''Cheer Boys Cheer'' is a 1939 British comedy film directed by
Walter Forde
Walter Forde (born Thomas Seymour Woolford, 21 April 1898 – 7 January 1984) was a British actor, screenwriter and Film director, director. Born in Lambeth, south London in 1898, he directed over fifty films between 1919 from the silent era ...
and starring
Nova Pilbeam
Nova Margery Pilbeam (15 November 1919 – 17 July 2015) was an English film and stage actress. She played leading roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films of the 1930s, and made her last film in 1948.
Early life
Pilbeam was born in Wimbledon, Surr ...
,
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won th ...
,
Jimmy O'Dea,
Graham Moffatt
Graham Victor Harold Moffatt (6 December 1919 – 2 July 1965) was an English comedic character actor. He is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': a plump cheekily insolent street-savv ...
,
Moore Marriott
George Thomas Moore Marriott (14 September 1885 – 11 December 1949) was an English character actor best remembered for the series of films he made with Will Hay. His first appearance with Hay was in the film '' Dandy Dick'' (1935), but he w ...
and
Peter Coke
Peter John Coke ( "cook"; 3 April 1913 – 30 July 2008) was an English actor, playwright and artist.
Early life
Peter John Coke was born in Southsea, Hampshire on 3 April 1913. .
Plot
Edward Ironside (
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won th ...
), the head of Ironside Brewery Ltd, informs his board of directors of his intention to expand the company's reach by taking over almost one hundred pubs under the control of another
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 ...
-based brewery, Greenleaf. Ironside have adopted a modern, industrial approach to brewing and their newest board member, Naseby (
Ivor Barnard) takes a disdainful view of Ironside's ambitions, suggesting that the company are sacrificing taste and quality for increase production.
Ironside's attitude is sharply contrasted by the Greenleaf brewery, which maintains a casual, friendly relationship with employees and has been run by the family for almost 150 years. Ironside has purchased as many shares in Greenleaf as possible but the owner, Tom Greenleaf (
C.V. France
Charles Vernon France (30 June 1868 – 13 April 1949) was a British actor, usually credited as C. V. France.
Stage career
France appeared (along with Ralph Richardson) in William Somerset Maugham's 1932 play '' For Services Rendered: A Pla ...
), retains a majority share. Edmund Ironside visits Tom Greenleaf at the Cross Keys Inn, with his son, Ironside's Director of Publicity, John (
Peter Coke
Peter John Coke ( "cook"; 3 April 1913 – 30 July 2008) was an English actor, playwright and artist.
Early life
Peter John Coke was born in Southsea, Hampshire on 3 April 1913. ), instructing him that "the Greenleaf brewery has got to go".
Following a misunderstanding that Ironside desires to purchase Greenleaf's prized
Toby Jug collection, rather than his brewery, Tom consults his headstrong daughter Margaret (
Nova Pilbeam
Nova Margery Pilbeam (15 November 1919 – 17 July 2015) was an English film and stage actress. She played leading roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films of the 1930s, and made her last film in 1948.
Early life
Pilbeam was born in Wimbledon, Surr ...
) who demands he refuse the offer, despite Tom previously admitting to one of his employees, Matt Boyle (
Jimmy O'Dea) that the company were having some financial difficulties. Incensed, Ironside threatens Greenleaf that they have one week to accept his offer.
John Ironside arranges to have dinner with Margaret Greenleaf at the Cross Keys Inn though hides his true identity as a member of the Ironside team. Masquerading as an advertising executive, he tricks his way into the Greenleaf company where he plots to sabotage the brewery. As John spends time in the jovial atmosphere at Greenleaf, he finds the ways of working and light-hearted attitudes appealing and calls his father to announce he will be remaining at Greenleaf as their advertising manager, where profits are already beginning to increase. He and Margaret take an unsuccessful drive in a motorcar where he asks Margaret to marry him, to which she enthusiastically agrees.
Unbeknown to them, Matt also harbours feelings for Margaret and asks her father, Tom, if he can use the upcoming 150th anniversary celebrations to propose to her. Following a theatrical show and passionate recital of 'Old Obadiah' Matt presents Tom with an oversized Toby Jug. Tom then announces to the crowd that his daughter Margaret is to be married to Matt. Horrified at the misunderstanding, Margaret tells her father that she is betrothed to John, as Matt celebrates outside. Edmund Ironside then arrives, informing Tom that his son, John Ironside, has been working at Greenleaf under his instructions, deliberately sabotaging their operation. John is dismayed and refuses to ever return to his father's brewery. Ironside tells Greenleaf that "you can't hold out against Ironsides" and sends a group of thugs to the Coach and Horses, a Greenleaf pub. A bar fight ensures, with Greenleaf employees and staff facing off against the heavies.
Tom becomes distressed at the damage to both his premises and employees and debates conceding to Ironside, to which he is encouraged to continue to fight. John tries to explain to Margaret, persuading the Greenleafs that he can fight his father as he knows his underhand tricks. Meanwhile Matt, who is still drunk from the previous night's antics, enters an Ironside board meeting and ends up giving his ten Greenleaf shares to Ironside, finally giving Ironside the a majority stake. He telephones Tom, gloating that he will be closing down the Greenleaf houses.
John devises a plan to beat Ironsides by tainting their beer with a specially-brewed mixture which makes drinkers cry uncontrollably. This leads to a sensation, with Ironside facing closure as the board of directors sob into their beer mugs. John offers his father a chance to remain in business by agreeing to sell Greenleaf ales in all of their pubs, to which Ironside reluctantly agrees. When Tom hears of the plot, he refuses to sign the agreements as he does not approve of John's underhand methods and feels he can't take advantage of Ironside's misfortune. Tom finally agrees when John and Margaret tell him of their wedding, resulting in the happy union of Greenleaf and Ironside.
