Each of George Formby's leading ladies has at least one unique claim that sets her apart from the others. Elizabeth Allan, star of HE SNOOPS TO CONQUER (1944) has three.

First, all other Formby heroines were just beginning their film careers, some going on to great cinematic success. Only Elizabeth Allan had already achieved film stardom and seemed "on her way down."

Second, she was the oldest of his leading ladies, age 36 when the film was made.

Third, she never once had to say, "Oh, George, you're wonderful!"

George's true costar in HE SNOOPS TO CONQUER is a Rube Goldberg house, an inventor's dream of modernistic gadgets and bizarre revolving doors. The beautiful Miss Allan doesn't arrive on screen for 42 minutes! She plays Jane Strawbridge, daughter of the eccentric house's equally eccentric owner (Robertson Hare). Jane is a school teacher on holiday who is studying architecture and town planning. This qualifies her to help George Gribble oust the corrupt Tangleton City Council and effect urban renewal.

 Of her brief and unchallenging role as a Formby foil, Elizabeth recalled, "I was cycling to work one foggy, drizzly morning during the blitz, and I thought to myself, 'Dear God, it's come to this!'" Happily, television would reestablish her as a popular and sought-after star.

Elizabeth Allan was born April 9, 1908 (or 1910) in Skegness, Lincolnshire, the 5th (or 6th) and youngest child of Dr. Alexander William (or William Alexander) Allan and Amelia Morris (or Woodward). The reference books DO agree that her family soon moved to Darlington, South Durham, where she attended Plan Hall School. Although basically shy, she was a good student and won a gold medal in elocution,. However, her parents objected to an acting career, so she worked as a kindergarten teacher until they relented.

She attended the Old Vic Training School in London, graduating with honors. In 1927 and early 1928, she had walk-ons in the Old Vic's Shakespeare repertory. Her first speaking part was the plum role of Maria in SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL in March 1928. The next year, she appeared in MICHAEL AND MARY, a hit play starring Herbert Marshall and Edna Best. Marshall recommended "Liz" to his agent, Wilfred J. O'Bryen, who took a major interest in her career and in the lady herself. Two years later, on June 6, 1932, they were married.

A common irony of show business is that many performers suffer from excessive shyness. Elizabeth Allan was such a person, and she credited her husband for her success. "I'm one of those stupidly sensitive people. I can't bear being snubbed. And not so long ago, everyone was telling me my face was not photogenic. My husband, who was then my casting agent, had me tested by four different [film] companies. They were all failures...and I reached a point where I couldn't even say 'how do you do?' without wanting to run away and hide." 

Despite Elizabeth's self-doubts, O'Bryen quickly secured a series of film roles for her. She played a maid in ALIBI, 1931 and appeared in 20 films in the next two years, including THE LODGER with Ivor Novello. She was sought as Maurice Chevalier's leading lady in THE WAY TO LOVE, 1933, but could not get out of her contract at Twickenham. When it expired soon after, she quickly signed with MGM. Hollywood had taken note of her classic beauty and shapely physique. Her new contract, negotiated by her husband, called for £12,000 the first year with increases thereafter, a fortune in the midst of the Depression. (Over the next few years, O'Bryen also negotiated Hollywood contracts for a number of British performers including David Niven, George Sanders, and Brian Aherne.)

Hollywood, the golden goal of so many thespians, proved a less than happy experience for Elizabeth. MGM first lent her to Fox Studios for SHANGHAI MADNESS with Spencer Tracy. She walked off the film, shutting down production, and was replaced by Fay Wray. Apparently MGM forgave her and immediately assigned her to THE MYSTERY OF MR. X (1934) opposite Robert Montgomery.

