Let George Do It

Ukulele player in the "Dinky-Do" concert party is mistakenly engaged to play in a broadcasting ships orchestra, who's leader sends messages, coded in music, over the air to Nazi U boats preying on Allied convoy ships. A fantasy scene in which the star comes to grips personally with Hitler was regarded, at the time, as one of the major morale boosters of the war. The film was a big success in New York and Moscow, where it had long runs. Brendan Ryan A ukulele player accidentally goes to Bergen instead of Blackpool and is mistaken for a spy. Generally thought to be the best George Formby vehicle, with plenty of pace, good situations, and catchy tunes. Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide This is it! For me, the best of the bunch. Four brilliant songs and some sinister Nazis for George to vanquish - he even treats Hitler to a taste of the Formby knuckle! From the start of the film in the blacked out railway station to the overnight crossing on the Bergen boat, there is always plenty of action. and the plot never sags. Interest is maintanied throughout the film. and then to cap it all, George makes the trip home via a submarine torpedo tube! They don't make 'em like this anymore! The "catchy tunes" as Leslie Halliwell calls them are actually all classic Formby songs. Peter Pollard This is generally considered George's best picture, and rightly so - it is the greatest wartime comedy-thriller. The film is perfectly written, with plenty of action for George to get his teeth into, and to see his comic bumbling and slapstick set right in the midst of a deadly raging war makes the comedy more effective than ever. The scene in which George comes face to face with Hitler is probably the most famous moment in any Formby film. Gary Marsh gives a fine performance playing Mendez, as does Phyllis Calvert as Mary, but perhaps the most outstanding feature of this film is the music - the songs are first class. The superb, lavishly extended arrangement of "Count Your Blessings and Smile" really brings home George's optimistic message which was badly needed in 1940, but is equally important today! Andy Eastwood Considering the fact that these are dolorous days in England, "Let George Do It," now at the Globe, is something of a phenomenon, interesting not so much as entertainment as evidence of the Britisher's incorrigible "thumbs up" attitude in the face of mortal danger. As a screwball antic of a goofy ukulele player who, by a prank of fate in a blacked-out London railway station, suddenly finds himself chasing German spies in Norway, this British importation is ragged farce, more mad than gay. But the surprising thing is that it was attempted at all. As crazily contrived as a Rube Goldberg invention, it is the tale of the hapless troubadour who embarks for an engagement in Black-pool, but arrives in Bergen instead, to be greeted as a member of the British espionage. Installed as stool-pigeon in an orchestra led by the head of the German spy ring, timorous George eventually unmasks the villain and the means by which he transmits to waiting submarines the positions of British merchantmen, but not until he has been subjected to the blandishments of a woman spy, plowed through the dough of a bakery in search of a lost code and descended in an enemy submarine, from which he is ejected via the torpedo tube. The case is somewhat brightened by the presence of George Formby in the role of the unheroic hero, but most of the scenes have only a sporadic humor as if the cast and director were half-listening for air-raid sirens at any moment. Besides, to most Americans with memories of the Harold Lloyd epics, this sort of comedy is apt to seem dated—or is it simply that only the English, also incorrigible in their sense of humor, can laugh at their own jokes? The New York Times Published: October 14, 1940

LET GEORGE DO IT USA title: "To Hell With Hitler" USSR title: "Dinky Do" Australian title: "Gunner George" Danish title: George Always Copes" Ealing/ABFD Writers: John Dighton, Austin Melford, Angus MacPhail, Basil Deardon Producers: Michael Balcon & Basil Deardon Director: Marcel Varnel Trade Show: March 6th 1940, Released on: November 11th 1940 Runtime 79 minutes CAST: George Formby, Phyllis Calvert, Garry Marsh, Romney Brent, Coral Browne, Diana Beaumont, Torin Thatcher, Hal Gordon, Donald Calthorp SONGS: Mr Wu's A Window Cleaner Now (Formby/Gifford/Cliffe) Grandad's Flannelette Nightshirt (Formby/Latta) Count Your Blessings And Smile (Formby/Gifford/Cliffe) Oh! Don't The Wind Blow Cold (Formby/Gifford/Cliffe)

formby oN film

Ukulele player in the "Dinky-Do" concert party is mistakenly engaged to play in a broadcasting ships orchestra, who's leader sends messages, coded in music, over the air to Nazi U boats preying on Allied convoy ships. A fantasy scene in which the star comes to grips personally with Hitler was regarded, at the time, as one of the major morale boosters of the war. The film was a big success in New York and Moscow, where it had long runs. Brendan Ryan A ukulele player accidentally goes to Bergen instead of Blackpool and is mistaken for a spy. Generally thought to be the best George Formby vehicle, with plenty of pace, good situations, and catchy tunes. Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide This is it! For me, the best of the bunch. Four brilliant songs and some sinister Nazis for George to vanquish - he even treats Hitler to a taste of the Formby knuckle! From the start of the film in the blacked out railway station to the overnight crossing on the Bergen boat, there is always plenty of action. and the plot never sags. Interest is maintanied throughout the film. and then to cap it all, George makes the trip home via a submarine torpedo tube! They don't make 'em like this anymore! The "catchy tunes" as Leslie Halliwell calls them are actually all classic Formby songs. Peter Pollard This is generally considered George's best picture, and rightly so - it is the greatest wartime comedy-thriller. The film is perfectly written, with plenty of action for George to get his teeth into, and to see his comic bumbling and slapstick set right in the midst of a deadly raging war makes the comedy more effective than ever. The scene in which George comes face to face with Hitler is probably the most famous moment in any Formby film. Gary Marsh gives a fine performance playing Mendez, as does Phyllis Calvert as Mary, but perhaps the most outstanding feature of this film is the music - the songs are first class. The superb, lavishly extended arrangement of "Count Your Blessings and Smile" really brings home George's optimistic message which was badly needed in 1940, but is equally important today! Andy Eastwood Considering the fact that these are dolorous days in England, "Let George Do It," now at the Globe, is something of a phenomenon, interesting not so much as entertainment as evidence of the Britisher's incorrigible "thumbs up" attitude in the face of mortal danger. As a screwball antic of a goofy ukulele player who, by a prank of fate in a blacked-out London railway station, suddenly finds himself chasing German spies in Norway, this British importation is ragged farce, more mad than gay. But the surprising thing is that it was attempted at all. As crazily contrived as a Rube Goldberg invention, it is the tale of the hapless troubadour who embarks for an engagement in Black- pool, but arrives in Bergen instead, to be greeted as a member of the British espionage. Installed as stool-pigeon in an orchestra led by the head of the German spy ring, timorous George eventually unmasks the villain and the means by which he transmits to waiting submarines the positions of British merchantmen, but not until he has been subjected to the blandishments of a woman spy, plowed through the dough of a bakery in search of a lost code and descended in an enemy submarine, from which he is ejected via the torpedo tube. The case is somewhat brightened by the presence of George Formby in the role of the unheroic hero, but most of the scenes have only a sporadic humor as if the cast and director were half- listening for air-raid sirens at any moment. Besides, to most Americans with memories of the Harold Lloyd epics, this sort of comedy is apt to seem dated—or is it simply that only the English, also incorrigible in their sense of humour, can laugh at their own jokes? The New York Times Published: October 14, 1940