''Jumping for Joy'' is a 1956 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 o ...

directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

Stanley Holloway Stanley Augustus Holloway (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in ''My F ...

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson, OBE (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series ''Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number ...

and

Lionel Jeffries Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and received a Golden Globe Award nomination during his acting career. Early life Jeffries was born in ...

Plot

Willie Joy (

) works at a greyhound track as a cleaner, which involves his picking up droppings from the dog track between races. He is tricked into standing in the line of the lure and falls on it as it speeds passed with the dogs chasing it. He gets fired. This times itself with a useless dog also being let go by an owner (Bert Benton) and Joy plays a small sum and takes it home. His landlady is less than pleased at a dog in his room and evicts him. He meets Captain Montague (

) and together they hatch a plan to make money from the dog. They give it the name of "Lindy Lou". To play the part Joy steals a top hat and tails to wear to the races at

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car ...

(

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 ...

). When Lindy starts to prove herself at the trials Benton wants to buy her back. Wandering around the East End he foolishly enters a snooker hall and flashes £20 around. A pretty girl tries to hustle him out of the money by playing a snooker set. Various crooks use Joy as an unwitting collaborator in fixing races and placing large bets. The crooks pass doped meat to be given to the dog but Joy and Montague eat it themselves. The crooks find them asleep but cannot find the dog. They detach the Captain's railway carriage home and move it onto an active railway line. When they awake they are told by a local that they are near

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

. The dog is rescued just before the carriage is hit by a train. They re-encounter Lord and Lady Cranfield (from whom he earlier stole the suit) and they give him a lift to the White City. Lindy Lou wins the Gold Cup but only due to a distraction in crowd as Joy hits a policeman to ensue a whistle is blown. He is arrested and recognises the distinctive shoes of Haines of Scotland Yard as the ringleader of the crooks. He also gets mixed up with criminals who want to fix the race by

doping Doping may refer to: * Doping, adding a dopant to something * Doping (semiconductor), intentionally introducing impurities into an extremely pure semiconductor to change its electrical properties * Aircraft dope, a lacquer that is applied to fabr ...

dogs. The greyhound in the film called Lindy Lou was actually a racing greyhound called Moyshna Queen from Wandsworth Stadium.

Cast

as Willie Joy *

as Captain Jack Montague * A. E. Matthews as Lord Reginald Cranfield * Tony Wright as Vincent *

Alfie Bass Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...

as Mr Blagg *

as Lady Emily Cranfield *

as Bert Benton *

Susan Beaumont Susan Beaumont (26 February 1936 – 25 February 2020) was an English film actress who enjoyed a relatively brief film career. Family Susan Beaumont was born (as Susan Anna Black) in London. She was the daughter of musical comedy actress Roma ...

as Susan Storer * Terence Longdon as John Wyndham *

Colin Gordon Colin Gordon (27 April 1911 – 4 October 1972) was a British actor born in Ceylon. Biography He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a ...

as Max, the commentator *

Richard Wattis Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, th ...

as Carruthers * Danny Green as Plug Ugly * Barbara Archer as Marlene * William Kendall as Blenkinsop *

Ewen Solon Peter Ewen Solon (7 September 1917 – 7 July 1985) was a New Zealand-born actor, who worked extensively in both the United Kingdom and Australia. At the outbreak of World War II, Solon became a member of the First Echelon, 2nd NZEF that saw ...

as Haines *

Reginald Beckwith William Reginald Beckwith (2 November 190826 June 1965) was an English film and television actor, who made over one hundred film and television appearances in his career. He died of a heart attack aged 56. Beckwith was also a film critic and ...

as Smithers * Charles Hawtrey as Man at Bar (uncredited) *

Bill Fraser William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play '' ...

as drunk in snooker hall (uncredited) * George A. Cooper as farmer who tells them they are near Doncaster (uncredited) *

Andrew Faulds Andrew Matthew William Faulds (1 March 1923 – 31 May 2000) was a British actor and Labour Party politician. After a successful acting career on stage, on radio and in films, he was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 1997. Early life Fauld ...

as friend of drunk man (uncredited) * Richard Dunn as policeman (uncredited) * Joyce Gardner as the pool room hustler (uncredited) - Joyce was a well known professional pool player at the time, not an actress *

Beatrice Varley Beatrice Evelyn Varley (11 July 1896 – 4 July 1964) was an English actress who appeared in television and film roles between 1936 and 1964. She made her screen debut in the 1936 film ''Tomorrow We Live'' and began to portray a variety of ...

as Joy's landlady (uncredited) *

John Warren John Warren may refer to: Medicine * John Warren (surgeon) (1753–1815), American surgeon during the Revolutionary War * John Collins Warren (1778–1856), American surgeon * John Collins Warren Jr. (1842–1927), American surgeon, son of John ...

as main commentator (uncredited) * Tom Gill as second commentator (uncredited)

Critical reception

''Halliwell's Film and Video Guide 2000'' describes the film as a "totally predictable star comedy which needs livening up" and the ''Time Out Film Guide 2009'' describes the film as "lame". While ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

'' called the film a "Sporadically funny comedy".

Musical score

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 ...

'' noted, "the delightful harmonica score in ''Jumping for Joy'' is provided by American expatriate Larry Adler".

References

External links

* {{John Paddy Carstairs 1956 films 1956 comedy films British comedy films Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films and television featuring Greyhound racing Films set in London Greyhound racing films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films British black-and-white films