Will Hay, Britain’s greatest film comedian
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Filmography
For details of the DVDs (generally 2 films per set), please see this page. Note that the films on DD Video have NOT been released on DVD yet, and are not scheduled.
Nine films are owned by Granada, six by Canal+, and one by Warner. See the Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott pages for their individual films and videos. If you have any queries on international availability of Will Hay's films, I will be happy to help you track them down. See the links page for more information.
My ratings for these films are given out of 5. I am taking into consideration that these films are intended as comedies, so attach a higher value to comedy content than coherent plot, strong supporting actors (other than Moffatt and Marriott) or high production values, although naturally I have also taken these aspects into account. If a Will Hay film gets 5, it does not mean it’s as good as Citizen Kane!
If you have any queries, please do let me know!
1922 Playmates
(Around the Town) (Short) M’lita
Delores Not
available on video. No idea when it’ll turn up! It’s
just a silent clip of a young Will Hay playing with a girl and
some mechanical
toys, from his revue Listening In. I could live without ever seeing
it again, frankly. Interesting the first time, though. The clip I saw, from
the National Film Archive, was very scratchy but watchable. Would be an ideal
extra on a DVD. Hint hint… Rating: 2/5 for curiosity,
antiquity and brevity. 1933 Know
Your Apples (Short) This
is a lost film, and no records seem to exist—please check
your attics. Not available on video, obviously. 1934 Those
Were the Days Thomas Bentley John Mills Iris Hoey Angela Baddeley Claude Allister George Graves Lily Morris Harry Bedford Jane Carr This
is not really a proper Will Hay film, but it does mark Will
Hay’s
first major role, as a magistrate. Many of the later mannerisms
have yet to evolve, but the film is an interesting historical
document
of a night in a Victorian music hall, including “the
Chocolate-covered Coon” and Marie Lloyd. (For younger readers,
Lloyd was famous for her smut, as well as the song "My Old Man
Said Follow the
Van".) This film will go down best with a dedicated fan or the
student of
old comedy.
Perhaps
a useful
reminder of how superior Will’s comedy was to that of some
of his fellow entertainers. The print quality on
the released version is acceptable. Rating: 2.5/5, again
for curiosity. 1934 Radio
Parade of 1935 Arthur Woods Alberta
Hunter Ted Ray & violin Billy Bennett Ronald Frankau Teddy Joyce and his band. Loads more… AKA
Radio Follies. Will Hay stars as head of a radio station putting
on an amateur talent show. Two sequences are filmed in Dufaycolor,
although in the video release, the first is missing several shots,
which are replaced with blue tinted frames, and the second has the
first twenty seconds in black and white. 94 minutes. This film is one of the
best from its period that I have seen. It features many of the cream
of radio stars (for some, it is the only film record of their performance).
It keeps throwing up new jokes, proving that Spike Milligan was
not the first to introduce zany humour to Britain. Amazingly for a film
of this nature, the plot hangs together really well. There is a
constant feeling of experimentation, ostentatiousness and striving
to make an impressive work, along with a cynical media-awareness
that seems to belong to a much later age. Rating: 5/5, but Will
Hay's contributions are limited. 1935 Dandy
Dick William Beaudine Moore Marriott
(as a stable boy) This
elusive film has never been shown on UK television! It does
exist, though. Hay plays a new vicar who sets about raising money
to repair the church’s spire before it falls over. The film is fairly
creaky and not up to the standard of some of the later films,
but it is quite short and has many interesting moments, together
with some good jokes and amusing performances. Hay still needed
more confidence on screen. Of most interest
are probably some of the flying scenes, as Hay was an accomplished
pilot. Gainsborough
Studios (if I remember correctly) Rating: 2.5/5. 1935 Boys
Will Be Boys William Beaudine Clive Dunn Will
Hay’s first film appearance as his school teacher character.
The comedy routines are below the standard later reached, and
the
film lacks both Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott. That said, the
film isn’t bad for the time it was made, and Hay appears
more comfortable than in earlier roles. Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 3/5. 1936 Where
There’s a Will William Beaudine Graham
Moffatt Hay’s
a shyster lawyer this time. There’s a chance to see a 17 year
old Graham Moffatt (with a strangely unbroken voice) giving him
some lip in his first supporting role for Hay. This is the first
of many films where Hay pits his wits against the criminal fraternity.
