''Miss London Ltd.'' is a 1943 British,

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Val Guest Val Guest (born Valmond Maurice Grossman; 11 December 1911 – 10 May 2006) was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer (and later director) of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer, for whom he direct ...

and starring

Arthur Askey Arthur Bowden Askey, (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation ...

and

Evelyn Dall Evelyn Dall (born Evelyn Mildred Fuss; January 8, 1918 – March 10, 2010) was an American singer and actress. Career Born in The Bronx, New York City as Evelyn Mildred Fuss, she took her stage name from the surname of two grandchildren of P ...

. It was produced by Edward Black, Maurice Ostrer, Fred Gunn and

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

Plot

This musical comedy playing in

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

time London, stars

as Arthur Boden alias Miss London, the name of the escort agency he inherited from his mother. Soon he is joined by his new American partner, Terry Arden (

), as she inherited the other half of the Agency from her parents, who just arrived from abroad. The first thing she accomplishes is to clean up the office, together with her partner. Then they have to renew the files of escort-Ladies. In order to do so, each of them goes searching in different places. Arthur Boden is assigned to the railway station and finally he finds railway clerk Gail Martin ( Anne Shelton) to hire. The opening sequence of the film features the latter singing "The 8.50 Choo Choo For Waterloo Choo" at

Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...

before she is recruited by Bowman for his agency. As usual,

Ronald Shiner Ronald Alfred Shiner (8 June 1903 – 29 June 1966) was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall. Career Early life and career When he was seventeen, Shiner joined the Royal Nor ...

's character of Sailor Meredith plays a decisive role. The film features a surreal self-parodying sequence in which Boden, in order to gain entrance to a hotel, pretends to be the famous Arthur Askey, using some of his choice

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

s. Other spoofs include Askey and Dall doing a routine as

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

and, with Shiner in addition, as the three

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

Cast

as Arthur Boden *

as Terry Arden * Anne Shelton as Gail Martin *

Richard Hearne Richard Lewis Hearne (30 January 1908 – 23 August 1979) was an English actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best remembered for his stage and television character Mr Pastry. Career Hearne was born in Norwich, Norfolk, in 1908, the son ...

as Commodore Joshua Wellington *

Max Bacon Max Bacon is an English rock singer. He was the lead singer for 1980s rock group GTR, as well as for Burn the Sky, Moby Dick, Nightwing, Phenomena, and Bronz. He was the vocalist on GTR's top 40 single, "When the Heart Rules the Mind" and GTR's ...

as Romero *

Jack Train Jack Train (28 November 1902 – 19 December 1966) was a British comic actor best known for his appearances as a variety of eccentric characters in the BBC radio series ''It's That Man Again'' (''ITMA''). Life and career Train was born in ...

as Joe Nelson *

Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series '' Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 to 1973 (original) and from 1988 to ...

as Captain Michael "Rory" O'More *

Jean Kent Jean Kent (born Joan Mildred Field; 29 June 1921 − 30 November 2013) was an English film and television actress. Biography Born Joan Mildred Field (sometimes incorrectly cited as Summerfield) in Brixton, London in 1921, the only child of va ...

as The Encyclopedia Girl *

as Sailor Meredith * Iris Lang *

Virginia Keiley Virginia Keiley (1918–1990) was a British actress. She began her career at Gainsborough Pictures appearing in a number of glamorous but small, sometimes uncredited roles in the studio's comedies and melodramas. After the Second World War she g ...

* Una Shepherd * Sheila Bligh * Noni Brooke *

Patricia Owens Patricia Molly Owens (January 17, 1925 – August 31, 2000) was a Canadian-born American actress, working in Hollywood. She appeared in about 40 films and 10 television episodes in a career lasting from 1943 to 1968. Early work Owens moved ...

as Miss London * Hilda Campbell Russell as Cabaret Singer

Soundtrack

*Evelyn Dall and Anne Shelton – "A Fine How Do You Do" (Words and music by Val Guest and

Manning Sherwin Manning Sherwin (January 4, 1902 – July 26, 1974) was an American composer. Born in Philadelphia, Sherwin attended Columbia University before embarking upon a long career in musical theatre and films. His most enduring composition is the music ...

) *Evelyn Dall – "Keep Cool Calm and Collected" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Arthur Askey – "The Moth" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Arthur Askey – "I'm Only Me" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Anne Shelton – "You Too Can Have a Lovely Romance" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Anne Shelton – "The 8.50 Choo Choo" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) *Anne Shelton – "If You Could Only Cook" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin) * "My Father Was a Yes Man" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)

References

External links

* * {{Marriott Edgar 1943 films 1943 musical comedy films 1940s war comedy films British black-and-white films British musical comedy films British war comedy films British World War II propaganda films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Val Guest Films produced by Maurice Ostrer Films set in London Gainsborough Pictures films Films with screenplays by Marriott Edgar 1943 directorial debut films