Dr Benjamin Twist is a recurring fictional character who appears in several films featuring comedian

Will Hay William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film '' O ...

, who portrays the character in all mediums.

Character history

Dr. Benjamin Twist is a bumbling, fraudulent but lovable science teacher of the (fictional) St. Michael's School, which forms the backdrop of the films he appears in. Twist's typical appearance was with a

mortarboard The square academic cap, graduate cap, cap, mortarboard (because of its similarity in appearance to the mortarboard used by brickmasons to hold mortar) or Oxford cap is an item of academic dress consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upo ...

at an angle on his head and a pince-nez on his nose, as he squinted in a bewildered way at his unruly pupils.

Appearances

''Good Morning, Boys''

Twist's first appearance was in the 1937 film ''

Good Morning, Boys ''Good Morning, Boys!'' is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and featuring Will Hay, Graham Moffatt, Martita Hunt, Lilli Palmer and Peter Gawthorne. It was made at the Gainsborough Studios in Islington. The film marked the fir ...

'', in which he is presented as the laid-back

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the teacher, staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school ...

of St. Michael's, a boys school for the sons of rich gentry, where he also teaches

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

. Initially, he turns a blind eye to the misbehaviour of the boys under his eye, and teaches the children using his method of ''Twisterism'', which is somehow related to

Astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

and the signs of the

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...

. However, he is later ordered by the school's new governor to adopt stricter policies, eventually turning St. Michael's into a military academy, with Twist holding an officer's rank.

''Hey! Hey! USA!''

Benjamin Twist appeared again in Hay's next film, ''

Hey! Hey! USA! ''Hey! Hey! USA'' is a 1938 British comedy film starring comedian Will Hay, Edgar Kennedy and Eddie Ryan. Hay appears as Benjamin Twist, a porter who accidentally finds himself on a ship bound for the United States. The film features an early app ...

'' (1938). In this film, however, Twist is working as a porter aboard an oceangoing liner travelling between

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and during one particular voyage, he is mistaken for a scientist known as Prof. Tavistock by American gangster Bugs Leary (

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

), eventually becoming embroiled in a gangster plot to blackmail an American millionaire. It is possible that ''

'' portrayed events that took place those before ''

'', explaining Twist's sudden change from teacher to steward, and the absence of St. Michael's School.

''Convict 99''

Benjamin Twist's final appearance in the

films was in the 1938 film ''

Convict 99 ''Convict 99'' is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Will Hay, Moore Marriott, Graham Moffatt and Googie Withers. Plot Incompetent Dr Benjamin Twist (Will Hay) is dismissed from his job as headmaster at St. Micha ...

'', which was released shortly after ''

''. In this film, Twist is dismissed from St. Michaels for incompetence, and whilst attending a job interview for a position in another school, he is mistaken for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n disciplinarian John D. Benjamin (

Roy Emerton Roy Emerton (9 October 1892 – 30 November 1944) was a British film actor. Earlier in his life, he was a sailor, stoker, docker, railway worker, and miner and served in the First World War. He played in a great number of popular London stage p ...

), and accidentally accepts the post of governor of Blackdown Prison in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

(possibly based on the real-life

Dartmoor Prison HM Prison Dartmoor is a Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the moor. The prison is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, and is operated by ...

), where he befriends prison-warden Albert (

Graham Moffatt Graham Victor Harold Moffatt (6 December 1919 – 2 July 1965) was an English comedic character actor. He is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': a plump cheekily insolent street-savv ...

) and inmate Jerry "The Mole" (

Moore Marriott George Thomas Moore Marriott (14 September 1885 – 11 December 1949) was an English character actor best remembered for the series of films he made with Will Hay. His first appearance with Hay was in the film '' Dandy Dick'' (1935), but he w ...

Other appearances

A precursor of the Benjamin Twist character was Dr Alec Smart in '' Boys Will Be Boys'' (1935), who was an otherwise identical teaching character. In ''

The Ghost of St. Michael's ''The Ghost of St. Michael's'' is a 1941 British comedy- thriller film, produced by Ealing Studios. Will Hay, the film's star, replaced his sidekicks, Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott, from his previous film ''Where's That Fire?'' with comedi ...

'' (1941) the bumbling-teacher character has changed to William Lamb, but the character still bears similarities in appearance and manner to Benjamin Twist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twist, Benjamin Comedy film characters Male characters in film Film characters introduced in 1937 Fictional schoolteachers Fictional fraudsters Fictional prison officers and governors Fictional professors