The Galloping Major (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = The Galloping Major

| image = The Galloping Major FilmPoster.jpeg

| caption =

| director = Henry Cornelius

| writer = Monja Danischewsky
Henry Cornelius
Basil Radford

| producer = Monja Danischewsky

| starring = Basil Radford
Jimmy Hanley
Janette Scott
A. E. Matthews
Rene Ray

| narrator =

| cinematography = Stanley Pavey

| editing = Geoffrey Foot

| music = Georges Auric

| studio = Romulus Films

| distributor = Independent Film Distributors

| released = {{Film date|1951|05|05|df=yes|ref1={{cite web|url=https://artandhue.com/janette-scott/|title=Janette Scott |work=Art & Hue |date=2021 |access-date=5 May 2021}}}}

| runtime = 82 minutes

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| budget =

| gross = £153,770 (UK)Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p495

}}

The Galloping Major is a 1951 British comedy sports film, starring Basil Radford, Jimmy Hanley and Janette Scott.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6aac9e87|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219135556/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6aac9e87|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 February 2017|title=The Galloping Major (1951)}} It also featured Sid James, Charles Hawtrey and Joyce Grenfell in supporting roles. It was directed by Henry Cornelius and made at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. The film's sets were designed by Norman Arnold.

The title is taken from the song "The Galloping Major", and the plot was centred on gambling at the horse racing track. People in a London suburb form a syndicate to buy a race horse to run in the Grand National.

Production

The film was made as an independent production, backed by the Woolf Brothers. It proved profitable at the box office,Harper & Porter p.147 but producer Monja Danischewsky quit independent production afterwards to return to work at Ealing Studios. It has been noted as being similar in style to the Ealing comedies of the same era.Murphy p.123

It features appearances by several figures well known at the time, including the jockey Charlie Smirke and the radio commentators Raymond Glendenning and Bruce Belfrage.

Main cast

Basil Radford as Major Arthur Hill
Jimmy Hanley as Bill Collins
Janette Scott as Susan Hill
A. E. Matthews as Sir Robert Medleigh
Rene Ray as Pam Riley
Hugh Griffith as Harold Temple
Joyce Grenfell as Maggie
Charles Victor as Sam Fisher
Sydney Tafler as Mr. Leon
Charles Lamb as Ernie Smart, Horse Owner
Charles Hawtrey as Lew Rimmel
Alfie Bass as Newspaper seller
Sid James as Bottomley
Kenneth More as Rosedale Film Studio Director
Stuart Latham as Rosedale Film Studio Assistant
Leslie Phillips as Reporter
Michael Ward as Racegoer
Edie Martin as Lady at Meeting
Sam Kydd as Newspaper Vendor
Thora Hird as Tea Stall woman
Ellen Pollock as Horsey Lady
Duncan Lamont as Trainer
Harold Goodwin (English actor) as Street Stall Owner (uncredited)
Michael Ward (actor) as man with Binoculars at Racetrack (uncredited)
Arthur Mullard as Rosedale Film Studio Employee (uncredited)
'The Galloping Major' (the Horse, 'Bobbie') as himself

Release

The film premiered at the Plaza cinema in London on 5 May 1951.

It has also been released on DVD.

Cornelius later cast Kenneth More in Genevieve and Next to No Time.{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/surviving-cold-streaks-kenneth-more/|title=Surviving Cold Streaks: Kenneth More|date=16 April 2023}}

Location

"Lambs Green" in the film is actually Belsize Village, (nb. Belsize Park and Belsize (ward)), London NW3. The cafe in the film was a greengrocer's shop in 2012, but the whole area is easily recognisable.
The race track was filmed at Alexandra Palace, which can be seen briefly in the background.

References

Bibliography

Harper, Sue & Porter, Vincent. British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference. Oxford University Press, 2007.
Murphy, Robert. Directors in British and Irish Cinema: A Reference Companion. British Film Institute, 2006.