''Bless 'Em All'' is a 1948 British

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

film directed by

Robert Jordan Hill Robert Jordan Hill was a British director, writer, editor and producer of films. He had a partnership with John Guillermin for a time. Filmography References External links Robert Jordan Hillat IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Intern ...

and starring Hal Monty and

Max Bygraves Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, s ...

, the latter in his screen debut.

John Guillermin John Guillermin (11 November 192527 September 2015) was a French-British film director, writer and producer who was most active in big-budget, action-adventure films throughout his lengthy career. His more well-known films include '' I Was Mont ...

worked on the film as an associate producer.

Premise

The film is about three men who meet when they are called up for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and fight together in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

Cast

*Hal Monty as Skimpy *Max Bygraves as Tommy *Jack Milroy as Jock

Production

It was the first of two Adelphi Films to star Hal Monty as Skimpy. It was also the debut of Max Bygraves.

Reception

The film appears to have been reasonably popular.

Preservation status

It is on the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

's 75 Most Wanted list of

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

s; only a two-and-a-half minute trailer was known to survive at the time. However, a reader notified BFI that a cut-down version titled ''Be Kind Sergeant'' was being offered for sale on eBay.

Cast

*Hal Monty as Skimpy *Max Bygraves as Tommy *Sybil Amiel as Lisette *Les Ritchie as Sergeant Willis *Stan White as Corporal *Pat Linova as Val *

Jack Milroy Jack Milroy, MBE (born James Cruden; 28 December 1915 – 1 February 2001), was a Scottish comedian. Born in Govanhill, Glasgow and educated at Shawlands Academy, Milroy is noted for his partnership with comedy actor Rikki Fulton as Francie ...

as Jock * Peter Williams as Army doctor

References

External links

BFI 75 Most Wanted entry
with extensive notes * British musical comedy films British black-and-white films Military humor in film British World War II films 1948 musical comedy films 1948 films 1940s rediscovered films Rediscovered British films 1940s British films {{WWII-film-stub