Gasbags
| Gasbags | |
|---|---|
 Opening title | |
| Directed by | |
| Written by | |
| Produced by | Edward Black |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Arthur Crabtree |
| Edited by | R. E. Dearing |
| Music by | Louis Levy |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Gasbags is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and Marcel Varnel and starring The Crazy Gang and Moore Marriott.[1][2] It was written by Marriott Edgar and Val Guest. The film was a morale-booster in the early part of the Second World War.[3]
Plot
[edit]The Crazy Gang's mobile fish and chip shop is tethered to a barrage balloon which lifts the shop into the air and the gang is carried to Nazi Germany. They are captured but break out of prison, impersonate Adolf Hitler and return to England in a stolen secret weapon.
Cast
[edit]- Bud Flanagan as Bud
- Chesney Allen as Ches
- Jimmy Nervo as Cecil
- Teddy Knox as Knoxy
- Charlie Naughton as Charlie
- Jimmy Gold as Goldy
- Moore Marriott as Jerry Jenkins
- Wally Patch as Sergeant-Major
- Peter Gawthorne as Commanding Officer
- Frederick Valk as Sturmfuehrer
- Eric Clavering as Scharffuehrer
- Anthony Eustrel as Gestapo officer
- Carl Jaffe as Gestapo Chief
- Manning Whiley as Colonel
- Torin Thatcher as SS man
- George Merritt as German General
- Irene Handl as Burgomaster's wife
- Leonard Sharp as chip shop customer
- Mavis Villiers as woman
- Henry Longhurst as woodcutter
- Theodore Zichy as 2nd-in-command
Production
[edit]It was shot at the Lime Grove Studios in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky. It was the fourth and final film starring the comedians at Gainsborough Pictures.[4] Flanagan and Allen subsequently moved to British National where they made a further four films over the next few years.
Critical reception
[edit]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An amusing and effective production with so much nonsense by "the Kings of Nonsense" that perhaps "a crazy film" would more aptly describe Gasbags. Moore Marriott gives a beautifully crazy performance as old Jerry and the rest of the cast should be congratulated on keeping its countenance."[5]
TV Guide called it "An exhilarating comedy."[6]
The Radio Times called it "the best film ever made by the Crazy Gang ... Director Marcel Varnel has just the right surreal touch to make it work and leave audiences laughing."[3]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Crazy is the word."[7]
Soundtrack
[edit]Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen, "Yesterday's Dreams" (written by Michael Carr and Dorothy Day)
References
[edit]- ^ "Gasbags". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
- ^ "Gasbags (1941)". Archived from the original on 2 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Gasbags – review - cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online". Radio Times.
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (1 December 2024). "Forgotten British Film Moguls: Ted Black". Filmink. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ "Gasbags". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 7 (73): 181. 1 January 1940 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Gasbags - TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018.
- ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 211. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
External links
[edit]- 1941 films
- 1940s adventure comedy films
- British adventure comedy films
- British World War II propaganda films
- 1940s English-language films
- British black-and-white films
- Films set in London
- Films set in Germany
- Films set in Salzburg
- Films about Nazi Germany
- Films directed by Walter Forde
- Films directed by Marcel Varnel
- Films with screenplays by Marriott Edgar
- Gainsborough Pictures films
- Films shot at Lime Grove Studios
- 1941 comedy films
- Films scored by Louis Levy
- English-language war films
- English-language adventure comedy films