Excerpts from 80 years of the greatest British comedies.Excerpts from 80 years of the greatest British comedies.Excerpts from 80 years of the greatest British comedies.
Photos
Frank Muir
- Self - Narrator
- (voice)
Chesney Allen
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Flanagan and Allen)
Arthur Askey
- Self
- (archive footage)
Ronnie Barker
- Self
- (archive footage)
Dirk Bogarde
- Self
- (archive footage)
Jack Buchanan
- Self
- (archive footage)
Albert Burdon
- Self
- (archive footage)
Peter Butterworth
- Self
- (archive footage)
Phyllis Calvert
- Self
- (archive footage)
Ian Carmichael
- Self
- (archive footage)
Graham Chapman
- Self
- (archive footage)
Diana Churchill
- Self
- (archive footage)
Laddie Cliff
- Self
- (archive footage)
George Cole
- Self
- (archive footage)
Kenneth Connor
- Self
- (archive footage)
Kenneth Cope
- Self
- (archive footage)
Jerry Desmonde
- Self
- (archive footage)
Charlie Drake
- Self
- (archive footage)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe last film of Herbert Wilcox.
Featured review
That's Bleedin' Entertainment
Rather than a documentary, this is a sort of free-association of British film comedy right back to the beginning of the sound era.
For anyone interested in showbiz history, this is a simply invaluable compilation - like a Brit version of "That's Entertainment". All star cast? Lumme! People like Jack Train and Old Mother Reilly and Will Hay and George Formby... much of it culled from newsreels and what the Brits used to call 'quota quickies'. It gives a wonderful sense of the "tatty" world of film-making in Britain: tiny sets, stolid camera-work etc.
The graphic in the credits at the front (an animation of a huge fat woman from a typical British 'saucy postcard') captures the tone perfectly.
Frank Muir provides just enough commentary: mainly, the acts are given the space to do their thing. (God, this is a funny movie.) I confess, I saw this only once, quite by accident, on afternoon TV. If I recall correctly, this is where I saw George Formby singing "Imagine me sitting on the Maginot Line"... one of those things which, once seen, is never forgotten...
Oh, and "Wilson Keppel and Betty's" 'Egyptian Dance': picture two scrawny British bank-clerks in fezzes doing a totally glum-faced sand-dance... one of the greatest eccentric dance numbers ever filmed...
For anyone interested in showbiz history, this is a simply invaluable compilation - like a Brit version of "That's Entertainment". All star cast? Lumme! People like Jack Train and Old Mother Reilly and Will Hay and George Formby... much of it culled from newsreels and what the Brits used to call 'quota quickies'. It gives a wonderful sense of the "tatty" world of film-making in Britain: tiny sets, stolid camera-work etc.
The graphic in the credits at the front (an animation of a huge fat woman from a typical British 'saucy postcard') captures the tone perfectly.
Frank Muir provides just enough commentary: mainly, the acts are given the space to do their thing. (God, this is a funny movie.) I confess, I saw this only once, quite by accident, on afternoon TV. If I recall correctly, this is where I saw George Formby singing "Imagine me sitting on the Maginot Line"... one of those things which, once seen, is never forgotten...
Oh, and "Wilson Keppel and Betty's" 'Egyptian Dance': picture two scrawny British bank-clerks in fezzes doing a totally glum-faced sand-dance... one of the greatest eccentric dance numbers ever filmed...
helpful•30
- mundsen
- Aug 31, 2007
Details
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
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