There was a type of British comedy film which the Brits were careful never to send over to the States. I suspect it was because in their hearts they knew that some time in the future Masterpiece Theater was going to do more for America's image of Britain than Churchill, the Tudors and Noel Coward would do rolled into one. And these comedies would make Masterpiece Theater unbelievable. These were comedies that were just as brash and broad as Coward's diction was clipped and upper class. They were comedies for the working class, and in Britain that could be a bad thing as well as a good thing.
Sometimes the condescension is overwhelming. The stars were household names in England. Most of them came from the music halls and often were equally big on radio. A few even managed to survive television. We're talking names like Will Hay, Tommy Trinder, George Formby, Arthur Askey and quite a few more. And if Churchill gave the Brits courage in World War II, these men and women kept them smiling through. The Ghost Train, a big hit for Arthur Askey, is a first-class example. In a word...it's awful. But put yourself back in those days, imagine yourself a hardworking bloke who might not survive the next bombing, and see if you don't wind up laughing at Askey's endless shenanigans, his irrepressible optimism and his terrible jokes.
Tommy Gander (Askey) is a short bundle of energy who is always on. He's a song and dance comic traveling by train to his next music hall engagement. And when his hat blows off, he immediately pulls the emergency stop, runs to get the hat, and trots back to the train. From this, the train is late to the next station...so six passengers miss their connection...and the next connecting train isn't until morning...so the small group must stay overnight in the deserted train station...which has a ghost story attached to it about a years-ago crash and a phantom train that roars by with death on board...and then a horrendous rain storm blows up, the electricity may not work, there's no food except what the passengers can share. And then death appears...the sullen station manager who had left for help shows up at the door in the rain, clutching his heart...and apparently murdered.
Through it all, Tommy Gander almost skips with energy, making things worse, joking so often and so terribly the other passengers (and us) want to shove him into a piece of luggage. He sings and does a dance, he looks on the bright side, he feeds brandy to a spinster, he manages to locate water for tea only by standing in a downspout downpour. He is one of the most exhausting comedians I've ever seen. But he and his friend, Teddy Deakin (Richard Murdoch, who in old age played Uncle Tom in the Rumpole series) save the day in more ways than one. Think fifth columnists, unlawful arms delivery and a train that arrives in the rain which isn't a ghost.
I'm fond of old stuff like this. Askey and those like him are a window into a part of British life you'll never get on Masterpiece Theater.
Sometimes the condescension is overwhelming. The stars were household names in England. Most of them came from the music halls and often were equally big on radio. A few even managed to survive television. We're talking names like Will Hay, Tommy Trinder, George Formby, Arthur Askey and quite a few more. And if Churchill gave the Brits courage in World War II, these men and women kept them smiling through. The Ghost Train, a big hit for Arthur Askey, is a first-class example. In a word...it's awful. But put yourself back in those days, imagine yourself a hardworking bloke who might not survive the next bombing, and see if you don't wind up laughing at Askey's endless shenanigans, his irrepressible optimism and his terrible jokes.
Tommy Gander (Askey) is a short bundle of energy who is always on. He's a song and dance comic traveling by train to his next music hall engagement. And when his hat blows off, he immediately pulls the emergency stop, runs to get the hat, and trots back to the train. From this, the train is late to the next station...so six passengers miss their connection...and the next connecting train isn't until morning...so the small group must stay overnight in the deserted train station...which has a ghost story attached to it about a years-ago crash and a phantom train that roars by with death on board...and then a horrendous rain storm blows up, the electricity may not work, there's no food except what the passengers can share. And then death appears...the sullen station manager who had left for help shows up at the door in the rain, clutching his heart...and apparently murdered.
Through it all, Tommy Gander almost skips with energy, making things worse, joking so often and so terribly the other passengers (and us) want to shove him into a piece of luggage. He sings and does a dance, he looks on the bright side, he feeds brandy to a spinster, he manages to locate water for tea only by standing in a downspout downpour. He is one of the most exhausting comedians I've ever seen. But he and his friend, Teddy Deakin (Richard Murdoch, who in old age played Uncle Tom in the Rumpole series) save the day in more ways than one. Think fifth columnists, unlawful arms delivery and a train that arrives in the rain which isn't a ghost.
I'm fond of old stuff like this. Askey and those like him are a window into a part of British life you'll never get on Masterpiece Theater.