''Bell-Bottom George'' is a 1943 black-and-white

British comedy In film, television, and radio, British comedy has produced some of the most renowned characters in the world. In it, satire is one of the features of British comedy. Radio comedy in Britain has been almost exclusively hosted on the BBC. History ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

film directed by

Marcel Varnel Marcel Varnel (16 October 1892 – 13 July 1947) was a French film director, notable for his career in the United States and England as a director of plays and films. Biography He was born Marcel Hyacinthe le Bozec in Paris, France. Varnel st ...

, starring

George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961), was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he ...

and Anne Firth. A wartime morale booster, 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. The film title derives from the bell-bottom trousers which form part of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

uniform.

Plot

Anti-British agents plan an attack on a Royal Navy ship. Jim Bennett is a sailor who has overstayed his shore leave. He explains he was a boxer and if hit in one side he sleeps for 24 hours but if hit on the other he wakes. Meanwhile, George Blake (Formby) serves drinks to officers in a gentlemen's club. They chastise him for his poor service and say he should join the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. George retires to his room in the club where he chats to his goldfish Egbert. During an air raid George is out with Jim and for various reasons is wearing his uniform. Jim gets knocked out and is trying to "revive" him by hitting him on the other side. The military police spot him and think he is both attacking Jim and that he is absent without leave. From then he is mistaken for the absent Jim. He has borrowed his to go to a Lock-in at a pub. George is spotted by

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

who think he is

AWOL Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

and escort him back to Naval barracks. He impresses the sailors there with his song "It Serves You Right - You Shouldn't Have Joined" whilst playing

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

, and is chosen to play at the "Spick and Span" troop radio concert in London. He meets Pat, a Wren, here, and they start to fall in love. He takes her to a dance and sings "If I Had a Girl Like You" to her. In the same period, he stumbles on the aforementioned pair of Nazi spies using a

taxidermists Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the process ...

shop as a front, and foils their plot to blow up a British

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

, "The Firefly". He also impresses and wins the heart of Pat (Anne Firth), the

Wren Wrens are a family, Troglodytidae, of small brown passerine birds. The family includes 96 species and is divided into 19 genera. All species are restricted to the New World except for the Eurasian wren that is widely distributed in the Old Worl ...

he has fallen for. When the real Bennett fully recovers in hospital ne panics that he is absent without leave and runs into the two military police who have been harassing the false Bennett. George passes and they give chase. He meets Pat in a car and they think they have escaped, but the group chasing them flag down a police car. They drive to harbour and steal a small launch but the others also steal a boat and the chase continues until George's boat is wrecked.

Cast

as George Blake * Anne Firth as Pat *

Reginald Purdell Reginald Purdell (4 November 1896 – 22 April 1953) was an English actor and screenwriter who appeared in over 40 films between 1930 and 1951. During the same period, he also contributed to the screenplays of 15 feature films, such as '' The Da ...

as Birdie Edwards *

Peter Murray-Hill Peter Auriol Murray Hill (20 April 1908 – 25 November 1957) was an English actor, antiquarian, and publisher He was married to the actress Phyllis Calvert from 1941 until his death. Career Acting Murray Hill's first prominent acting role was ...

as Shapley *

Manning Whiley Manning Hedges Whiley (23 January 191529 January 1975) was a British actor. Partial filmography * '' Trunk Crime'' (1939) - Bentley * '' The Four Just Men'' (1939) - (uncredited) * '' Pack Up Your Troubles'' (1940) - Muller * ''Contraband'' (19 ...

as Church *

Hugh Dempster Hugh Dempster (3 August 1900 – 30 April 1987) was a Great Britain, British theatre and film actor, whose credits include more than 60 films. Born in London, Dempster made his stage debut in 1920, and began his screen career in the silent film ...

as White *

Dennis Wyndham Dennis Wyndham (15 January 1887 – 19 August 1973) was a South African born stage and film actor. Long based in Britain, he appeared in more than 40 films between 1920 and 1956. He was born in Natal, South Africa. On 23 May 1917, he married El ...

as Black *

Charles Farrell Charles David Farrell (August 9, 1900 – May 6, 1990) was an American film actor whose height was in the 1920s and 1930s and the Mayor of Palm Springs from 1947 to 1955. Farrell was known for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor ...

as Jim Bennett *

Eliot Makeham Harold Elliott Makeham (22 December 1882 – 8 February 1956) was an English film and television actor. Career Makeham was born in London, England. Between 1931 and 1956, Makeham appeared, primarily in character roles, in 115 films and in 11 t ...

as Johnson *

Peter Gawthorne Peter Gawthorne (1 September 1884 – 17 March 1962) was an Anglo-Irish actor, probably best known for his roles in the films of Will Hay and other popular British comedians of the 1930s and 1940s. Gawthorne was one of Britain's most called-up ...

as Admiral Sir William Coltham *

Jane Welsh Jane Welsh (14 January 1905 – 27 November 2001) was a British actress. She portrayed Mrs Brown, William's mother, in the films '' Just William's Luck'' (1947) and '' William Comes to Town'' (1948). Selected filmography * '' The Sleeping C ...

as Rita *

Harry Fowler Henry James Fowler (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen. Personal life Fowler was born in Lambeth, so ...

as Delivery Boy *

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

as Lt. Commander Carter * Charles Hawtrey as BBC Radio Man * Frank Atkinson as Harry, the Barman

Box office and reception

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

Halliwell's Film Guide Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

'' called it a "formula star comedy, too long and too familiar". ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' commented: "an overlong launching for an unseaworthy production"; while in the opinion of ''The Spinning Image'' "there are a few laughs to be had."

External links

References

{{reflist 1943 films 1943 musical comedy films 1940s English-language films British black-and-white films British musical comedy films Films directed by Marcel Varnel English-language musical comedy films English-language war films Films set in England British World War II propaganda films Films with screenplays by Edward Dryhurst Films set in London Royal Navy in World War II films