 |
||
|
Handyman stands for election as Minister of Parliament
for local village, and exposes corrupt councils plebiscite. Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide I said in a previous review that 'this film is the
worst of the lot!' - I take it all back. It is actually quite good,
I cannot understand why it has never been shown on television, far
worst film productions get regular screenings. No matter! If you are
a member of the GFS you will now be able to see for yourself because
the Society has managed to find a excellent print of this film. In recent years, "He Snoops to Conquer"
has been poorly thought of in comparison with George's other films.
Sometimes the criticism has been a little unfair, arising from the
fact that this film now appears more dated than most. The plot
revolves around a local council's post-war town-planning, so although
it seems rather obscure today, it would have been very topical when
released. Of course there are numerous corny effects in all
of George's pictures, but in "Snoops" there are too many.
Admittedly, they seem more corny now than they may have in '45, but
unfortunately the film relies too heavily on these effects to supply
much of the comedy (for example, the crazy inventions of mad millionaire
Sir Timothy Strawbridge, amongst other bizarre things). Such
gimmicks are no substitute for the true Formby-style comedy we find
in every other of his films, and there's no escaping the fact that
the script is letting George down here - at a critical point in his
career when he needed a strong success. Perhaps the writers'
problem stems from the fact that the political orientation is not
really in keeping with the familiar Formby film character. Or, I ask
myself, do I find the film lacking simply because I am unable to accept
George presented in a different type of role? No, this is not the
case: I'd love to know how George would have tackled a new kind of
role, but this script does not define a new character, it simply stifles
the old one. And the ukulele is only allowed to appear in one
song - surely this is going too far! Note that the following
film "I Didn't Do It" represents a marked return to the
old Formby formula, and is one of his best. However, though "Snoops"
may not be George's greatest, it is still most entertaining, and we
are now very glad to have a print of what once seemed to be a long-lost
treasure - it is the pride of the GFS archives. HE SNOOPS TO CONQUER SONGS: |
 |
|
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||