What Every Woman Wants (1954 film)

What Every Woman Wants is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring William Sylvester, Elsie Albiin, Brenda De Banzie and Patric Doonan, as well as featuring Brian Rix and Prunella Scales.^[1] It was based on a play Relations Are Best Apart by Edwin Lewis^[2] and was shot at Walton Studios outside London. The film's sets were designed by the art director John Stoll.

What Every Woman Wants
Directed by	Maurice Elvey
Written by	Talbot Rothwell
Based on	Relations Are Best Apart by Edwin Lewis
Produced by	David Dent
Starring	William Sylvester Elsie Albiin Brenda De Banzie
Cinematography	Wilkie Cooper
Edited by	Robert Jordan Hill
Music by	Edwin Astley
Production company	Advance Productions
Distributed by	Adelphi Films
Release date	10 June 1954 (1954-06-10)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Plot

A newly married couple have to live with the wife's parents and extended family in a small overcrowded house in the English Midlands.

Cast

• William Sylvester as Jim Barnes
• Elsie Albiin as Jane
• Brenda De Banzie as Sarah
• Patric Doonan as Mark
• Dominic Roche as Bill
• Joan Hickson as Polly Ann
• Brian Rix as Herbert
• Joan Sims as Doll
• Beckett Bould as Tom
• Prunella Scales as Mary
• Douglas Ives as Sam
• Edwin Richfield as Frank

Critical reception

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Maurice Elvey struggles to disguise the stage origins of this adaptation of Edwin Lewis's Relations Are Best Apart. A curious mix of social realism, situation comedy and romantic melodrama, future Carry On scribe Talbot Rothwell's script centres on Middletown newlyweds Elsie Albiin and Patric Doonan, who find themselves living with her adoptive parents because they can't afford a home of their own".^[3] Wilkie Cooper's views of the industrial landscape add grit to a thoughtful project full of fascinating socio-historical detail."

TV Guide rated the film two out of five stars, and noted "a realistic drama," in which,"housing shortages and unemployment, both delicate problems in England at the time, are treated in an effective, unpreachy manner."^[4]