She had featured roles in four more films, garnering particular attention for her performance in MEN AND WHITE. Her husband visited her as often as he could, probably trying to establish a Hollywood base, but a rift soon developed. During the shooting of JAVA HEAD back in England, the couple announced a separation. Elizabeth threw herself into the social scene, her wit and vivacity making her a popular dinner and party guest. Gossips sought to tie her romantically with various candidates. Tongues wagged when she was seen on the arm of Clark Gable and wagged harder when she impishly paired with Marlene Dietrich at a costume ball, Dietrich clad as Leda turning into a swan and Miss Allan in formal male dress. Composer George Gershwin and millionaire William Rhinelander Stewart were cited as other frequent companions.

She was lent to RKO for LONG LOST FATHER (1934) with John Barrymore, but she claimed illness and was replaced by Helen Chandler. Two of her most memorable film roles followed, A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1935) in which she played Lucie Manette opposite Ronald Colman, and DAVID COPPERFIELD (1935) as David's pretty and tragic young mother, destroyed by Basil Rathbone.

Her flourishing career came to a sudden halt when she sued MGM for announcing that she would be Robert Donat's leading lady in THE CITADEL (1938) but then replacing her with Rosalind Russell. It was a time when many performers were rebelling against studio arbitrariness and despotism. MGM boss Louis B. Mayer, desperate to maintain his sovereignty, struck back hard, and Elizabeth was barred from working in Hollywood. Some Hollywood stars in similar legal confrontations fought on to victory or returned to the New York stage. Elizabeth, thoroughly disenchanted with the Hollywood dream factory, chose to return to England where she and her husband soon reconciled.

When war broke out in September 1939, Bill O'Bryen joined the Army as a major. Elizabeth "retired" temporarily and took a house near where he was stationed. In 1942, she played Mrs. Cibber (her singing voice dubbed) in her first Technicolor film, THE GREAT MR. HANDEL.

After her unhappy time in HE SNOOPS TO CONQUER two years later, she stayed off-screen until her friend Myrna Loy asked her to appear in Loy's first British film, THAT DANGEROUS AGE (1949). Another friend, Marlene Dietrich, requested her for NO HIGHWAY IN THE SKY (1951), filmed in the U.K, but most of Elizabeth's footage was left on the cutting room floor.

In 1951, Elizabeth became a panelist on "What's My Line?" where she quickly was acclaimed for her "wit, glamour, beautiful clothes, and assorted earrings." In 1952, she was voted top female TV personality, and she had her own TV series in 1954, "The Adventures of Annabel."

Her husband, now a senior executive with Alexander Korda and Michael Bacon, eventually retired, and the couple bought a house with a large garden in Hove. She told interviewers that her hobbies were gardening, swimming, playing tennis, and collecting antique jewelry and glass. Bill O'Bryen died in 1977. Elizabeth retired permanently from performing and stayed on in their home. She died on July 27, 1990.

Fifty years a performer, Elizabeth Allen had survived career setbacks, bombs, ill health, shyness, Louis B. Mayer, and even a toothy guy with a uke. When George takes her hand and croons "Unconditional Surrender," her wise smile lights up the screen and we feel that even if he has not found a soul-mate, he has a worthy ally for the post-war struggles facing Britain.

STAGE ROLES:
1927 - The Taming of the Shrew
1928 - Old Vic Shakespeare repertory
1928 - School for Scandal, 1928 (as Maria)
1929 - Gentlemen, the King
1930 - Michael and Mary
1930 - Oh, Daddy!
1930 - John Brown's Body
1931 - Mr. Faint-Heart
1932 - The Iron Woman
1932 - I Lived With You
1938 - The Innocent Party, 1938 (with Mary Ellis)
1938 - My Crime
1938 - Quiet Wedding
1939 - Punch Without Judy (with Phyllis Calvert)
1940 - Passing By
1944 - Tomorrow the World
1947 - And No Birds Sing
1947 - The Animal Kingdom
1947 - My Wives and I
1947 - Private Enterprise
1950 - How I Wonder
1950 - Who Goes Home?
1953 - Blind Man's Buff
1956 - The Chalet
1958 - These People, These Books


