History of Mr. Polly, The (1949, John Mills, Betty Ann Davies)

In this pleasant adaptation of the H G Wells novel, John Mills plays the eponymous Mr Polly who, disillusioned by the constant nagging of his wife and his dull life, torches his shop and takes to the open road. He ends up in the heart of the countryside where, after a few hitches, he begins a new life with a jovial innkeeper (Megs Jenkins) but can this idyllic existence last for ever and what of the family he left behind?

production details
UK | 95 minutes | 1949

Writer and Director: Anthony Pelissier
Novel: H G Wells

cast
John Mills as Alfred Polly
Betty Ann Davies as Miriam Larkins Polly
Megs Jenkins as The Innkeeper
Finlay Currie as Uncle Jim
Gladys Henson as Aunt Larkins
Diana Churchill as Annie Larkins
Shelagh Fraser as Minnie Larkins
Edward Chapman as Mr. Johnson
Dandy Nichols as Mrs. Johnson
Sally Ann Howes as Christabel
Juliet Mills as Little Polly
Laurence Baskcomb as Mr. Rumbold