''Britannia of Billingsgate'' is a 1933 British

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

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

Sinclair Hill Sinclair Hill (10 June 1896 – 6 March 1945) was a British film director, film producer, producer and screenwriter. He directed nearly fifty films between 1920 and 1939. He was born as George Sinclair-Hill in London in 1894. He was awarded an OB ...

and starring Violet Loraine,

Gordon Harker William Gordon Harker (7 August 1885 – 2 March 1967) was an English stage and film actor. Harker was one of the sons of Sarah Elizabeth Harker, née Hall, (1856–1927), and Joseph Harker (1855–1927), a much admired set painter for the ...

Kay Hammond Dorothy Katherine Standing, Lady Clements (18 February 1909 – 4 May 1980), known professionally as Kay Hammond, was an English stage and film actress. Family Kay Hammond was born in London, England as Dorothy Katherine Standing, the daught ...

and

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

. A family who work in the fish trade at

Billingsgate Market Billingsgate Fish Market is located in Canary Wharf in London. It is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was origi ...

encounter a film crew who are shooting there. It was based on the play ''Britannia of Billingsgate'' by Christine Jope-Slade and

Sewell Stokes Francis Martin Sewell Stokes (16 November 1902, London – 2 November 1979, London) was an English novelist, biographer, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and prison visitor. He collaborated on a number of occasions with his brother, Leslie ...

. It was shot at the

Lime Grove Studios Lime Grove Studios was a film, and later television, studio complex in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The complex was built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, and ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Alfred Junge Alfred Junge (29 January 1886, Görlitz, Silesia (now Saxony), Germany – 16 July 1964, London) was a German-born production designer who spent a large part of his career working in the British film industry. Junge had wanted to be an artis ...

Cast

* Violet Loraine as Bessie Bolton *

as Bert Bolton *

as Pearl Bolton *

as Fred Bolton *

Drusilla Wills Drusilla Wills (14 November 18846 August 1951) was a British stage and film actress. After making her stage debut in 1902, she played character roles in many films, including as a jury member in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Murder!'' (1930). Selected f ...

as Mrs Wrigley * Walter Sondes as Harold Hogarth *

Glennis Lorimer Glennis Lorimer (''Glennis Dorothy Browne''; 27 April 1913 – 17 November 1968) was a British people, British actress, who appeared in a number of films during the 1930s. She also appeared in the Gainsborough Pictures logo before the opening cr ...

as Maud * Anthony Holles as Guidobaldi *

Joyce Kirby Joyce Kirby (March 15, 1915 – 1985) was a British actress. On stage from childhood and a dancer in Cochrane shows, she appeared in several British films of the 1930s. Selected filmography * ''The Midshipmaid'' (1932) * ''A Safe Propositio ...

as Joan *

Gibb McLaughlin George McLoughlin (19 July 1879 – 30 June 1961), known professionally as Gibb McLaughlin, was an English film and stage actor. Early days McLaughlin was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England in 1879. For about 10 years he was a sale ...

as Westerbrook * Grethe Hansen as Gwen *

Wally Patch Walter Sydney Vinnicombe (26 September 1888 – 27 October 1970) was an English actor and comedian. He worked in film, television and theatre. Biography Vinnicombe was born in Willesden, Middlesex and began working on the music hall stages in ...

as Harry *

Ernest Sefton Ernest Sefton (born as Ernest Henry Tipton; 13 January 1883 in Hackney, London – 5 December 1954) was a British film actor. He was the brother of Violet Loraine. Selected filmography * ''The Sign of Four'' (1932) * ''The Innocents of Ch ...

as Publicity man

Speedway scenes

The

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

scenes from the film were shot at

Hackney Wick Stadium Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in the London Borough of Hackney. Origins The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west sid ...

and featured some of the leading riders in Britain at the time; Colin Watson,

Arthur Warwick Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

Gus Kuhn Gus Kuhn (17 October 1898 – 30 August 1966) was a successful British TT and motorcycle speedway rider during the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in Birmingham, England, and served in the Royal Naval Air Service in World War I. Speedway K ...

Tom Farndon Tom Farndon (11 September 1910 – 30 August 1935), was a British speedway rider who won the Star Riders' Championship in 1933 whilst with the Crystal Palace Glaziers. Career Born in Coventry, Farndon started his career at the Lythalls Lan ...

Claude Rye Arthur Claude Rye known as Claude Rye (1908–1988) was an international speedway rider from England. Speedway career Rye came to prominence in 1929 after gaining a two year contract with Preston (speedway) and then joined Wimbledon Dons in 1 ...

and

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Se ...

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

1933 films 1933 musical comedy films British black-and-white films British musical comedy films Films set in London Films directed by Sinclair Hill Gainsborough Pictures films Films scored by Jack Beaver Films about filmmaking Films shot at Lime Grove Studios British films based on plays 1930s English-language films Motorcycle racing films 1930s British films {{musical-comedy-film-stub