FILM ROLES:
1931 - Alibi
1931 - The Rosary
1931 - Rodney Steps In
1931 - Chin Chin Chinaman
1931 - Michael and Mary
1931 - Many Waters
1932 - Insult
1932 - The Lodger
1932 - Down Our Street
1932 - Nine till Six
1932 - The Chinese Puzzle
1932 - Service for Ladies
1933 - No Marriage Ties
1933 - Looking Forward
1933 - Ace of Aces
1933 - The Solitaire Man
1933 - The Shadow
1933 - The Lost Chord
1934 - The Mystery of Mr. X
1934 - Java Head
1934 - Outcast Lady
1934 - Men in White
1935 - Mark of the Vampire
1935 - David Copperfield
1935 - A Tale of Two Cities
1936 - The Story of Papworth
1936 - A Woman Rebels
1936 - Camille
1937 - Michael Strogoff
1937 - Slave Ship
1938 - Dangerous Medicine
1939 - The Girl Who Forgot
1939 - Inquest
1940 - Saloon Bar
1942 - The Great Mr. Handel
1942 - Went the Day Well?
1944 - He Snoops to Conquer
1949 - That Dangerous Age
1951 - No Highway
1952 - Folly to Be Wise
1953 - Twice Upon a Time
1953 - The Heart of the Matter
1954 - Front Page Story
1955 - The Brain Machine
1955 - Born for Trouble
1958 - Grip of the Strangler/The Haunted Strangler


Television credits include:
1950s - What's My Line? (panelist)
1959 - Guess My Story
1050 - Swap Shop (devised by Allan)
1954 - The Adventures of Annabel
1960s - Call My Bluff (panelist)
1968 - Very Merry Widows (teleplay starring Moira Lister)

A Reminiscence by longtime friend Rob McKay

Elizabeth Allan was an amazingly beautiful creature. with a perfect 36-24-36 figure. To really understand Liz, you have to realize that the center of her life for 47 years was her husband, theatrical agent Bill O'Bryen. Actor Herbert Marshall introduced Liz and Bill in 1930, and it was truly a marriage made in heaven.

They were a very popular couple during their years in Hollywood, smart, witty, and attractive. Everybody wanted to know them. Liz and Bill were close friends with almost everyone of prominence in the Hollywood, New York, and London arts communities -- the Gershwins, the Marx Brothers, Ronald Colman, Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, Leslie Banks, Dietrich, John Gilbert, Richard Boleslawski, Clark Gable - you name them, they knew them.

Liz left Hollywood in the late 1930s and returned to Britain to be near Bill who had enlisted in the military during WWII. Certainly her Hollywood film career was not red-hot at the time, so the grass was greener in Britain.

She worked pretty steadily in the London theatre and British TV throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, but many remember her best for her long tenure as a panelist on the British TV version of "What's My Line?"

During the 1950s, she raised Bull Terriers as a side business. She loved to tell of the time that Clark Gable and his wife Kay visited her and her husband Bill at their Wilton Place home in London when Gable was in England shooting MOGAMBO. Liz had trained her dogs to "kiss" her while taking a piece of taffy out of her mouth. Gable was fascinated and wanted to try it himself. But just as the dog seized the taffy, Gable bit down on it. The dog won the tug of war, racing off with both taffy and Gable's false teeth. The four of them chased the dog around for several minutes before retrieving the dentures!

In later years, Liz and Bill helped establish many younger artists in the London Theatre, most notably Paul Scofield.

When Bill suffered several strokes in the early 1970s, Liz nursed him at home until his death in 1977. Afterwards, she went into a very deep depression that lasted for some years. I knew her from this time until her death. She was very religious, a Roman Catholic, and went to church almost every day. I used to stay with her at her seaside house in Hove (Brighton) during my trips to Britain.

Liz was a lovely, dear woman who cared much more for others than herself. Once when I was visiting her, I mentioned that my mother was interested in Majolica pottery. Unknown to me, Liz called all over Brighton and Hove so she could present me with a list of antique dealers who had Majolica in stock.

I really miss her.

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