The Huggetts Abroad]]''. Willis had a reputation as a skilled writer for [[working class|working-class]] characters. The film was originally titled ''Wheels Within Wheels''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sY1LGFNtCOEC&q=%22boy+a+girl+and+a+bike%22+%22sydney+box&pg=PA92|first=Andrew|last=Spicer|title=Sydney Box|publisher=Manchester University Press|date= 2006|isbn=9780719059995}}</ref><ref>Ted Willis, Evening All: 50 Years Over a Hot Typewriter (London: Macmillan, 1991), pp. 11, 23.</ref>
[[Richard Attenborough]] was meant to play a key role but was busy making ''[[The Guinea Pig (film)|The Guinea Pig]]'', so Patrick Holt played his part instead.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228807720 |title=U.S. ACTOR'S FIRST FILM IS BRITISH |newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]] |issue=11948 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=13 May 1948 |accessdate=11 July 2020 |page=17 (LATE FINAL EXTRA) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
In March 1948, Smart scouted locations in [[Yorkshire]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228999880 |title=They'll spend summer outside -- if it's fine |newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]] |issue=2345 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=21 March 1948 |accessdate=11 July 2020 |page=35 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and filming took place in September 1948 at [[Lime Grove Studios]] as well as on location in Yorkshire at places including [[Wakefield]], [[Hebden Bridge]], [[Skipton]] and [[Malham Cove]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55897059 |title=McCALLUM BACK AFTER HOLLYWOOD HOLIDAY |newspaper=[[The Mail (Adelaide)]] |volume=37 |issue=1,900 |location=South Australia |date=30 October 1948 |accessdate=11 July 2020 |page=3 (SUNDAY MAGAZINE) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
==Reception==
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called the film "feeble&nbsp;... valueless for the US market."<ref>[https://archive.org/details/variety174-1949-06/page/n19/mode/1up?q=%22boy+a+girl+and+a+bike%22 Review of film] at Variety</ref>
''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' called it a "simple unpretentious story enlivened by flashes of homely Yorkshire humour."<ref>BOY A GIRL AND A BIKE
Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 16, Iss. 186,  (June 30, 1949): 96.</ref>
[[Leslie Halliwell]] said: "Mild comedy drama with the advantage of fresh air locations."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Halliwell |first=Leslie |title=Halliwell's Film Guide |publisher=Paladin |year=1989 |isbn=0586088946 |edition=7th |location=London |pages=135}}</ref>
In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' [[David Quinlan (film critic)|David Quinlan]] rated the film as "average", writing: "Homespun humour and romance, with a variety of accents from the Rank Charm School."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=[[Batsford Books|B.T. Batsford Ltd.]] |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=195}}</ref>
''The [[Radio Times]] Guide to Films'' gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "A minor, good-natured British comedy romance&nbsp;... The cosy enterprise demonstrates why, with certain superior exceptions, the public preferred American films."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=[[Immediate Media Company]] |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=123}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* Spicer, Andrew. ''Sydney Box''. Manchester University Press, 2006.
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0041203}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170326052639/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a63ed4b A Boy a Girl and a Bike] at BFI
*[https://letterboxd.com/film/a-boy-a-girl-and-a-bike/ A Boy a Girl and a Bike] at Letterbox DVD
{{Ralph Smart}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boy, a Girl and a Bike}}
[[Category:1949 films]]
[[Category:British romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films set in Yorkshire]]
[[Category:Gainsborough Pictures films]]
[[Category:Islington Studios films]]
[[Category:Films shot in England]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ralph Smart]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1940s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Ted Willis, Baron Willis]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:1940s British films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic comedy-drama films]]