Bell-Bottom George

Bell-Bottom George
Original theatrical poster
Directed by	Marcel Varnel
Produced by	Marcel Varnel
Written by	Edward Dryhurst Peter Fraser John L. Arthur Richard Fisher Peter Creswell
Starring	George Formby Anne Firth Reginald Purdell
Music by	Harry Bidgood
Cinematography	Basil Emmott Roy Fogwell
Edited by	Max Brenner
Production company	Columbia (British) Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	7 February 1944
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Bell-Bottom George is a 1943 black and white British comedy musical film, directed by Marcel Varnel, starring George Formby and Anne Firth.^[1] Another wartime flagwaver for Formby, it features the songs, "Swim Little Fish", "It Serves You Right", "If I Had A Girl Like You" and "Bell Bottom George." ^[2] Future Carry On star Charles Hawtrey appears in a small role.

Sample gag

"George is reduced to his underwear by the bad guys and complains he cannot walk around the streets like that as he'll be mistaken for Gandhi." (The Spinning Image) ^[3]

Plot

George Blake (Formby) is a waiter with ambitions to join the Navy, although he's been rejected several times, because of a weak heart. But during an air raid he's mistaken for a sailor because he's wearing the clothes of a navy friend who's borrowed his to go to a Lock-in at a pub. George is spotted by military police who think he is AWOL and escort him back to Naval barracks. He impresses the sailors there with his songs and ukulele playing, and is recruited to play at the "Spick and Span" troop radio concert in London. Somehow, along the way, he stumbles on a group of Nazi spies using a taxidermists shop as a front, and foils their plot to blow up a British submarine, "The Firefly". He also impresses and wins the heart of Pat (Anne Firth}, the Wren he's fallen for.^{[4] [5]}

Cast

• George Blake - George Formby
• Pat - Anne Firth
• Birdie Edwards - Reginald Purdell
• Shapley - Peter Murray-Hill
• Church - Manning Whiley
• White - Hugh Dempster
• Black - Dennis Wyndham
• Jim Bennett - Charles Farrell
• Johnson - Eliot Makeham
• Admiral Sir William Coltham - Peter Gawthorne
• Rita - Jane Welsh
• Delivery Boy - Harry Fowler
• Lt. Commander Carter - Ian Fleming
• BBC Radio Man - Charles Hawtrey
• Harry, the Barman - Frank Atkinson

Critical reception

Halliwell's Film Guide called it a "formula star comedy, too long and too familiar"; ^[6] TV Guide said, "an overlong launching for an unseaworthy production";^[7] while The Spinning Image said, "there are a few laughs to be had."^[3]

External links

• Bell-Bottom George at the Internet Movie Database

references