Eventually, as in so many Laurel and Hardy films (e.g. Way out West),
Hay’s incompetence saves the day. Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 3.5/5. 1936 Windbag
the Sailor William Beaudine Graham
Moffatt Moore Marriott Hay
is a “sailor”, whose tales of his ocean-faring days should
be taken with a pinch of sea salt. When he is finally offered the
chance to go to sea, he tries every way he can to get out of it
without losing face. There are more sinister motives behind the
shipping company’s actions, though, and they see right through
him. This is the first time that Moore Marriott supports Hay. Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 4/5. 1937 Good
Morning, Boys! Marcel Varnel Graham
Moffatt Charles Hawtry Hay’s
first film with his own school characters is very funny. The plot
is, surprise surprise, Hay and the school kids against some art
thieves interested in the Mona Lisa. Moore Marriott doesn’t
appear because there simply isn’t a part for him! Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 4/5. 1937 Oh,
Mr Porter! Marcel Varnel Graham
Moffatt Moore Marriott Perhaps
Hay’s best all-round film. Set against the derelict surroundings
of Buggleskelly Station on the SRNI (Southern Railway of Northern
Ireland), the plot is reasonably complex and involves a gang
of
republican gunrunners smuggling arms across the border. Hay is
sent to Buggleskelly as a punishment for his previous misdemeanours
(similar
to Father Ted being sent to Craggy Island). After a lot of gags
and several impressive chases, the good guys save the day. Fact to know: The actual
driver of the locomotive Gladstone is also the one who is driving
the engine on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in the Laurel
and Hardy UK Tours newsreel! For more information on this film,
see the separate page. Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 5/5. 1938 Convict
99 Marcel Varnel Graham
Moffatt Moore Marriott This
film is sensational. Almost every line Hay utters is a joke.
This
really is Hay in top form. The film is also beautifully photographed.
The plot is not entirely dissimilar to that of The Cat’s Paw,
a Harold Lloyd feature in which naivety triumphs over conventional
wisdom! The only weak point is the joke right at the very end, but
I suppose they’d worn themselves out by then. Hay was annoyed
at the performances given by his supporting cast (Marriott particularly,
as Jerry the Mole)—he thought they were upstaging him. Hay’s
next film would be without Moffatt or Marriott as a result. This
film ranks as one of the greatest comedies ever made, along with
The Bank Dick starring W C Fields and Way
Out West by Laurel and Hardy. Incidentally,
all these films have similar plotlines! This is my favourite
of all Will’s films. Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 5/5. 1938 Hey!
Hey! USA Marcel Varnel Edgar
Kennedy Another
crime picture, this time with American gangsters and kidnapping.
Edgar “Slow Burn” Kennedy, best known for his supporting
rôles with Laurel and Hardy, appears a little out of place
here. After this, the studio insisted that Hay team up again with
Moffatt and Marriott. And so he did… Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 3.5/5. 1938 Old
Bones of the River Marcel Varnel Graham
Moffatt Moore Marriott Hay
is in the jungle this time, as a tax collector! Favourite quote:
WH: “Have a look at my Tax Return.” GM: “Don’t
earn much, do you?” WH: “It’s got nothing to do with
what I earn; that’s what I declare.” Attitudes to the
African characters are a bit dated now, but this does not stop
the
film being enjoyable. Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 4/5. 1939 Ask
a Policeman Marcel Varnel Graham
Moffatt Moore Marriott Desmond Llewelyn (uncredited) Glennis Lorimer Yet
another crime picture with the same plot as Oh, Mr Porter! but different
gags, a lighthouse and smugglers this time around. Terrific fun.
The scene at the beginning where WH says that the BBC always fade
out the best programmes was based on his own experience as a radio
broadcaster, when his performance was faded early due to overrunning. Note: Glennis
Lorimer, who plays Albert's bird, was the Gainsborough portrait
girl who
graced all the studio’s films. Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 5/5. 1939 Where’s
That Fire? Marcel Varnel Graham
Moffatt Moore Marriott Will
Hay is the chief of an antiquarian (for 1939!) fire station.
He
is working on a new foam to put out any fire, but can he discover
the secret ingredient? Meanwhile, the staff’s jobs are all
at risk if they can’t successfully extinguish the next fire
to break out. The only way they’d know where it is would be
to start it themselves… It seems to be The Blues
Brothers meets the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton gone wrong, and
Laurel and Hardy; the mass-destruction of the pole-turning scene,
the incompetent mechanization, the struggle at the Tower of London.
