''Let's Be Famous'' is a 1939 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

Walter Forde Walter Forde (born Thomas Seymour Woolford, 21 April 1898 – 7 January 1984) was a British actor, screenwriter and director. Born in Lambeth, south London in 1898, he directed over fifty films between 1919 from the silent era through to 1 ...

and starring

Jimmy O'Dea James Augustine O'Dea (26 April 1899 – 7 January 1965) was an Irish actor and comedian. Life Jimmy O'Dea was born at 11 Lower Bridge Street, Dublin, to James O'Dea, an ironmonger, and Martha O'Gorman, who kept a small toy shop. He was one ...

Betty Driver Elizabeth Mary Driver, (20 May 1920 – 15 October 2011) was a British actress and singer, best known for her role as Betty Williams in the long-running ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'', a role she played for 42 years from 1969 to 2011, a ...

and

Sonnie Hale John Robert Hale-Monro (1 May 1902 – 9 June 1959), known as Sonnie Hale, was an English actor, screenwriter, and director. Early life John Robert Hale-Monro was born in Kensington, London, the son of Belle Reynolds and actor Robert Hal ...

. It was made by

Associated Talking Pictures Associated may refer to: *Associated, former name of Avon, Contra Costa County, California * Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto, a school in Canada *Associated Newspapers, former name of DMG Media, a British publishing company See also *Associat ...

, with shooting beginning in November 1938.Wood p. 98 The film's art direction was by the Austrian Oscar Werndorff, in his final production.

Cast

as Jimmy Houlihan *

as Betty Pinbright *

as Finch *

Patrick Barr Patrick David Barr (13 February 1908 – 29 August 1985) was an English actor. In his career spanning over half a century, he appeared in about 144 films and television series. Biography Born in Akola, British India in 1908, Barr was educate ...

as Johnny Blake *

Basil Radford Arthur Basil RadfordAdam Greaves, "Radford, (Arthur) Basil (1897–1952)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, May 201available online Retrieved 3 August 2020. (25 June 189720 October 1952) was an English charac ...

as Watson *

Milton Rosmer Milton Rosmer (4 November 1881 – 7 December 1971) was a British actor, film director and screenwriter. He made his screen debut in '' The Mystery of a Hansom Cab'' (1915) and continued to act in theatre, film and television until 1956. I ...

as Albert Pinbright * Lena Brown as Polly Pinbright *

Henry Hallett Henry Hallett (1 February 1888 in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England, UK – 24 July 1952) was a British stage and film actor. Filmography * ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' (1932) * '' Jew Süss'' (1934) * ''Tudor Rose'' (1936) * '' Spy of Napol ...

as Grenville *

Garry Marsh Garry Marsh (21 June 1902 – 6 March 1981) was an English stage and film actor. Born Leslie Marsh Gerahty in St Margarets, Surrey, his parents were George and Laura. His elder brothers were the author Digby George Gerahty and the journalist ...

as BBC Official *

Franklyn Bellamy Franklyn Bellamy (7 March 1886 in Kuala Lumpur – 15 February 1961 in Bodmin) was an English stage and film actor. In 1924 he appeared in Frederick Lonsdale's melodrama '' The Fake'' in the West End. Partial filmography * '' For Her People'' ...

as Ali Benali (as Franklin Bellamy) *

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 Announcer *

Alf Goddard Frank Henry "Alf" Goddard (28 November 1897 in Brentford, Middlesex – 25 February 1981 in Ealing, London) was an English film actor. Brother of a famous boxer, Alf Goddard was once a boxer too. He was also a trained athlete and a professiona ...

as Battling Bulger *

Raymond Huntley Horace Raymond Huntley (23 April 1904 – 15 June 1990) was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also appeared in the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' as the pragmatic family s ...

as Singer in trio (uncredited)

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Perry, George. ''Forever Ealing''. Pavilion Books, 1994. * Sutton, David R. ''A Chorus of Raspberries: British Film Comedy 1929-1939''. University of Exeter Press, 2000. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

* 1939 films 1939 musical comedy films British musical comedy films British black-and-white films Associated Talking Pictures Films directed by Walter Forde Films set in London Films scored by Jack Beaver 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{musical-comedy-film-stub