All Over the Town

Plot

After serving in the RAF during the Second World War, Nat Hearn (Norman Wooland) returns to his prewar job as a reporter on the Tormouth Clarion. He is now working alongside Sally Thorpe (Sarah Churchill), who had taken his job when he enlisted. Later, Nat becomes the owner of the paper, but his employees strike, disagreeing with Nat's stance on Tormouth's housing scheme. The town supports Nat in the dispute.

Cast

Production

All Over the Town was the fourth of five films produced by Wessex Film Productions, a production company founded in 1947 by Ian Dalrymple and Jack Lee, both formerly of the Crown Film Unit. The film was shot in Lyme Regis.

Reception

The New York Times described it as a "slow, dogmatic little picture" with a "dog-eared" plot. In The Times, the film's plot was seen as unoriginal, executed "without inspiration or any originality of thought".

Later history

By the beginning of the 21st century, the only known surviving copy of the film was the negative at the BFI National Film and Television Archive. In 2005, the Lyme Regis Film Society commissioned the production of a new print from the negative. This copy of the film is housed in Lyme Regis Museum and has been shown at the local Regent Cinema on a few occasions.