''Let the People Sing'' is a 1942 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 John Baxter, and starring

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...

Fred Emney Frederick Arthur Round Emney (12 February 1902 – 25 December 1980) was an English character actor and comedian. Emney was born in Prescot, Lancashire,GRO Register of Births Mar 1902 Frederick Arthur R Emney 8b 725 PRESCOT1901 Census: ...

and

Edward Rigby Edward Coke MC (5 February 1879 – 5 April 1951), known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor. Early life Rigby was born at Ashford, Kent, England, the second son of Dr William Harriott Coke and his wife, Mary Elizabe ...

. The film's sets were designed by R. Holmes Paul. It was made at

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

. The screenplay concerns a small town that bands together to try to save their

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

from closure. It was based on the 1939 novel '' Let the People Sing'' by

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

Main cast

Critical reception

'' Time Out'' wrote "John Baxter was the British director probably least patronizing and most sympathetic to the

working classes The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

and their culture during the '30s and '40s, and even if his films now often seem naïve and simplistic, it's good at least to see an honest and humorous attempt to deal with life outside

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

. Less scathing than ''

Love on the Dole ''Love on the Dole'' is a novel by Walter Greenwood, about working-class poverty in 1930s Northern England. It has been made into both a play and a film. The novel Walter Greenwood's novel (1933) was written during the early 1930s as a respons ...

'' (his best known film), this adaptation of a JB Priestley novel is a spritely, vaguely Capra-esque comedy... Fred Emney steals the show as a government arbitrator susceptible to the charms of alcohol."

References

Bibliography

* Murphy, Robert. ''Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain, 1939-48''. Routledge, 1992.

External links

* * https://free-classic-movies.com/movies-04/04-1942-08-10-Let-the-People-Sing/index.php 1942 films 1942 comedy films 1940s English-language films Films directed by John Baxter British comedy films Films set in England Films shot at British National Studios Films based on British novels British black-and-white films 1940s British films {{1940s-UK-comedy-film-stub