Thanks for the memories!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Originally titled "We're not weeping",the script for this movie was handed over to Gerald Kersh as Leslie Howard thought it too feminine as it stood.After Kersh's re-write Mr Howard then considered it to be too masculine so he returned it to the first writer,Miss M.Charles who restored it to her original vision which,hardly surprisingly was again too feminine for the director who re - engaged Kersh who,in turn changed it back to the way he had re - written it in the first place.Reading it,Howard decided to hand it back to Miss Charles to feminise some of the dialogue and at this stage Mr Kersh,serving in the Coldstream Guards at the time,lost interest in the whole thing.It is not to be wondered at that he did not have a particularly high opinion of Howard and steered clear of the British Film Industry for some years before Jules Dassin directed his great novel "Night and the city" with Richard Widmark. What eventually turned out to be "The Gentle sex" was a soporific propaganda movie with nothing to recommend it,directed,if that's not too strong a word,by Leslie Howard and aimed squarely at recruiting women for the A.T.S. Made at a time when when the liberation of women meant opening the gates of Holloway Prison it deals very mildly with potentially huge issues. The largely female cast all speak rather nicely - even the token cockney - and turn out to be dab hands at driving lorries and roadside repairs. The men are all knuckle - headed and quite frankly it's a surprise we ended up winning the war. There is an irritating and patronising voice - over by Mr Howard that adds absolutely nothing to the picture. I'm sorry to be so negative about a movie that was was probably made under all sorts of difficulties.Perhaps Mr Howard should have taken Baden - Powell's advice and whistled instead.

I am a great aficionado of 1940s -50s black and white movies, but I am afraid this one seemed like a lead balloon. The premise was interesting - Leslie Howard as an almost God - like figure looking down on the milling crowd and selecting his characters -and I settled back for an interesting story to unfold. I waited in vain. Not only did very little happen (which can still mean an excellent movie)but there was very little character development. I ended up with the feeling that women were basically rather boring, spineless creatures, which is surely the antithesis of what the film was trying to achieve? I've seen so many films from this era and later where we see women as they really are, innovative, brave,tender, funny,witty. It's the first time I've seen Lilli Palmer as a quiet colourless creature. There were endless opportunities for fun/tragedy/drama,etc, which just didn't materialise. Even the music hall song was flat and stale. Perhaps in its time it might have worked as a propaganda film purely to show that women can be successful in the army but apart from this I'm afraid it was a non -starter and I gave it the thumbs down.

Okay, it's 1943 and presumably there's no indication of when the war will end, no sign of any breakthrough and D-Day is still a good twelve months away so why not shoot a little propaganda-lite; a sort of visual blend of 'The Lady' and 'Women's Companion' magazines; a little about food, a little about clothes, a little about men, etc. At the time it was probably a minor success; the viewer is drawn gently into it via Lesley Howard's voice-over as he 'selects' a group of women who have all 'joined up' - in this case the A.T.S - and then permits us to follow them on their train journey to the camp where they will undergo basic training. As a time-capsule it is fascinating because for the viewer in 2007 it is like travelling to Atlantis or one of those lost civilizations that so beguiled Professor Fawcett. Was there EVER an England like this? Clearly there was and Tony Blair couldn't rest until he'd obliterated all traces of it. The cast are all competent and although a handful - Joan Greenwood, Rosamund John, John Laurie, Lili Palmer, Jimmy Hanley - continued to work on stage and/or screen none of them really achieved what today we would call Super stardom. It's a modest effort, quintessentially English, worth watching on TV - which is where I saw it - but not worth searching for on DVD.

The trick in this movie is keeping track of the seven girls - seven dual main characters. All are very different young ladies who, by chance, manage to travel in the same train compartment off to their base. What makes this extra fun is the commentary by Leslie Howard throughout - he spies on the bustling station and selects six candidates, so is it any coincidence that these six strangers end up together? (The seventh, Gwen, almost misses the train and is the last addition to the group)The easiest four to keep track of are the lorry drivers. Beautiful blonde Anne who loses a loved one in the war, foreigner Erna who is desperate for revenge on the Nazis that destroyed her family, chirpy Scots lass Maggie, who always has a sweet and a smile, and no-nonsense Joan, who comes across as bossy and stand-offish, hiding the fact that she's just as shy and lonely as the rest.Then we have the remaining three - good time girl Dot, Gwen who "won't be left behind any more" and the little half-pint, Miller, who "finally gets her gun". She's the baby of the group, and is the hardest to keep track of because she is practically Lilli Palmer's twin - it's only when they speak that one can tell the difference!If you enjoyed films like "Millions Like Us" and "2000 Women" then you'll love this one. An easy 10/10!