Bell-Bottom George
| Bell-Bottom George | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Original theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Marcel Varnel |
| Written by | Edward Dryhurst Peter Fraser John L. Arthur Richard Fisher Peter Creswell |
| Produced by | Marcel Varnel |
| Starring | George Formby Anne Firth Reginald Purdell |
| Cinematography | Basil Emmott Roy Fogwell |
| Edited by | Max Brenner |
| Music by | Harry Bidgood |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | 7 February 1944 |
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Bell-Bottom George is a 1943 black and white British comedy musical film, directed by Marcel Varnel, starring George Formby and Anne Firth.[1] A wartime morale buster, it features the songs, "Swim Little Fish", "It Serves You Right", "If I Had A Girl Like You" and "Bell Bottom George." Future Carry On star Charles Hawtrey appears in a small role.
Plot
George Blake (Formby) is a waiter with ambitions to join the Navy, although he's been rejected several times, because of a weak heart. But during an air raid he's mistaken for a sailor because he's wearing the clothes of a navy friend who's borrowed his to go to a Lock-in at a pub. George is spotted by military police who think he is AWOL and escort him back to Naval barracks. He impresses the sailors there with his songs and ukulele playing, and is recruited to play at the "Spick and Span" troop radio concert in London. Somehow, along the way, he stumbles on a group of Nazi spies using a taxidermists shop as a front, and foils their plot to blow up a British submarine, "The Firefly". He also impresses and wins the heart of Pat (Anne Firth), the Wren he's fallen for.[2][3][2]
Sample gag
George is reduced to his underwear by the bad guys and complains he cannot walk around the streets like that as he would be mistaken for Gandhi.[4]
Cast
- George Formby as George Blake
- Anne Firth as Pat
- Reginald Purdell as Birdie Edwards
- Peter Murray-Hill as Shapley
- Manning Whiley as Church
- Hugh Dempster as White
- Dennis Wyndham as Black
- Charles Farrell as Jim Bennett
- Eliot Makeham as Johnson
- Peter Gawthorne as Admiral Sir William Coltham
- Jane Welsh as Rita
- Harry Fowler as Delivery Boy
- Ian Fleming as Lt. Commander Carter
- Charles Hawtrey as BBC Radio Man
- Frank Atkinson as Harry, the Barman
Box office and reception
According to trade papers, the film was a success at the British box office in 1944.[5]
Halliwell's Film Guide called it a "formula star comedy, too long and too familiar".[6] TV Guide commented: "an overlong launching for an unseaworthy production";[7] while in the opinion of The Spinning Image "there are a few laughs to be had."[4]
External links
References
- ^ "Bell-bottom George | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- ^ a b "Bell Bottom George". Georgeformby.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- ^ "Bell-bottom George [DVD] [1944]: Amazon.co.uk: Anne Firth, George Formby, Reginald Purdell, Peter Murray Hill, Marcel Varnel: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- ^ a b "Bell Bottom George Review (1944)". Thespinningimage.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- ^ Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 2003 p. 207
- ^ "Halliwell's Film Guide 2008 - HarperCollins UK - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- ^ "Bell-Bottom George Review". Movies.tvguide.com. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
- 1943 films
- 1940s musical comedy films
- British black-and-white films
- British musical comedy films
- English-language films
- Films directed by Marcel Varnel
- British comedy films
- British films
- Films set in England
- British World War II propaganda films
- World War II films made in wartime
- Screenplays by Edward Dryhurst
- Films set in London