For the Love of Ada (film)

For the Love of Ada is a 1972 British comedy film directed by Ronnie Baxter and starring Irene Handl, Wilfred Pickles, Barbara Mitchell and Jack Smethurst.^[2][3] It is a spin-off from the television series For the Love of Ada (1970–1971).

For the Love of Ada
UK theatrical poster
Directed by	Ronnie Baxter
Written by	Harry Driver Vince Powell
Produced by	Peter J. Thompson
Starring	Irene Handl Wilfred Pickles Barbara Mitchell Jack Smethurst
Cinematography	Alan Hume
Edited by	Anthony Palk
Music by	Frank Barber
Production company	Tigon British Film Productions
Distributed by	LMG Film Productions Limited UK
Release date	August 1972 (1972-08)
Running time	88 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£100,000[1]

Plot

Walter and Ada Bingley, an elderly couple, are about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. To celebrate, their family, friends and neighbours plan a surprise party.

Their daughter Ruth entrusts her husband Leslie Pollitt with the organisation. They hire a traditional club hall for the event.

On the night though Walter and Ada do their own thing and the party goes on without them. With most of the alcohol consumed a traditional knees-up begins. Leslie eventually finds them and drags them in for a meal, but they have already eaten.

Cast

• Irene Handl as Ada Bingley
• Wilfred Pickles as Walter Bingley
• Barbara Mitchell as Ruth Pollitt
• Jack Smethurst as Leslie Pollitt
• Arthur English as Arthur
• Larry Martyn as Brian
• Hilda Braid as Mrs Armitage
• Andria Lawrence as Sandra
• David Collings as Mr Johnson
• John Boxer as the Vicar
• Nancy Nevinson as Elsie Lockwood
• Norman Atkyns as Charlie Nugent
• Donald Bisset as Mr Chapman
• Duggie Brown as Duggie
• Johnnie Wade as Alan
• Veronica Doran as Carol
• Gareth Hunt as the PC
• Nicholas Ram as Anthony Pollitt
• Cecily Hullett as Freda Skinner
• Rose Power, Jean Marlow, Rose Hill and Brian Tully as the mourners

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "'What could be nicer,' Gilbert O'Sullivan croons questioningly over the credit titles, 'than two people young at heart?' The answer provided by the film, of course, as Irene Handl and Wilfred Pickles demonstrate how very nice, how indomitably life-loving, how British and human and working-class they are, is nothing whatsoever. Adapted from the TV comedy series, For the Love of Ada is a boneless jelly of a film, setting up pointless little heartbreaks and conflicts so that it can dissolve them in a flood of cosy sentimentality. Absolutely nothing happens from beginning to end, but every cliché in the book is given a whirl, from the wife who thinks her anniversary has been forgotten, to the husband who draws back in panic when his slobbering efforts at flirtation seem likely to bear fruit, right down to the climactic 'Knees Up Mother Brown'. Like Pavlov's dogs, the characters shed tears or grin and bear it to appropriate stimuli, but life in this ghastly, thoroughly patronising concoction is reduced to a conditioned reflex."^[4]