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Will Hay was a well respected comedian who made films between
1933 and 1943. In those ten years he made twenty films. This
new box set presents three of his films, Radio Parade
of 1935 (1934), The Ghost of St Michael's (1941)
and Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)...
Radio
Parade (1935) was directed by Arthur B. Woods and is the
sort of film that was produced to highlight various music
hall talents. The story, such as it is, is little more than
the structure which provides a series of acts to do their
turn. Will Hay plays the Director General of the National
Broadcasting Group (a parody of the BBC). A remote figure,
whose daughter (Helen Chandler) is romantically linked to
a young man in the complaints department, who has great plans
to modernise the group's output.
The
film is black and white in 1.33:1 aspect ratio with a mono
track. The print is surprisingly clear for a film of this
age.
Its
hard to think of the film in terms of it being a Will Hay
movie as the main onus is on the various acts, many of which
have, shall we say, limited appeal today, even the big numbers
are sub Busby Berkley. There is one oddity in the film, which
is an early number presented in colour.
The
Ghost of St Michael's (1941) was directed by Marcel Varnel
and written by John Dighton and Angus MacPhail.
The
role of the befuddled teacher was one that Hay would make
his own and is possibly the way that most people remember
him. In this movie he plays a teacher called out of retirement
to help out at a school that has been evacuated to the Scottish
highlands. The ghost of the title is a ghostly bagpiper. If
you hear his song it will mean that you will die. As various
members of the faculty start to die it is up to Hay to discover
the truth behind the deaths.
Overall
this is a much more enjoyable film from Hay, with the added
interest of early performances for a young Charles Hawtrey
as Percy Thorne and John Laurie as Jamie, getting in some
practice for his role of Private Frazer in Dad's Army.
The
film is presented in black and white with a 1.33:1 aspect
ratio. The print remains surprisingly clear, if a little soft.
The
last film in the set is The
Black Sheep of Whitehall
(1942) directed by Basil Dearden and Will Hay. This movie
represents another slice of war time comedy, so you know the
bad guys are going to be the Nazis. It is another film penned
by Dighton and MacPhail.
Hay
plays the dubious professor Davis of a correspondence college,
who gets booted out of his offices due to bad debt. After
confronting his only pupil, Bobby Jessop, played by John Mills,
Jessop gets him a job at Whitehall where, due to a mistaken
identity he is taken for a certain Professor Davys. With Hay
getting himself into trouble, by spouting off on things he
knows nothing about, Jessop decides that he and Hay must find
the real Professor, who of course is in the hands of the nasty
Nazis.
The
film is presented in black and white with a 1.33:1 aspect
ratio.
Although
there are many that will not remember Hay, he really was huge
in his day and whilst the first film disappoints, as it's
not really a Hay film, the remainder are enjoyable. It is
a shame that the discs have no extras; it would have been
nice to see a piece placing Hay in his historical context.
One
for collectors of English comedies or Hay fans.
Charles
Packer
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£17.98
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£14.99
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£15.99
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£14.93
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£13.93
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All prices correct at time of going to press.
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