England: Tips and Waiters

Series

Series Name

The March of Time 3rd Year

Issue

Issue No.

8

Date Released

1938

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1New Schools for Old
2. 2USA: Alaska’s Salmon War
3. 3England: Tips and Waiters

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

March of Time synopsis: To-day, England’s luxury trades, sure barometer of national prosperity, are again to the fore. Profiting from free spending are the restaurants, cafes and night clubs, patronised by people looking for pleasure and prepared to pay for it. But few restaurant-goers spare a thought for the man who can make or break an evening’s pleasure. Quiet, efficient, respectable, the good waiter remains impersonal, getting little or no attention from the customer he serves. In restaurants where tips are pooled, waiters after deducting a percentage for head waiters often receive a much smaller sum that they originally contributed. Working in an industry of unregulated conditions, the waiter derives little immediate benefit from better times. His average wage of 12/- a week leavs him still subject to the tyranny and indignity of the tip. The "March of Time" tells the story of Dave Marlowe, a waiter, who incensed by the injustices of his profession, contributed to a national newspaper an article, setting forth his grievances. Catching the eye of alert publisher Walter Harrap, Marlowe was commissioned to expand his experiences in book form. Prior to publicaion famd film producer Lothar Mendes outbid competitors for the film rights of the story. When five editions left the press in six weeks the book "Coming, Sir" became a best seller, but Marlowe, a puppet of fickle fortune, decided not to gamble on a new career. Under an assumed name he returned to a London restaurant, taking his place once more amongst the unobtrusive automatons who must answer the call of "Waiter!" with their brightest "Coming, Sir".

Researcher Comments

This story was made for the British edition and was not shown in the USA.

Keywords

Food and cooking; Employment

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
British Film Institute Sources
National Film Archive Catalogue

Credits:

Production Co.

Time Inc.