Cast
*
Nova Pilbeam
Nova Margery Pilbeam (15 November 1919 – 17 July 2015) was an English film and stage actress. She played leading roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films of the 1930s, and made her last film in 1948.
Early life
Pilbeam was born in Wimbledon, Surr ...
as Margaret Greenleaf
*
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won th ...
as Edward Ironside
*
Jimmy O'Dea as Matt Boyle
*
Moore Marriott
George Thomas Moore Marriott (14 September 1885 – 11 December 1949) was an English character actor best remembered for the series of films he made with Will Hay. His first appearance with Hay was in the film '' Dandy Dick'' (1935), but he w ...
as Geordie
*
Graham Moffatt
Graham Victor Harold Moffatt (6 December 1919 – 2 July 1965) was an English comedic character actor. He is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': a plump cheekily insolent street-savv ...
as Albert Baldwin
*
C. V. France
Charles Vernon France (30 June 1868 – 13 April 1949) was a British actor, usually credited as C. V. France.
Stage career
France appeared (along with Ralph Richardson) in William Somerset Maugham's 1932 play ''For Services Rendered: A Play ...
as Tom Greenleaf
*
Peter Coke
Peter John Coke ( "cook"; 3 April 1913 – 30 July 2008) was an English actor, playwright and artist.
Early life
Peter John Coke was born in Southsea, Hampshire on 3 April 1913. as John Ironside
*
Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor on stage, screen, and occasionally television. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as Woodrow Wilson in the film '' Wilson'' (1944).
...
as Saunders
*
Ivor Barnard as Naseby
*
Walter Forde
Walter Forde (born Thomas Seymour Woolford, 21 April 1898 – 7 January 1984) was a British actor, screenwriter and Film director, director. Born in Lambeth, south London in 1898, he directed over fifty films between 1919 from the silent era ...
as Pianist at Wedding
*
James Knight as Ironside's Chauffeur
*
Hay Plumb
Edward Hay-Plumb (1883 in Norwich, Norfolk – 1960 in Uxbridge, Middlesex) was an English actor and film director.
He served as a lieutenant in the West Yorkshire Regiment during World War I.
Selected filmography Director
* ''Hamlet'' (1913)
* ...
as Greenleaf Employee
* Charles Rolfe as Ironside Thug
*
Harry Terry
Harry Terry (born 1887, date of death unknown) was an English stage and film actor. He made his stage debut in 1900, and appeared in more than 60 films between 1927 and 1952, including two films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He was born in Londo ...
as Brewery Worker
* Jean Webster-Brough as Maggie
Production
The film was made by
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...
, almost a year after
Michael Balcon
Sir Michael Elias Balcon (19 May 1896 – 17 October 1977) was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in West London from 1938 to 1955. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British film ...
had taken over from
Basil Dean as head of production. Filming began in late March 1939, after director
Walter Forde
Walter Forde (born Thomas Seymour Woolford, 21 April 1898 – 7 January 1984) was a British actor, screenwriter and Film director, director. Born in Lambeth, south London in 1898, he directed over fifty films between 1919 from the silent era ...
spent a week travelling hundreds of miles visiting breweries throughout
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, conducting research and scouting locations. Ultimately, the largest stage at
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...
was used, with a fully functional brewery and yard constructed. Production completed two days ahead of schedule in early May 1939.
Nova Pilbeam
Nova Margery Pilbeam (15 November 1919 – 17 July 2015) was an English film and stage actress. She played leading roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films of the 1930s, and made her last film in 1948.
Early life
Pilbeam was born in Wimbledon, Surr ...
was best known as a child actress and had last been seen by audiences in
Alfred Hitchcock's
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
Young and Innocent
''Young and Innocent'', released in the US as ''The Girl Was Young'', is a 1937 British crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Nova Pilbeam and Derrick De Marney. Based on the 1936 novel '' A Shilling for Candles'' by Jos ...
two years previously. She had recently married
Pen Tennyson
Frederick Penrose "Pen" Tennyson (26 August 1912 – 7 July 1941) was a British film director whose promising career was cut short when he died in a plane crash. Tennyson gained experience as an assistant director to Alfred Hitchcock in several ...
, a promising young film director who had recently completed his first film for Ealing,
There Ain't No Justice.
The film was produced in the months leading up to
World War Two with the arrogant, uncompromising attitude of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
conveyed with Ironside's dictatorial owner, who is seen reading
Mein Kampf
(; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...
in one scene. In contrast, Greenleaf is a clear allegory for pre-war
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, with pastoral imagery conjured by the brewery's location and name and a democratic attitude to managing workers.
[Perry p.42-43] It was the last Ealing film to be released before the outbreak of war.
Reception
The film has also come to be seen as a precursor of the later "
Ealing Comedies",
sharing a similar theme of big versus small, traditional versus modern with the later films which began with ''
Hue and Cry'' in 1947.
References
Bibliography
* Perry, George. ''Forever Ealing: A Celebration of the Great British Film Studio''. Pavilion, 1981.
External links
*
*
{{Michael Balcon
1939 films
1939 comedy films
British comedy films
British black-and-white films
Ealing Studios films
Films directed by Walter Forde
Films produced by Michael Balcon
Films set in England
Films set in London
Films about beer
1930s English-language films
1930s British films