Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War - reviews


Some reviews of Vernon Coleman's novel Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War - and the recently released film of the same title, based on the book. The film which stars Pauline Collins as Mrs Caldicot is nearing the end of its theatrical release and will soon be available on video worldwide.

`It's poignant, funny and `socially relevant'.' - Daily Telegraph

`...funny and poignant film about a woman pushed into a home who decides to fight back, transforming the lives of those around her.' - The Times

`Only by swapping Brussels sprouts for cabbages could the title of this bittersweet British comedy be more off-putting. Add in a cast whose average age must be around 70, and it begins to sound like deliberate box office hari-kari. But there's a lot to admire here, particularly a showcase performance by Pauline Collins. Her spirited character, Thelma Caldicot, turns a lifetime of repressed anger against those who have written her off when her greedy son dumps her in the Twilight Years Rest Home after her husband's sudden death. At certain points, the film becomes something of a lightweight One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but its mouse-that-roared scenario is always charming and entertaining. It also takes quite some talent to bring the character and story so close to a dark abyss - and keep the audience smiling.' - Empire (`UK's No 1 Movie Magazine')

`...destined to be regarded as a typically understated British classic.' - Express & Echo

`An endearing fairytale quality...There are some serious points about society's ill treatment of the elderly, but they come neatly packaged in the kind of gentle comedy that should please devotees of Last of the Summer Wine.' - Daily Express

`It's a gentle sub-Ealing comedy starring Pauline Collins as a feisty inmate of an old people's home leading a revolution against the unfeeling powers-that-be. Collins shows her usual warmth, and people over 60 may be uplifted by the theme of grey power.' - Daily Mail

`Pauline Collins leads a revolt by the residents of an old peoples' home in this amusing tale, almost a throwback to the Ealing comedies.' You can't help but root for her as she gets her own back on the nasty home manager, played by her real life hubby John Alderton.' - Daily Star

`Pauline Collins as a widow puts up a feisty struggle to retain her independence when parked by her son in a twilight rest home. Humour, pathos and sympathy as she opposes John Alderton and all the rules making life miserable for senior citizens.' - Alexander Walker, Evening Standard

`Feelings of solidarity aren't hard to summon for Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War, a little British film about a woman unjustly imprisoned in a penny-pinching retirement home.' - Metro London

Vernon's Laughter Prescription Goes Down Well. `Multi-million selling author Vernon Coleman is behind a big new film comedy. The story, published by Great Fiction in its paperback novel form, has been lauded as a comedy with an important social message.' - Huddersfield Daily Examiner

`...a film you can't help liking...' - TV Times

`...cranky but spunky crusties in a One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest revolt against the tyranny of boiled cabbage.' - Evening Standard

`Cabbage flick leafs competition standing.' - Plymouth Extra

`...a little British comedy with a big heart.' - Financial Times

`After 30 years of thankless marriage to a sewage engineer, Pauline Collins is shipped into a nursing home by her obnoxious son and his greedy wife. Tired of eating boiled cabbage and sedatives, she decamps with a squad of half-dead incumbents and ends up on national TV. Viewers will applaud the sentiment...' - The Times

`The potential for a provocative hilarious look at old age and its attendant problems are all here in the script...' - What's on in London

`Doctor in the picture house.' - Sheffield Star

`Doctor's orders for film - Coleman highlights battling pensioners.' - Birmingham Evening Mail

`A genteel comedy with a subtle social message. Superb cast of seasoned professionals. An amazing job considering it probably cost 1/20th of most Hollywood product.' - The Guardian Unlimited

`The film has already been hailed a winner at the Chichester and Cannes film festivals, and is showing in many parts of the UK, as well as being on a six month tenure in the picture houses of New Zealand where it has broken box office records. Is there some `oldie' cult there that we don't know about? Or have they just got good taste?' - Western Morning News

`Adapted from the novel by Vernon Coleman this is the warm and often funny story of an ordinary woman who finally decides to stand up for herself, having been pushed around by others for most of her life.' - Surrey Mirror

`Cosy, fairytale comedy.' - Daily Express

`Vernon Coleman has an impressive list of novels to his credit and this one, first published in 1993, has provided the basis for a newly released film with the same title, starring Pauline Collins as Mrs Caldicot. Humorous, and often touching, this is an entertaining tale with a delightful comeuppance ending.' - Leicester Mercury

`...a sort of bastard son of Fawlty Towers.' - Mail on Sunday

`On the one hand it's a fairly serious issue film highlighting the plight of pensioners packed off to sub-standard care homes, given dreadful food, nothing to do, and a constant supply of tranquillisers to keep them quiet. On the other it's a jaunty suburban comedy...' - Sunday Telegraph

`...the film's target audience of undemanding oldies...' - Sunday Times


To Editor, Sunday Times Letters Page

The review of the film `Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War' in The Sunday Times last week was disgracefully ageist. Your reviewer dismissively and patronisingly described the movie's target audience as `undemanding oldies'. Would you have printed `undemanding women', `undemanding homosexuals' or `undemanding blacks'? I suspect not. I wrote the novel `Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War' (on which the film is based) to draw attention to exactly this sort of rampant ageism.
Yours sincerely

