Movies

Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons (1960) George Sanders gives a decidedly un-gallic twist to this sensationalized version of the story of misogynist serial-killer Henri Landru. Takes place in that half-french world where a few main characters, and all police officers, clerks and taxi drivers speak with French accents. Sanders is always immaculate and impeccable, and this is a good showcase for his appealing villainy. Moderately entertaining. 6/10

George Sanders: "I'll be with you in a moment, my dear."

Spare a Copper (1940) George Formby is a police reservist who becomes entangled with a gang of saboteurs trying to blow up a new battleship. Directed by John Paddy Carstairs, who also directed some Norman Wisdom films, it's nonsensical throughout, but quite amusing. The songs are good and sufficiently frequent, the humor is less crude slapstick and repetitive chasing around than some of the other Formby films I have seen recently, and he comes across as a charming character at times rather than an irritating idiot. There is a climactic chase sequence that becomes bizarre and dreamlike as George drives a miniature car around a carnival's Wall of Death and launches it out the top to drive across the rooftops. For this sort of all-purpose comedy it is really rather good. 8/10

Movies

It's In The Air (1938) George Formby finds that putting on someone else's uniform and going to an air base causes a certain amount of confusion. If I had known how quickly a cute girl will fall for a complete idiot I would never have tried to be so smart. 4/10

Movies

I See Ice (1938) George Formby invents a bow-tie camera that gets him involved with ice skaters, and eventually puts him in the middle of a hockey game with his head stuck in the back of the net and pucks striking him repeatedly on the butt. There are certain misunderstandings that cause him to be chased around, and he also sings a few songs. 5/10

Chungking Express (1994) A pair of loosely linked stories about romantic relationships is the last thing I would normally want to see, but this was made in China, mostly at night or in street markets. Interesting characters and events as well as the details of daily life that I enjoy learning about - just seeing what normal people's apartments look like in China is fascinating to me. It looked like it was all shot on location, not on sets. One guy has a pedestrian slidewalk right outside his window and people are moving slowly by behind frosted glass all day. Friend Jim Cser showed me this on his Hi Def Blu Ray machine, and my eyes freaked out at first from all the defs and rays and things but I got used to it pretty rapidly. I know I would enjoy the movie as much on our old TV. 8/10

Movies

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939) A bit more like an actual Nancy Drew story than the previous effort, but they really seem to be trying to "girl" her down for this, keeping her dressed way too young and giving a lot of the effective action to her chum Ted Nickerson. It seems like Bonita Granville was growing out of the role even as the film was shot. If you must see a Nancy Drew movie, see the first one, Nancy Drew, Detective. 5/10

Let George Do It! (1940) Because he plays the ukulele, George Formby is mistaken for a Nazi spy. Songs range from his standard music-hall folk style to a full-band swing number, and are all quite enjoyable and well-integrated into the film, not just plunked in at a slow spot. Good dream sequence in which he beats the hell out of Hitler must have been very satisfying to the viewing public at the time. The catch-phrase "It's that man again," appears repeatedly. Adequate entertainment. 6/10

Movies

Come On George! (1939) Because George Formby is a pure fool, he is the only one who can get close to a dangerous race horse, so must ride it to victory in the big race and on the way perform a few tunes and get launched through the roof of a circus tent by a troupe of acrobats. Certain misunderstandings cause him to be chased around. At one point a song is brought in by the simple expedient of having a character say, "How about a song while we are waiting?" That covers it, really. Nothing going on in the story so throw in a song. Horse race movies usually turn out pretty much the same way. Pretty flat and literally forgettable - this morning I couldn't remember if I had watched it all. 4/10

Movies

Turned Out Nice Again (1941) George Formby is familiar to generations of Britons, yet almost completely unknown in the backward U.S.A., and this is the first opportunity I have had to enjoy one of his movies. George is a shop foreman in an underwear factory and must deal with the clash between old and new ways both at home and on the job. His personality is rather like that of Arthur Lake's Dagwood in the Blondie movies - a good-hearted goof who stumbles into success in the end. Along the way he sings a few cheerful tunes in his reedy tenor, accompanied by his banjo-uke. This is from past the mid-point of his 20+ year film career, and I shall certainly be seeing more of him in the future. This film brought to mind two aspects of the British character which may always be a mystery to me - Lancashire as a comedic nexus, and the passion for keeping pigeons. A perfectly harmless and quite enjoyable time. I especially enjoyed the fact that not a single frame of film was shot outdoors - some of the soundstage "exterior" sets were tiny scenes about the size of my bedroom, obviously unreal, adding to the fantasy element of the picture. 8/10

George Formby and Peggy Bryan