The Good Companions

There's actually something really quite plausible about this film. It all centres around people who are restless. Unsettled. They need a change in their lives, so leave homes and families and set off on a pilgrimage. For what? Well they don't really know - it's going to be what ever fate throws at them. As we encounter the characters, there's a sense that this might be quite a lively adventure. Edmund Gwenn ("Jess") is from Yorkshire whom you might not expect to gel well with the prim and proper "Jollifant" (John Gielgud). You might expect neither to get on with the lively, but green, "Susie" (Jessie Matthews) but thrive they do. Based on JB Priestley's 1929 novel, this film has a certain feel good factor to it. That not long after the national recovery from the atrocities of the Great War this was probably a tonic that was much needed. It also demonstrates nicely the variety of talents at the the disposal of the likes of Gwenn and Gielgud whom, along with Matthews, can hold a tune well enough as their "Dinky Doos" prove that teamwork and pulling together are usually the most effective way to success - or, at least, to survival! There's plenty of situation humour here and the characters have a little bit of everyone in them - some of that good, some not so. At times it's a bit random, but that does it no harm - it keeps it from becoming a predictable drama, and that's what makes it that bit more entertaining.