Thursday's Child (1943 film)

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This is a most satisfying film with a strong plot based on Donald Macardle's novel. It has been very ably directed by Rodney Ackland, whose first big film this is. He introduces excellent satire on the studio world and handles his situations with a sure hand. Fennis Wilson is also played by a newcomer, Sally Ann Howes. Both she and Eileen Bennett, who plays the part of her elder sister, have rather harsh recorded voices, but both (and especially the former) put real emotion into their parts. The father and the mother are played by Wilfrid Lawson and Kathleen O'Regan. Both build up a sense of character as they are caught in the ever deepening turns of petty deception and cross purposes that lends such strength to the plot. The rest of the cast are moulded by the director so as to fit into a coherent and convincing pattern."^[3]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Rodney Ackland, the author and director, is obviously a person of intelligence and perception, but in his framing and handling of the story he attempts too much. The leading characters are kept moving between the film studio and the home, but with few exceptions their perambulations lead nowhere in particular. Camera angles and satirical studio asides are all too frequently permitted to detract from the hectic child study. Its appeal rests almost entirely on Sally Ann Howes' ingratiating, if immature, portrayal."^[4]

The Daily Film Renter wrote: "Though well acted by little Sally Ann Howes, the picture is so mild as to plot it will interest only the mothers and spinsters who come in the afternoon. Its story is a very small scale storm in a surprisingly small austerity tea cup. ... The queer film people and the peeps behind the scenes have their entertaining moments, and the little heroine has plenty of charm and naturalness even if her role does not make any striking demands. As to the rest, the production is so suburban in its approach to its subject it will cut little ice with those who want a solid evening's entertainment."^[5]

• Thursday's Child at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}
• Thursday's Child at IMDb