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
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
 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] A wartime morale buster, it features the songs, "Swim Little Fish", "It Serves You Right", "If I Had A Girl Like You" and "Bell Bottom George." Future Carry On star Charles Hawtrey appears in a small role.

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.[2][3][2]

Sample gag

George is reduced to his underwear by the bad guys and complains he cannot walk around the streets like that as he would be mistaken for Gandhi.[4]

Cast

Box office and reception

According to trade papers, the film was a success at the British box office in 1944.[5]

Halliwell's Film Guide called it a "formula star comedy, too long and too familiar".[6] TV Guide commented: "an overlong launching for an unseaworthy production";[7] while in the opinion of The Spinning Image "there are a few laughs to be had."[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Bell-bottom George | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Bell Bottom George". Georgeformby.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  3. ↑ "Bell-bottom George [DVD] [1944]: Amazon.co.uk: Anne Firth, George Formby, Reginald Purdell, Peter Murray Hill, Marcel Varnel: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  4. 1 2 "Bell Bottom George Review (1944)". Thespinningimage.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Robert Murphy, Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48 2003 p. 207
  6. ↑ "Halliwell's Film Guide 2008 - HarperCollins UK - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  7. ↑ "Bell-Bottom George Review". Movies.tvguide.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
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