''Miss London Ltd.'' is a 1943 British,

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that wa ...

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

by Val Guest and starring

Arthur Askey Arthur Bowden Askey, (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation ...

and Evelyn Dall. It was

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

by Edward Black, Maurice Ostrer, Fred Gunn and

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The c ...

Plot

This musical comedy playing in wartime London, stars

as Arthur Boden alias Miss London, the name of the escort agency he inherited from his mother. Soon he is joined by his new American partner, Terry Arden ( Evelyn Dall), as she inherited the other half of the Agency from her parents, who just arrived from abroad. The first thing she accomplishes is to clean up the office, together with her partner. Then they have to renew the files of escort-Ladies. In order to do so, each of them goes searching in different places. Arthur Boden is assigned to the railway station and finally he finds railway clerk Gail Martin ( Anne Shelton) to hire. The opening sequence of the film features the latter singing "The 8.50 Choo Choo For Waterloo Choo" at Waterloo station before she is recruited by Bowman for his agency. As usual, Ronald Shiner's character of Sailor Meredith plays a decisive role. The film features a surreal self-parodying sequence in which Boden, in order to gain entrance to a hotel, pretends to be the famous Arthur Askey, using some of his choice

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recogni ...

s. Other spoofs include Askey and Dall doing a routine as

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in ''Kitty Foyle'' ...

and, with Shiner in addition, as the three

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AF ...

Cast

as Arthur Boden * Evelyn Dall as Terry Arden * Anne Shelton as Gail Martin *

Richard Hearne Richard Lewis Hearne (30 January 1908 – 23 August 1979) was an English actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best remembered for his stage and television character Mr Pastry. Career Hearne was born in Norwich, Norfolk, in 1908, the son ...

as Commodore Joshua Wellington *

Max Bacon Max Bacon is an English rock singer. He was the lead singer for 1980s rock group GTR, as well as for Burn the Sky, Moby Dick, Nightwing, Phenomena, and Bronz. He was the vocalist on GTR's top 40 single, "When the Heart Rules the Mind" and GTR's ...

as Romero * Jack Train as Joe Nelson *

Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series '' Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 to 1973 (original) and from 1988 t ...

as Captain Michael "Rory" O'More *

Jean Kent Jean Kent (born Joan Mildred Field; 29 June 1921 − 30 November 2013) was an English film and television actress. Biography Born Joan Mildred Field (sometimes incorrectly cited as Summerfield) in Brixton, London in 1921, the only child of va ...

as The Encyclopedia Girl * Ronald Shiner as Sailor Meredith * Iris Lang * Virginia Keiley * Una Shepherd * Sheila Bligh * Noni Brooke * Patricia Owens as Miss London * Hilda Campbell Russell as Cabaret Singer

Soundtrack

*Evelyn Dall and Anne Shelton – "A Fine How Do You Do" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Evelyn Dall – "Keep Cool Calm and Collected" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Arthur Askey – "The Moth" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Arthur Askey – "I'm Only Me" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Anne Shelton – "You Too Can Have a Lovely Romance" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Anne Shelton – "The 8.50 Choo Choo" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Anne Shelton – "If You Could Only Cook" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) * "My Father Was a Yes Man" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)

References

External links

* * {{Marriott Edgar 1943 films 1943 musical comedy films 1940s war comedy films British black-and-white films British musical comedy films British war comedy films British World War II propaganda films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Val Guest Films produced by Maurice Ostrer Films set in London Gainsborough Pictures films Films with screenplays by Marriott Edgar 1943 directorial debut films