The Family Way

Young newlyweds Arthur and Jenny Fitton want nothing more than to get their marriage started on the right foot. But before they can depart for their honeymoon in Spain, they have to spend their first night together at the home of Arthur's parents. The couple are prevented from having any intimacy, but it only gets worse. They find out that their trip to Spain is canceled, which sets the tone for a rocky few weeks.

The Family Way seems to have had a splashy release for a couple of reasons. It involved a topic rarely dealt with: an unconsummated new marriage, and the debut of Harley Mills in an adult role. I know when I was in the throes of puberty I would have been gobsmacked if I had been allowed to see the naked back of Hayley Mills, whom I had boyishly fancied in her Disney movies. It is a pretty good movie in its own right, not rude or crude in its depiction of what would be treated as a sex comedy nowadays but which received a half-serious treatment back then. It takes its time to develop the characters and the main plot. I read a couple of reviews that suggested that John Mills stole every scene he was in, but I didn’t see it that way. He was good, but I thought Hayley owned nearly every scene she was in. She may have been seen as playing herself or the same type as in her older films, but she was serious when she needed to be, and her character’s innocence and sweetness felt real to me and was the secret ingredient to make you care about their problem. The only negatives for me involved the brothers. The temporarily impotent young husband had a breakthrough of sorts due to violent feelings that had built up in him. Back then that was no doubt acceptable, but to modern sensibilities having that violence “solve” his problem felt a little worrisome. I also thought the groom’s brother was granted a few too many liberties as he flirted and more or less dated the bride while new hubby was working, but I suppose in a movie without a real villain, tension needs to be built up in other ways. But I found the movie well worth watching all the way through because of Hayley Mills’ sunny but also layered performance, as well as for the sensitive way it handled its rare subject matter of a virginal wife and what it can do to young love if it is not resolved in time.

There is quite a fun dynamic on display here from Hayley Mills ("Jenny") and her new husband "Arthur" (Hywel Bennett) as they have to make their way in a new married world fraught with difficulties. They have little money, so live with his well meaning but slightly domineering parents "Ezra" (John Mills) and "Lucy" (Marjorie Rhodes) and an accident with their bed puts paid to any hanky-panky! Their honeymoon is aborted after it transpires the travel agent has absconded with their money and gradually they discover that their lives are the subject of the wagging tongues all around town. The comedy is gently effective here. This could be a depiction of many new marriages where even the most loving of couples are having to get used to the stresses and strains of a new way of living. Mills is on great form; Avril Angers and John Comer support well as her parents "Liz" and "Leslie" and this adaptation leaves much of the original humour from Bill Naughton's play intact for us to enjoy. What makes this enduring is that it is quite touching. A score from Paul McCartney is also notable though maybe more because he wrote it (not because it's especially memorable). You can share in the laughs, but you also sympathise with this couple as they try sort themselves out and stay sane! Those of us of a certain age might well find this resonates a bit, and still relate to it too - even if, on occasion, it makes you cringe a bit!