Jack's the Boy
{{short description|1932 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Jack's the Boy
| image = Jack's_the_Boy_(1932_film).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Opening title card
| director = Walter Forde
| producer = Michael Balcon
| writer = W. P. Lipscomb
Sidney Gilliat
| based_on = a story by Jack Hulbert
Douglas Furber
| starring = Jack Hulbert
Cicely Courtneidge
Peter Gawthorne
| music = Vivian Ellis
Jack Beaver
Lyrics:
Douglas Furber
Musical director:
Louis Levy
| cinematography = Leslie Rowson
| editing = Ian Dalrymple
John Goldman
| studio = Gainsborough Pictures
| distributor = Gaumont British
| released = {{Film date|1932|06}}
| runtime = 91 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Jack's the Boy is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, Francis Lister and Peter Gawthorne.{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/38117|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114183040/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/38117|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 January 2009|title=Jack's the Boy (1932)}} It became well known for its song "The Flies Crawled Up the Window", sung by Hulbert, which was released as a record and proved a major hit.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9NX_8KbH89oC&q=jack%27s+the+boy+1932&pg=PA45|title=The British Musical Film|first=John|last=Mundy|date=15 July 2007|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=9780719063213|via=Google Books}}{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/smor.1932-5/|title=JACK'S THE BOY|website=Library of Congress }} The film was released in the U.S. as Night and Day.{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/movies/night-and-day/review/107428/|title=Night And Day|website=TVGuide.com}}
Plot
Policeman Jack (Jack Hulbert) attempts to track down a gang responsible for a smash and grab raid, thereby proving his worth to his disapproving father (Peter Gawthorne), a Scotland Yard detective.
Cast
{{div col}}
- Jack Hulbert as Jack Brown
- Cicely Courtneidge as Mrs Bobday
- Winifred Shotter as Ivy
- Francis Lister as Jules Martin
- Peter Gawthorne as Mr Brown
- Ben Field as Mr Bobday
- Charles Farrell as Martin
- O. B. Clarence as Tompkins
- Hal Gordon as Man with scarf at accident
- Arthur Rigby as Police Constable
{{div col end}}
Reception
The film was voted the fourth best British movie of 1932.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83406463 |title="SUNSHINE SUSIE". |newspaper=The Daily News |location=Perth |date=19 August 1933 |access-date=4 March 2013 |page=19|edition=HOME|via=National Library of Australia}}
British Pictures wrote, "As entertainment, it's curious. Hulbert and Courtneidge clown about nicely but it's hard to see how this film was one of the biggest hits of its year (big enough to be the punchline of a comic song in the following year's The Good Companions). Opportunities for them to "do their stuff" are poked into the narrative in the oddest places. They search a thief's flat and spontaneously break into a silly dance. It would be charming if it wasn't so bloody irritating. Perhaps the most interesting bits of the film now are the sequences filmed on location both on the streets of London and in Madame Tussauds (though you have to doubt the effectiveness of any film chase sequence in which you get more interested in the passing billboards than the action). All in all, it's a film which has dated badly and which doesn't show off the stars to their best advantage";{{cite web|url=http://www.britishpictures.com/arch_j.html#Jacks_the_Boy|title=ARCHIVE J – Ja: British Films of the 30s, 1940s and 1950s|first=David|last=Absalom|website=www.britishpictures.com}} while TV Guide wrote that though the "Dialog drags a bit, as though it's being read for the stage. Hulbert saves his performance with a lot of likable charm"; and AllMovie called it a "breezy quota quickie", concluding that "Matching Jack Hulbert laugh for laugh is his wife and longtime stage partner Cicely Courteneidge";{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/jacks-the-boy-v237373|title=Jack's The Boy (1932) – Walter Forde – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related |website=AllMovie}} and Screenonline noted that "Jack's the Boy is acknowledged as one of the team's best films."{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/439756/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Jack's the Boy (1932)|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0167219}}
- {{Screenonline title|439756}}
{{Walter Forde}}
{{Michael Balcon}}
{{Gainsborough Pictures}}
Category:Gainsborough Pictures films
Category:Films produced by Michael Balcon
Category:Films directed by Walter Forde
Category:Films scored by Jack Beaver
Category:1930s police comedy films
Category:British black-and-white films