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Awix (3310 KP) created a video about Bell-Bottom George (1943) in Movies
May 17, 2020
Awix (3310 KP) created a video about Spare a Copper (1940) in Movies
May 24, 2020
Awix (3310 KP) created a video about Stars in Their Eyes in TV
May 31, 2020 (Updated Jun 1, 2020)
Awix (3310 KP) rated Bell-Bottom George (1943) in Movies
May 17, 2020
George Formby vehicle in need of a tune-up. George, who as ever is playing a good-hearted Lancastrian simpleton ukulele master, joins the navy by accident, stumbles across a nest of Nazi spies, and saves a new submarine from being sunk, while getting the girl and doing a few comic songs along the way.
These days I suspect most people only watch George Formby films for the one-liners and the musical numbers - but the script here is thin, and Formby doesn't play the uke in half the songs (which mostly aren't that good either). All the usual elements turn up - chases, slapstick, unlikely romance, etc - but the movie feels padded even at only 97 minutes long and it's just not consistently funny enough. Still, the second world war saw some terrible disasters, and this is far from the worst of them.
These days I suspect most people only watch George Formby films for the one-liners and the musical numbers - but the script here is thin, and Formby doesn't play the uke in half the songs (which mostly aren't that good either). All the usual elements turn up - chases, slapstick, unlikely romance, etc - but the movie feels padded even at only 97 minutes long and it's just not consistently funny enough. Still, the second world war saw some terrible disasters, and this is far from the worst of them.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Spare a Copper (1940) in Movies
May 24, 2020
All of these George Formby movies from the early 40s are pretty much the same: Formby plays a well-meaning simpleton who manages to prove his worth to the war effort somehow, getting a girl who is really out of his league and performing a song or four along the way. There is inevitably some slapstick and a chase as well.
This one is about par for the course, although the musical numbers are not amongst Formby's best. The plot is a bit more tightly constructed than usual and the final sequence (concluding with Formby on the wall of death in a go-kart) is inventively put together. Passes the time.
This one is about par for the course, although the musical numbers are not amongst Formby's best. The plot is a bit more tightly constructed than usual and the final sequence (concluding with Formby on the wall of death in a go-kart) is inventively put together. Passes the time.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Stars in Their Eyes in TV
May 31, 2020 (Updated May 31, 2020)
Panto karaoke gameshow. Contestants are made up to resemble their favourite singers, whom they then impersonate. I always found that most of the entertainment value came from some of the so-called look-a-likes actually looking-nothing-a-like whoever they were supposed to be. Moments branded into my brain include an Xmas special featuring a group performance by 'George Formby', 'Benny Hill', and 'Rolf Harris', and an early show where someone performed as Janet Jackson in blackface. The horror, the horror.
