Home and Away

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Vernon Sewell directs. Basil Emmott behind the camera. Peter Rolfe Johnson cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 180 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 270 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 4Directed by Vernon Sewell, shot by Basil Emmott. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Editor Peter Rolfe Johnson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison and Lana Morris carry the top of the cast.
• 7IMDB entry: tt0049323 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Only 3 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Basil Emmott

Editing

Peter Rolfe Johnson

Makeup / hair

Bobbie Smith

Runtime

80 min · 1h 20m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

IMDB

Home and Away (1956) ↗

Also by

Vernon Sewell

• 
  The Wind of Change

  1961 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Jack of Diamonds

  1949 · ★ 8.2
• 
  The Human Jungle

  1963 · ★ 8.2
• 
  The World Owes Me a Living

  1945 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Johnny, You're Wanted

  1956 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Where There's a Will

  1955 · ★ 6.9

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-08-10
  ★ 7/10

  Football Pools or Fools? Home and Away is directed by Vernon Sewell and Sewell co-writes the screenplay with Heather McIntyre and R.F. Delderfield. It stars Jack warner, Thora Hird, Kathleen Harrison, Lana Morris, Charles Victor and Valerie White. Music is by Robert Sharples and cimematography by Basil Emmott. A working class British family's luck seems to have turned when the father hits the jackpot on the football pools... How wonderfully quaint and of its time, this harks back to an era when all the family lived under one roof, where the patriarch's opinion held sway and any woman who was remotely flighty was looked down upon. This was before the lottery's of the world started to take a hold and dangled riches beyond compare to the lucky winners. Back here in the 1950s there was The Football Pools, a coupon you would fill out in the hope of toting up enough points from football match predictions of the week and snag the jackpot. Hope springs eternal... George Knowles (Warner) thinks he has finally cracked it, and thus the celebrations begin - but then there's a twist and the film kicks on to something more darker in tone. It's the reactions of all involved that keeps this ever watchable, the humour derived from the catty barbs the women throw at each other, and then the male foibles also come to the fore. The message of money as poison is deftly played, as is the family values angle, and while it doesn't finish off with a bang, pic has a comforting feel that has made worth the time investment. 6.5/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• GE

  George Maynard Productions

Key crew

• Still PhotographerLaurie Ridley
• Assistant DirectorDenis Johnson
• Wardrobe MasterIrma Birch
• Production Manager'Freddie' Pearson
• ProducerGeorge Maynard
• Sound RecordistLeonard Bulkley
• EditorPeter Rolfe Johnson
• Art DirectionDuncan Sutherland
• HairdresserBobbie Smith
• AdaptationVernon Sewell
• Music DirectorRobert Sharples
• AdaptationHeather McIntyre
• ContinuityBetty Forster
• Makeup ArtistNeville Smallwood

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• betting

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1956-09-04