''Aunt Sally'' is a 1933 British musical

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Tim Whelan Tim Whelan (November 2, 1893 – August 12, 1957) was an American film director, writer, producer and actor best remembered for his writing credits on ''Harold Lloyd'' and ''Harry Langdon'' comedies, and his directing of mostly British films (e.g ...

and starring

Cicely Courtneidge Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge, (1 April 1893 – 26 April 1980) was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West En ...

, Sam Hardy and Phyllis Clare. The film was made by

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

at their Islington Studios, and released in the U.S. as ''Along Came Sally''.

Premise

An American

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...

trying to set up his new show in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

tries to fend off an enthusiastic English performer's attempts to get in his show. She eventually tricks him into giving her the lead part by disguising herself as a French star.

Cast

as Sally Bird / Mademoiselle Zaza * Sam Hardy as Michael 'King' Kelly * Phyllis Clare as Queenie Mills *

Billy Milton Billy Milton (8 December 190522 November 1989) was a British stage, film and television actor. Born in Paddington, Middlesex, (now in London), as William Thomas Milton, he was the son of Harry Harman Milton (1880-1942), a commission agent, and ...

as Billy *

Hartley Power Hartley Power (14 March 1894 – 29 January 1966) was an American-born British film and television actor, who made his Broadway debut in ''Dolly Jordan'' in 1922. He is best remembered for two roles: "Sylvester Kee" the ventriloquist who is shot ...

as 'Gloves' Clark *

Ben Welden Ben Welden (born Benjamin Weinblatt; June 12, 1901 – October 17, 1997) was an American character actor who played a wide variety of Damon Runyon-type gangsters in various movies and television shows. Early years Welden was born in Toledo, Oh ...

as Casino * Enrico Naldi as Little Joe * Ann Hope as Joan * Ivor McLaren as Madison * Rex Evans as Percy * Tubby Cipin as Tubby * Leslie Holmes as Night Club Singer * Debroy Somers as Bandleader * The Three Admirals as Night Club Act * Carlyle Cousins as Night Club Act

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' found Cicely Courtneidge "not nearly as hilarious as most of the characters in "Along Came Sally" seem to believe," the reviewer concluding that the film has "several fair songs, an equal number of laughs and some dance routines that unsuccessfully ape the grand Hollywood manner"; whereas more recently, the '' Radio Times'' noted "A vehicle for the irrepressible comedienne and musical comedy star Cicely Courtneidge," calling it, a "good-natured and thoroughly silly little British musical," and concluding, "this is a romp for addicts of 1930s English nostalgia who will enjoy the numbers performed by such forgotten acts of the time."

References

Bibliography

* Cook, Pam. ''Gainsborough Pictures''. Cassell, 1997.

External links

* 1933 films British musical comedy films 1933 musical comedy films Films directed by Tim Whelan Films set in London Gainsborough Pictures films Islington Studios films British black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{musical-comedy-film-stub