Till Death Us Do Part (film)


Till Death Us Do Part is a 1969 film directed by Norman Cohen, written by Johnny Speight, and starring Warren Mitchell and Dandy Nichols. It was based on the BBC television series of the same name. Speight was the creator of the television version. The film was considered successful enough at the box office that a sequel, The Alf Garnett Saga, followed in 1972.

Plot

The film begins in September 1939 shortly before World War II begins. Alf Garnett, a dockyard worker, and his wife Else have been married for only a few weeks, and are already weary of one another. Alf gets called up for military duty but is turned down because he's in a reserved occupation. The film depicts their lives during the London Blitz. Else eventually gets pregnant to Alf and Else's shock, and they have a baby daughter, Rita, in 1942. The war ends in 1945 with a huge street party and Alf, characteristically, gets drunk.
Midway through the film it advances from the end of World War II to the 1966 General Election. Rita is now a young woman and engaged to Mike Rawlins, a long-haired layabout from Liverpool. Alf dislikes him because of his support for the Labour Party. Mike and Rita marry in a Catholic church, further angering Alf. At the wedding supper he fights with Mike's family. But Alf and Mike grow a bit closer, attending the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final together.
The film ends in 1968 with the family moving to a new tower block in Essex after their East End neighbourhood street is demolished.

Cast

The film had investment from the Robert Stigwood Organisation.
The film went over budget but recovered its cost with a successful theatre run.

Reception

Critical

Time Out wrote, "In its favour, it preserves the original characterisations at something like full strength and doesn't attempt to stitch three weekly episodes together and pass it off as a feature."

Box office

Till Death Us Do Part was the third-most popular film at the UK box office in 1969.