One classic scene after another. The supporting performances
in this film were so good that Hay insisted that Moffatt and Marriott
be dropped for good. A key work in the Will Hay pantheon, as you
might expect set in a fire station. Twentieth Century Productions,
dist. Twentieth Century Fox. Made at Gainsborough Studios. Rating: 5/5. Not available
on video yet—a very notable exception. The fact that this film had different
distributors explains its nonappearance on video, but we’re
working on it. Fox have said they’re not interested in releasing
it, and won’t make it available to anyone either. Don’tchaluv’em?
Since they told us this, I’ve stopped buying The Sun. I do however
have a DVD copy, as this film has been shown on television several
times. 1941 The
Ghost of St Michael’s Marcel Varnel Charles
Hawtry Claude Hulbert Hay
and Hulbert have to try to get out of St Michael’s alive,
where the two previous headmasters have met sudden deaths. Ealing Studios (under
licence from Gainsborough). Rating: 4/5. 1941 The
Black Sheep of Whitehall Co-directed
by Will Hay I
still haven’t watched this film, but I will soon be writing
a review. I promise. 1941 The
Big Blockade Will
Hay only has a cameo in this film, and he does not have anything
funny to do. For the genuine completist only. This is very cheap. Rating: 1/5. 1942 Go
To Blazes (Short) Walter Forde Co-directed by Will Hay Thora Hird Muriel George Wartime
short about extinguishing fires started by nasty little incendiary
bombs. These things would be dropped on houses and burn through
the roof, right down to the cellar. Will Hay demonstrated how not
to put out the fires first, then his wife and daughter do it the
proper way. Made at Ealing Studios. A copy of this film is
in the Imperial War Museum. Rating: 4/5. Not available on video.
An ideal addition to a Will Hay DVD, perhaps! 1942 The
Goose Steps Out Charles
Hawtry Goose
Steps Out was a wartime morale-boosting picture. The plot is:
Dr
Potts (Hay) looks like a highly-regarded German spy, caught in
Britain. He is sent on a mission to teach in Germany, and whilst
doing so,
capture a bomb. That’s all you need. The film is exceptionally
creaky (there was a war on!), and Will Hay seems to shout every
line as if trying to reach the back of the Palladium when the
audience
is talking. Also, the theme and references to the Führer do
make one more aware of age of the film than many of Hay’s
other works. This can make enjoying the film a little difficult
in a suave
21st century living-room. So it has to lose marks there. But it is not
a bad vehicle for Hay, all things considered, and once you can
get past its lack
of polish, there are many golden routines, amongst Hay’s finest.
Charles Hawtry also comes over very well. Warning: The
Goose Steps Out video from DD Video should be avoided at all
costs because it misses
out 2 of the best scenes one involving the classroom with the problems
of pronouncing place names "Slough & Cirencester" & later
on the scene on the train where Will is trying to steal the
bomb
or what I like to call "The Pincer Panzer Movement" scene. Thanks
to Will Hay expert Rowdy Yates for this information. The defective
print in question came from Canal+, who claim that it is the same
as the one they have distributed for 20 years. A complete version
of the film is held at the National Film and Television Archive. Rating: 3.5/5. I'm
not spending money on the video until it's complete. I reviewed
an off-air copy. DVD:
See this page (DVD
release, if it ever happens) should not
suffer from the missing footage, but still to be confirmed as I don't
speak French very well) 1943 My
Learned Friend Claude
Hulbert This
black legal comedy was Will Hay’s final film. It is fairly
short for a feature and not quite up to Will Hay’s usual standard
(the war’s effect on production resources shows here—why
don’t the barristers wear wigs in court?), but it is still
quite entertaining. This black comedy style would later evolve
into
the classic Ealing comedies such as Kind Hearts and Coronets and
The Ladykillers. See here for some Ealing
Comedy news. Rating: 4/5.
Cinema films: Theatrical prints of the nine Gainsborough films (released on the Granada (formerly VCI/Cinema Club/Carlton) label) are distributed by Granada International. The other films are owned and distributed by Canal+, part of Universal Studios.
You can see Will Hay’s listing on the Internet Movie Database.
Finally, Val Guest’s autobiography, So You Want to Be in Pictures, was published in April 2001.
Buying DVDs and VHS/Technical Data
All Videos and DVDs available in the UK can be bought from sendit.com, which delivers free within the UK. To see their comprehensive Will Hay page, click here. The VHS cassette availability on this page is now up to date. In addition to the VHS cassettes shown below, there is a box set of the DD Video cassettes. This site is an associate of sendit.com, so by using the links on the left hand side of this page, you are helping to support this site, pay for the web hosting and software, etc. Thanks, and special thanks to everyone who has already; I do appreciate it.