Old Bill and Son

Old Bill and Son
Old Bill and Son
Directed by	Ian Dalrymple
Screenplay by	Captain Bruce Bairnsfather ; & Ian Dalrymple ; Arthur Wimperis (additional dialogue); Derek Twist (assistant scenarist)
Based on	story Old Bill by Bruce Bairnsfather
Produced by	Josef Somlo; & Harold Boxall; Alexander Korda (uncredited)
Starring	Morland Graham; John Mills; Mary Clare
Cinematography	Georges Perinal
Edited by	Charles Crichton
Music by	Richard Addinsell (music of the French song); Stephen Haggard (words of the French song); Muir Mathieson (musical director)
Production; company	Legeran Films
Distributed by	General Film Distributors (UK)
Release date	1 March 1941 (UK);
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Old Bill and Son is a 1941 British black-and-white comedy war film directed by Ian Dalrymple and starring Morland Graham, John Mills, Mary Clare and Ronald Shiner as Herbert 'Bert' Smith.^[1] It is executive produced by Alexander Korda for Legeran Films.

Synopsis

An old, First World War soldier enlists with his son to fight in the Second World War. Eventually, they travel to France to capture Nazis.

Cast

Morland Graham as Old Bill
John Mills as Young Bill Busby
Mary Clare as Maggie
Renee Houston as Stella Malloy
Rene Ray as Sally
Gus McNaughton as Alf
Ronald Shiner as Herbert 'Bert' Smith
Manning Whiley as Chimp
Janine Darcey as Françoise
Roland Culver as Colonel
Donald Stuart as Canuck
Nicholas Phipps as BBC Reporter
Allan Jeayes as Willoughby

Critical reception

In contemporary reviews, The Manchester Guardian wrote, "The plot is a disconnected business, a series of episodes of the sort we usually call picaresque when we really mean stragglesome. It is, in fact, as glaringly unkempt and untidy as Old Bill's famous moustache which that delightful actor Morland Graham wears with conviction and distinction," and The Sunday Express wrote, "chalk up a hit for Morland Graham on this picture as Old Bill...it's an amusing highly sentimental affair written in the authentic language of the Front with no attempt to be subtle...a pity to see so fine an actor as John Mills in so empty a part."^[2]

References

^ "Old Bill & Son (1941)". British Film Institute.
^ Holt, Major; Holt, Mrs (31 December 1990). "The Biography of Captain Bruce Bairnsfather: In Search of the Better 'Ole". Pen and Sword – via Google Books.

External links

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[1] "Old Bill & Son (1941)". British Film Institute.

[2] Holt, Major; Holt, Mrs (31 December 1990). "The Biography of Captain Bruce Bairnsfather: In Search of the Better 'Ole". Pen and Sword – via Google Books.

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