Dear Mr. Prohack – 1949 | 91 mins | Comedy | B&W

Plot Synopsis

An adaptation of the novel by Arnold Bennett and the stageplay by Edward Knoblock, telling of a Treasury official who, despite keeping a firm control on the handling of public money, has no idea how to cope with the large fortune which he unexpectedly inherits. The film is essentially a one-joke comedy that eventually runs out of steam. Cecil Parker gives one of his best performances replicating his stage role and the strong supporting cast includes Dirk Bogarde, Hermione Baddeley, Glynis Johns, Sheila Sim, James Hayter, Ian Carmichael and Bryan Forbes.

Arthur Prohack (Cecil Parker) is an adept government Treasury official dubbed the ‘terror of the departments’ due to his tight fiscal constrains. The middle-class Prohack comes into a fortune, £250,000, when an entrepreneur he once borrowed money to names him in his inheritance. However, he proves rather less competent at handling his own money as his family; wife Eve (Hermione Baddeley), son Charles (Dirk Bogarde) and daughter Mary (Sheila Sim), immediately purchase a new car, chauffer and a large country house. With low interest rates, the once miserly civil servant is persuaded by his son to launch the Prohack Trust. His unwise investments and the foolish extravagances of his family soon leave Mr Prohack cursing his windfall.