''Said O'Reilly to McNab'' is a 1937 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

William Beaudine William Washington Beaudine (January 15, 1892 – March 18, 1970) was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres. Life and car ...

and starring

Will Mahoney William James Fitzpatrick Mahoney (February 5, 1894February 9, 1967) was an American vaudevillian performer, stage actor and theatre manager of the latter he was best known for carving out a successful stage career in Australia. Early life He ...

, Will Fyffe and Ellis Drake. It was made at Islington Studios by

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 com ...

.Wood p.96 The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Alex Vetchinsky.

Leslie Arliss Leslie Arliss (6 October 1901, London – 30 December 1987, Jersey, Channel Islands) was an English screenwriter and director. He is best known for his work on the Gainsborough melodramas directing films such as '' The Man in Grey'' and ''The Wi ...

and

Marriott Edgar Marriott Edgar (5 October 1880 – 5 May 1951), born George Marriott Edgar in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, was a British poet, scriptwriter and comedian, best known for writing many of the monologues performed by Stanley Holloway, particularly the ...

wrote the screenplay.

Plot

American

confidence trickster A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers hav ...

Timothy O'Reilly has to flee

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with the law after him for his dubious business activities. He goes with his loyal, quick-thinking

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

where his son Terence is living. He finds Terence is in love with the daughter of Malcolm McNab, a tight-fisted local businessman. The two engage in a certain amount of rivalry while O'Reilly tries to find a way to refresh his financial fortune and get McNab's permission for their children to marry. These include a game of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

at which both try to cheat and a miracle new

dieting Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated way to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight, or to prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes and obesity. As weight loss depends on calorie intake, different kinds of calorie-red ...

pill which is in fact just a

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of carameli ...

sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketone ...

Cast

as Colonel Timothy O'Reilly * Will Fyffe as Malcolm McNab * Ellis Drake as Mrs McNab * Jean Winstanley as Mary McNab * James Carney as Terence O'Reilly * Sandy McDougal as Jock McKay * Marianne Davis as Sophie * Lillian Urquhart as Maggie *

Percy Parsons Edward Percy Parsons (1878–1944) was an American actor and singer who worked largely in the British film industry. Selected filmography * ''Suspense'' (1930) * ''Beyond the Cities'' (1930) * ''Creeping Shadows'' (1931) * '' Strictly Business'' ...

as Mr Dunkel * Robert Gall as Jock Mc Nab

References

Bibliography

* Marshall, Wendy L. ''William Beaudine: from silents to television''. Scarecrow Press, 2005. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

* 1937 films 1937 comedy films 1930s English-language films Films directed by William Beaudine British comedy films Films set in Scotland Islington Studios films Gainsborough Pictures films Films with screenplays by Marriott Edgar Films about con artists Films scored by Jack Beaver British black-and-white films 1930s British films {{1930s-UK-comedy-film-stub