''The Black Sheep of Whitehall'' (the opening credits read ''Black Sheep of Whitehall'') is a 1942 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 o ...

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

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 ...

Will Hay William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film '' O ...

and

Basil Dearden Basil Dearden (born Basil Clive Dear; 1 January 1911 – 23 March 1971) was an English film director. Early life and career Dearden was born at 5, Woodfield Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex to Charles James Dear, a steel manufacturer, and his wife, Fl ...

, starring

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

Basil Sydney Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Career Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit ''Romance'' by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he costarred with Keane in t ...

and

Thora Hird Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a Briti ...

in her screen debut. It was produced by Michael Balcon and

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...

Plot

When he is forced to vacate the office of his debt-ridden correspondence college, 'Professor' Will Davis (

) goes to the Ministry of International Commerce at

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

in order to confront his one-and-only student, PR man Bobby Jessop (

). To get Davis off his back, Jessop proposes to get him a job at Whitehall. Jessop then leaves in order to fetch a Professor Davys at the railway station. The professor is a leading

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

who has returned from a long stay in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

in order to advise the British government on a trade treaty with the South American nations, which could be crucial to Britain's war effort. The clueless Davis is mistaken for the expert and gets involved in a series of interviews, giving answers based on

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

, con jobs,

double entendres A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially a ...

or just plain ignorance. These scenes are very funny and are made more so by the reactions of an increasingly incredulous Joss Ambler as government minister 'Sir John'. Jessop later returns with 'Professor Davys' and the confusion is sorted out, though it has left the BBC interviewers in a state of mental collapse. Jessop then discovers that the man he brought with him is in fact Crabtree ( Felix Aylmer), a member of a group of

fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

ists working for

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Jessop promises Davis a job if he will help him track down the real Professor Davys ( Henry Hewitt), who is being held in a

safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...

by Crabtree's associates. Assuming a number of disguises, Davis and Jessop set off to foil the plot before the treaty is compromised.

Main cast

as Will Davis *

as Bobby Jessop *

as Costello * Henry Hewitt as Professor Davys * Felix Aylmer as Crabtree * Owen Reynolds as Harman * Frank Cellier as Dr Innsbach *

Joss Ambler Joss Ambler (23 June 1900 – 1959) was an Australian-born British film and television actor. He usually played somewhat pompous and irascible figures of authority, particularly in comedy films. He was an effective foil to George Formby in both ...

as Sir John * Frank Allenby as Onslowe *

as Joyce *

Margaret Halstan Margaret Halstan (25 December 1879 – 8 January 1967) was a British stage, radio, television and film actress. In theatre and film roles she often played upper-class ladies of the gentry, with a career spanning over six decades. She was particula ...

as Matron * Barbara Valerie as Sister Spooner * Leslie Mitchell as Radio interviewer * George Woodbridge as Male Nurse * George Merritt as Stationmaster *

Aubrey Mallalieu Aubrey Mallalieu (8 June 1873 – 28 May 1948) was an English actor with a prolific career in supporting roles in films in the 1930s and 1940s. Mallalieu began life as George William Mallalieu, the son of William Mallalieu (c. 1845–1927), a ...

as Ticket Collector *

Kenneth Griffith Kenneth Griffith (born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths, 12 October 1921 – 25 June 2006) was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker. His outspoken views made him a controversial figure, especially when presenting documentaries which have been ca ...

as Butcher's Boy *

Cyril Chamberlain Cyril Chamberlain (8 March 1909 – 5 December 1974) was an English film and television actor. He appeared in a number of the early ''Carry On'', ''Doctor'' and '' St. Trinian's'' films. Chamberlain was born on 8 March 1909 in London and died ...

as BBC Producer * Katie Johnson as Irate Train Passenger *

Ronald Shiner Ronald Alfred Shiner (8 June 1903 – 29 June 1966) was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall. Career Early life and career When he was seventeen, Shiner joined the Royal Nor ...

as Porter

Reception

Having been cleared by the British censors on 27 October 1941,BBFC: ''Black Sheep of Whitehall (1941)''
Linked 2015-05-05 the film premiered at the

Regal Cinema The Regal Cinema is an Art deco movie theatre located at Colaba Causeway, in Mumbai, India. Built by Framji Sidhwa, the first film to be aired at the Regal was the Laurel and Hardy work '' The Devil's Brother'' in 1933. According to the '' ...

by Marble Arch in London on 8 January 1942.The Times, 8 January 1942, page 6: ''Picture Theatres: Regal – The Black Sheep of Whitehall''
Linked 2015-05-05 The reviewer for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' wrote:

"Any story which gives Mr. Will Hay the chance to be himself is good enough, and ... 'The Black Sheep of Whitehall' manages for long stretches at a time to step out of the way of its own complicated plot and leave Mr. Hay to his own devices."

Notes

Hay and Mills had worked before, most notably on ''

Those Were the Days Those Were the Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''Those Were the Days'' (Johnny Mathis album) (1968) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Cream album) (1997) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Dolly Parton album) (2005) * '' Those Were the Days – The Best of L ...

'' (1934). This was the first film of three where Basil Dearden and Will Hay shared the director credit, the other two being ''

The Goose Steps Out ''The Goose Steps Out'' is a British film released in 1942, starring Will Hay, who also co-directed with Basil Dearden. It is a comedy of mistaken identity, with Hay acting as a German spy and also an Englishman who is his double. It was the fil ...

'' (1942) and '' My Learned Friend'' (1943).IMDb: ''Will Hay - Director (3 credits)''
Linked 2015-05-05 Broadcaster Leslie Mitchell is in the film driven to a nervous breakdown while interviewing Hay's character. Mitchell, best remembered for his ''

Movietone News Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Australia and New Zealand until 197 ...

'' voiceovers, was a commentator for the

BBC Television Service BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

from its first transmissions on 2 November 1936. The film is generally considered to be Thora Hird's screen debut, although she did make an uncredited appearance in another film ('' The Big Blockade''), released earlier that same year, as a German barmaid.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Sheep of Whitehall, The 1942 films 1940s war comedy films British black-and-white films Films directed by Will Hay Films directed by Basil Dearden Films produced by Michael Balcon Ealing Studios films British World War II propaganda films 1942 directorial debut films British war comedy films Films set in London 1942 comedy films 1940s English-language films