Vernon Coleman
Published 16th Feb 2003


`Absolutely FAB film. A must see. It had me smiling from beginning to end and has an all star cast (you will be wondering where you've seen them before). Pauline Collins is terrific. A heartwarming film.' - The Guardian Unlimited

`Vernon Coleman wrote the novel from which this is adapted. And his fans won't be surprised to find that even in fiction he likes to get stuck into a good campaign.' - The People

`With a new film comedy starring Pauline Collins and based on the novel just released why not catch up on this heart-warming story in print? It's the tale of an old woman whose husband dies and is forced by her relatives to go into a residential home, where she leads a rebellion. It's funny, sad and exposes important social issues about growing old.' - Belfast Telegraph

`...a coup in a twilight home in this panto-style British comedy.' - The Guardian

`...conflation of One Foot in the Grave and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' - The Times

`This magnificently heartwarming film once again highlights the immense talent that abounds in our leafy suburbs. Pauline Collins gave an utterly captivating performance as a downtrodden housewife suddenly widowed and cast into a `care' home for the elderly. On befriending the other residents she finds an inner strength and passion to stand up to the home's heartless regime...and its `big' bosses, thus discovering herself and her potential. I swung from laughter to tears and back to laughter, and left warmed, content and inspired as I made my way home...' - Lady Lucy French, Hampstead and Highgate Express

`This story, recently made into a film, is about an old woman whose husband dies and who is forced by her relatives to go into a residential home, where she leads a rebellion...Coleman can still raise a chuckle.' - Oxford Times

`Sounding like something written by Beatrix Potter, Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War is actually a comedy drama.' - Loughborough Echo

`...a tale of downtrodden woman finally standing up for herself. Adapted from the novel by Vernon Coleman, Pauline Collins stars as Thelma Caldicot, a naturally intelligent woman who has endured 30 years of a dull and oppressive marriage.' - West Sussex County Times

`Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War, the preview film that overwhelmingly won the Audience Award for the Best Film at the 11th Chichester Film Festival last year is now on general release. Catch up with Pauline Collins's exceptional performance in this forthright comedy...' - Chichester Observer

`It is refreshing to see a film that tackles the problems and issues surrounding elderly care tackled in such a dignified and entertaining way.' - Help the Aged

`This is the first Vernon Coleman book to get the movie treatment. It is the latest step in the remarkable career of a man who has brought unconventional medical wisdom to millions of readers.' - Express and Star

`Screenwriter Malcolm Stone's adaption of Vernon Coleman's novel is commendable in its desire to remind us that being old doesn't equate with being dead. Highlighting the appalling conditions that exist in some UK rest homes, its `message' is an important one.' - BBC

`Really enjoyable British comedy in which the excellent, feisty Pauline Collins battles with heartless developers and leads a revolt in the old folks home. There were tears, then cheers from the audience the night I saw it when Mrs C finally - ah, but I mustn't give away any of its neat twists. Accomplished performances from a gifted cast of top actors. Peter Capaldi excellent as the shifty son and Martin Jarvis satisfyingly villainous as the devious property owner who'd like to see lovable Miss Collins and her fellow residents on the streets. If this were a Danish or French film I suspect it might now be hailed in the press as a small masterpiece. As it is, director Ian Sharp must be content with appreciation and applause from film-going audiences who recognise a genuinely heartfelt human comedy when they see it.' - The Guardian Unlimited

`Michelle Collins (sic) leads rebellion in the rest home in this sitcom-style Brit flick.' - The Guardian (The Guide)

`You'd think that once in a while, the traditional Hollywood recipe for a successful film - sex, action and who cares about the over-25s - could be abandoned. But it isn't that easy...The problem is that Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War is about old people.' - Daily Telegraph

`Funny and thought provoking novel. It proves to be an entertaining read, focusing with a liberal dollop of humour on the plight of the elderly who find themselves in care homes they would rather not be in, but feel they have no one to fight their cause - certainly not the relatives who have dumped them there.' - Western Morning News

`Now an award winning film starring Pauline Collins, this is a poignant, warm and often funny story of an ordinary woman who, after being pushed around by others for most of her life, finally decides to stand up for herself. Thelma has endured 30 years of a meaningless marriage and when her husband dies, she is pushed into a care home. It is there that she acquires a band of strange new friends - fellow `in mates' who look to her for help and assistance. These new responsibilities give her life a new purpose and meaning, at long last.' - Western Mail Magazine

`Witty, poignant and beautifully written. A tearful journey into pensionable age with a glimmer of hope in the laughter.' - Western Mail

`...a good fun read as well as pinpointing an important social message for our time. Vernon Coleman is a multi-million selling author, a former family doctor and television presenter whose 90 books have been translated into 22 langauges and sold all over the world....(Mrs Caldicot's) cabbage war story is told with laughter, a few tears and a strong eye on special conditions which need fighting.' - Jim Howie, The Chester Chronicle

`Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War...made me laugh out loud. Dr Coleman's lightness of touch and direct prose are all that one could wish for.' - Maxwell Craven, Derby Evening Telegraph


You can purchase a copy of the tie-in paperback in the shop on this site, or by telephoning Publishing House, or through any good bookshop or online bookstore (such as Amazon). Look out for the follow up novel (`Mrs Caldicot's Knickerbocker Glory') which continues the story of Mrs Caldicot.

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