''Happidrome'' is a 1943 British

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 Philip Brandon and starring Harry Korris, Robbie Vincent and Cecil Fredericks. It was a spin-off from the '' Happidrome'' BBC radio series which was popular at the time.Richards p.275 The film was made at the

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having closed for redevelopment in ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, and produced by the musical star

Jack Buchanan Walter John Buchanan (2 April 1891 – 20 October 1957) was a Scottish theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George G ...

. The 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 ...

William Hemsley.

Synopsis

Mr Lovejoy, a struggling

actor-manager An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the business, sometimes taking over a theatre to perform select plays in which they usually star. It is a method of theatrical production used co ...

returns to a small provincial town with plans to put on a show. Despite having debts there during the previous visit, he is cunningly able to keep his show on the road and gains free advertising in a newspaper by announcing that local talent will be cast. In the meantime he acquires two incompetent assistants, Enoch and Ramsbottom, and Bunty Meadows, an eager would-be star also wangles her way into the company. A statuesque but domineering Russian

prima donna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pers ...

also joins the cast. Bunty's determination to become a

leading lady A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typica ...

has a disastrous effect on the opening night which is supposed to be a serious play about

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

, but quickly descends into a total

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

. With the audience extremely amused, the show is quickly rebilled as a comedy.

Cast

* Harry Korris as Mr Lovejoy * Robbie Vincent as Enoch * Cecil Fredericks as Ramsbottom * Bunty Meadows as Bunty Mossup * Lisa Lee as Tanya / Josephine * Jennie Gregson as Mrs Bane * Muriel Zillah as Muriel * Connie Creighton as Connie * Marie Lawson as Marie * Olga Stevenson as Miss D'Orsay *

Joss Ambler Joss Ambler (23 June 1900 – 1959) was an Australian-born British film and television actor. He usually played somewhat pompous and irascible figures of authority, particularly in comedy films. He was an effective foil to George Formby in both ...

as Mr Mossup * Valentine Dunn as Mrs Mossup * Bryan Herbert as Newspaper editor *

Arthur Hambling Arthur Hambling (14 March 1888 – 6 December 1952) was a British actor, on stage from 1912, and best known for appearances in the films ''Henry V'' (1944) and ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951). In 1939 he appeared in the West End in N.C. Hunter ...

as Jones Jnr. *

Leslie 'Hutch' Hutchinson Leslie Arthur Julien Hutchinson, known as "Hutch" (7 March 1900 – 18 August 1969), was a Grenada-born singer and musician who was one of the biggest cabaret, cabaret stars in the world during the 1920s and 1930s. Early life Born in Gouya ...

as himself * Cairoli Brothers as Themselves *

Billy Wells William Thomas Wells, better known as Bombardier Billy Wells (31 August 1889 – 12 June 1967), was an English heavyweight boxer. Fighting under the name "Bombardier Billy Wells", he was British and British Empire Champion from 1911 un ...

as Ivan

References

Bibliography

* Richards, Jeffrey. ''Films and British National Identity: from Dickens to Dad's Army''. Manchester University Press, 1997.

External links

* 1943 films 1943 comedy films British comedy films British black-and-white films Films shot at Riverside Studios Films set in England Films about theatre Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films {{1940s-UK-comedy-film-stub