''Old Mother Riley's Circus'' is a 1941 British

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Thomas Bentley Thomas Bentley may refer to: * Thomas Bentley (director) Thomas Bentley (23 February 1884 – 23 December 1966) was a British film director. He directed 68 films between 1912 and 1941. He directed three films in the early DeForest Phonofilm sou ...

and starring

Arthur Lucan Arthur Lucan (born Arthur Towle; 16 September 1885 – 17 May 1954) was an English actor who performed the drag act Old Mother Riley on stage, radio and screen, with a series of comedy films from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Early life ...

Kitty McShane Kathleen "Kitty" McShane (19 May 1897 – 24 March 1964) was an Irish actress, best known as the wife and acting partner of Arthur Lucan, with whom she appeared in a series of ''Old Mother Riley'' stage shows and films from the 1930s to the ...

and

John Longden John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was a British film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including six films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Biography Longden was born in the West Indies, the son of ...

Old Mother Riley Old Mother Riley is a fictional character portrayed from about 1934 to 1954 by Arthur Lucan and from 1954 to the 1980s by Roy Rolland as part of a British music hall act. Old Mother Riley (full comedy name: Daphne Bluebell Snowdrop Riley) is a ...

takes over a struggling

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

and makes a huge success of it. The trade ad poster proclaims, "A LAUGH - A YELL - A ROAR - A LUCANQUAKE!" The film was made at the Rock Studios in

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, which follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the ...

British National Films The British National Films Company was formed in England in 1934 by J. Arthur Rank, Lady Annie Henrietta Yule of Bricket Wood, and producer John Corfield. Origin Joseph Arthur Rank was a devout member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Brit ...

. It was the final film by Bentley, who had been a leading British director during the

silent era A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

and early

sound era A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

Plot summary

Old Mother Riley is the ringmaster after taking over a big top with flagging fortunes. Although the circus is plagued by the disappearance of its owner, and the bailiffs are at the door, the show somehow manages to go on. Money starts to pour in, financial disaster is avoided, and Mother Riley discovers her long-lost daughter is in fact the star of the show.

Cast

as Mrs. Riley *

as Kitty Riley *

as Bill *

Edgar Driver Edgar Driver (1 November 188515 September 1964) was a British actor."Edgar Driver"
at BFI.

Selec ...

as Bobo the Clown *

Beckett Bould Beckett Bould (28 September 1880 – 25 September 1970) was a British actor. Bould was a schoolmaster for many years and started his screen career in 1932. He debuted on stage in 1940 at Henry Miller's Theatre and performed in 15 plays. Par ...

as Davis *

Roy Emerton Roy Emerton (9 October 1892 – 30 November 1944) was a British film actor. Earlier in his life, he was a sailor, stoker, docker, railway worker, and miner and served in the First World War. He played in a great number of popular London stage p ...

as Santley, circus owner * O. B. Clarence as Lawyer *

Syd Crossley Syd Crossley (18 November 1885 – 1 November 1960) was an English stage and film actor. Born in London in 1885, Crossley began his career as a music hall comedian. He appeared in more than 110 films, often cast as a butler, between 1925 an ...

as The Bailiff *

Hector Abbas Hector Abbas (9 November 1884 – 11 November 1942) was a Dutch film actor who appeared mainly in British films after emigrating to the United Kingdom. Partial filmography * ''The First Men in the Moon'' (1919) * '' A Prince of Lovers'' (1922) ...

as Wizista, the hypnotist * W. T. Holland as Character * John Turnbull as Cinema Manager *

Iris Vandeleur Iris Vandeleur (1884–1969) was a British stage and film actress. In 1951 she appeared in the BBC television series ''Sherlock Holmes'' as Mrs. Hudson, the landlady. In the West End she appeared in 1939 in Ian Hay Major (Honorary Major G ...

as Landlady * Ben Williams as Lucky *

Nora Gordon ''Nora Gordon'' (29 November 1893 – 11 May 1970) was a British film and television actress. She was married to Leonard Sharp. Her daughter was actress Dorothy Gordon. She also appeared in several British Ministry of Information films, particu ...

as 1st Charwoman * Jennie Gregson as 2nd Charwoman

Critical reception

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 ...

'' said, "the usual padding that plagues the "Old Mother Riley" series is avoided thanks to a jolly atmosphere and some decent acts."

References

External links

* 1941 films 1941 comedy films 1940s British films 1940s English-language films British black-and-white films British comedy films Circus films English-language comedy films Films directed by Thomas Bentley Films scored by Kennedy Russell Films set in England Films shot at British National Studios Old Mother Riley films {{1940s-UK-comedy-film-stub