‘The History of Mr Polly’ is a book I well remember us reading at school all those years ago and it was one I liked but it was quite a lot of years before I actually saw this 1949 films adaptation which was superb.
It was made at Denham – in fact the idyllic Pub by the water was constructed in the grounds of Denham Film Studios down towards the River Colne and lakes and it looked just perfect and eventually gave Mr Polly the life that he wanted.
However before he gets there, there is one episode in his life that I just love and that is when on a cycle ride he meets and befriends Christabel – a teenage girl at a College that he passes. It is really rather sweet and innocent but in his mind he sees this girl as the personification of all that he has dreamed about
These lovely summer time shots from scenes when Mr Polly is just meandering around the countryside and loving it
He takes this country lane
BELOW he stops here – a beautiful Studio set at Denham, and meets the young girl of his dreams
This little area is wonderfully re-created in the studio
ABOVE Mr Polly realises that he has found somewhere magical
ABOVE – He just sits and takes in the tranquillity
This teenage girl sees him from her vantage point sitting on the College wall. Mr Polly chats with her and quite quickly he becomes hooked on her beauty
He rises to his feet to talk more
History of Mr Polly
H sees her as a damsel and he sees himself as a Knight in Shining Armour – and he describes this to her
Christabel herself ( the lovely Sally Anne Howes ) seems to enjoy the chat and plays along with his dream
Their conversation just flows so easily
They finish the chat when she has to go and he pleads to see her again
Sally Anne Howes BELOW who would be 19 when she played this part – she played it beautifully
Sally Anne Howes
John Mills as Mr Polly
She looks so excited and his is transfixed
History of Mr Polly
Christabel has to leave and Mr Polly is loving every minute
History of Mr Polly
On his next visit a few days later, he carves her name on a tree
and she re-appears on the wall
History of Mr Polly
She holds out her hand so that he can kiss it which he does
He the hears schoolgirl giggling over the wall and gets up to see two more girls who had been listening in
ABOVE and BELOW – The dis-heartened and shattered Mr Polly thinks that he has made a fool of himself and trudges back to his bicycle – a forlorn character
You just couldn’t help yourself feeling so sorry for him. He then on a whim sets off to see his cousins and eventually goes for a walk in the park with Miriam. They sit on a park bench together and he turns round and sees Christabel and her friends there and immediately he turns and proposes to Miriam – I can’t think why but it is another one of his wrong turns in life. We can all see in his face that marriage to Miriam is not what he wants. So begins an unhappy chapter for him
Back to later scenes and the Studio set for the Inn on the banks of the river – built in the grounds of Denham Film Studios – where Mr Polly eventually after some adventures find the happiness and tranquillity that he has searched for all his life
It looks so pretty
It leaves me wondering though – What happened to Christabel – that would make another good story
When Sally Anne Howes played this role, although only a teenager she had been in some classic films including the great ‘Dead of Night’ and also ‘Halfway House’, ‘Pink String and Ceiling Wax’ ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ and ‘Anna Karenina’ with Vivien Leigh