A Fire Has Been Arranged

Last updated

A Fire Has Been Arranged
A Fire Has Been Arranged film Opening titles (1935).png
Opening titles
Directed by Leslie S. Hiscott
Screenplay by H. Fowler Mear
Michael Barringer
Story byH. Fowler Mear
James A. Carter
Produced by Julius Hagen
Starring Chesney Allen
Bud Flanagan
Harold French
Cinematography Sydney Blythe
Edited by Michael C. Chorlton
Music by W.L. Trytel
Release date
  • 1935 (1935)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

A Fire Has Been Arranged is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Chesney Allen, Bud Flanagan and Alastair Sim. [1] [2] The screenplay was by H. Fowler Mear and Michael Barringer from a story by Mear and James A. Carter. It was made at Twickenham Studios. The film ends with the song "Where the Arches Used To Be".

Contents

Plot

After a spell in prison three criminals return to recover their loot only to find the place where they have stashed it has been turned into a department store. They take jobs at the store in order to locate the whereabouts of their loot. [3] The three discover that the unscrupulous managers of the store, Shuffle and Cutte, are keen to be accomplices in their plot.

Cast

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Farce, with some music, about a couple of amiable crooks who hide some loot in a field only to find on their release from prison ten years later that suburbia has engulfed their field. This idea, amusing and full of possibilities in itself, is adorned with one or two musical numbers and frequent bursts of repartee which are irrelevant to the main idea. Some of the 'gags' are very clever and really funny and the director, wisely perhaps in the circumstances, has allowed Flanagan and Allen to have very much their own way. Alastair Sim is a menacing villain in appropriately melodramatic vein, and Mary Lawson and Robb Wilton make all-too-short appearances." [4]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Robust comedy, a picture which relays music-hall humour to the screen without loss of laughs. ... The principal comedians know their public, and by playing to the gallery with an unfailing touch they leave no doubt as to the ability of the crazy entertainment to register." [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Belles of St. Trinians</i> 1954 British comedy film by Frank Launder

The Belles of St Trinian's is a 1954 British comedy film, directed by Frank Launder, co-written by Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley. Inspired by British cartoonist Ronald Searle's St Trinian's School comic strips, the film focuses on the lives of the students and teachers of the fictional school, dealing with attempts to shut them down while their headmistress faces issues with financial troubles, which culminates in the students thwarting a scheme involving a racehorse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robb Wilton</span> British comedian (1881–1957)

Robert Wilton Smith, better known as Robb Wilton, was an English comedian and actor. He was best known for his filmed monologues during the 1930s and 1940s, in which he played incompetent authority figures. His trademark was to put his hand over part of his face at the punchline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crazy Gang (comedy group)</span>

The Crazy Gang were a group of British entertainers, formed in the early 1930s. In the mature form the group's six men were Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen, Jimmy Nervo, Teddy Knox, Charlie Naughton and Jimmy Gold. The group achieved considerable domestic popularity and were a favourite of the royal family, especially King George VI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bud Flanagan</span> British comedian, singer and actor (1896–1968)

Bud Flanagan, was a British music hall and vaudeville entertainer and comedian, and later a television and film actor. He was best known as being one half of the comedy and music act Flanagan and Allen with his partner Chesney Allen. Flanagan was famous as a wartime entertainer and his achievements were recognised when he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1959.

Flanagan and Allen were a British singing and comedy double act most active during the 1930s and 1940s. Its members were Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen (1894–1982). They were first paired in a Florrie Forde revue, and were booked by Val Parnell to appear at the Holborn Empire in 1929.

<i>School for Scoundrels</i> (1960 film) 1960 British film by Robert Hamer

School for Scoundrels is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, Janette Scott and Alastair Sim. It was inspired by the Gamesmanship series of books by Stephen Potter. The film has been remade twice: in Bollywood as Chhoti Si Baat (1975) and in Hollywood as School for Scoundrels (2006).

<i>Gasbags</i> 1941 British film

Gasbags is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and Marcel Varnel and starring The Crazy Gang as well as Moore Marriott. The film was a morale-booster in the early part of the Second World War.

<i>The Big Job</i> (film) 1965 British film by Gerald Thomas

The Big Job is a 1965 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring Sid James, Dick Emery, Joan Sims, Sylvia Syms, Jim Dale and Lance Percival.

<i>Dry Rot</i> (film) 1956 British film by Maurice Elvey

Dry Rot is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey, and starring Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Peggy Mount, and Sid James. The screenplay is by John Chapman, adapted from his 1954 Whitehall farce of the same name.

<i>Life Is a Circus</i> 1960 British film by Val Guest

Life is a Circus is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Val Guest and starring Bud Flanagan, Teddy Knox, Jimmy Nervo, Jimmy Gold and Charlie Naughton of the Crazy Gang. The screenplay concerns a down-on-its-luck circus that uses an Aladdin's Magic Lamp to try to save their business.

<i>Keep Your Seats, Please</i> 1936 British film by Monty Banks

Keep Your Seats, Please is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring George Formby, Florence Desmond and Alastair Sim. It marked the film debut of the child star Binkie Stuart. The film was made by Associated Talking Pictures.

<i>Jumping for Joy</i> 1956 film by John Paddy Carstairs

Jumping for Joy is a 1956 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Frankie Howerd, Stanley Holloway, Joan Hickson and Lionel Jeffries. It was written by Henry Blyth and Jack Davies. It tells of the comic adventures of an ex-worker at a greyhound racing track.

<i>Alfs Button Afloat</i> 1938 British film by Marcel Varnel

Alf's Button Afloat is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen, Jimmy Nervo, Alastair Sim and Peter Gawthorne. In the film, the Crazy Gang go to sea, where one of them discovers a button on his uniform is made from the metal of Aladdin's lamp. The film parodies the 1920 novel Alf's Button by W.A. Darlington and its subsequent film adaptations.

Theatre Royal is a 1943 British comedy film directed by John Baxter and starring Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen and Lydia Sherwood. The plot concerns an attempt by the staff of a theatre to prevent its closure.

<i>Dreaming</i> (1944 British film) 1944 British comedy film by John Baxter

Dreaming is a 1944 British comedy film directed by John Baxter and starring Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen and Hazel Court. Its plot concerns a soldier who is knocked unconscious during a train journey and has a series of bizarre dreams.

<i>Break the News</i> (film) 1938 British film by René Clair

Break the News is a 1938 British musical comedy film directed by René Clair and starring Jack Buchanan, Maurice Chevalier and June Knight. Two struggling performers decide to create a fake murder scandal in order to drum up publicity for their act. It was based on the novel Le mort en fuite by Loïc Le Gouriadec which had previously been made into a 1936 French film Death on the Run. Songs featured include It All Belongs to You and We're Old Buddies.

Three Steps to the Gallows is a 1953 British second feature crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Scott Brady, Mary Castle and Gabrielle Brune. It was released in the US by Lippert Pictures as White Fire.

<i>Well Smile Again</i> 1942 British film

We'll Smile Again is a 1942 British musical comedy film directed by John Baxter and starring Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen and Meinhart Maur.

<i>The Interrupted Honeymoon</i> 1936 British film

The Interrupted Honeymoon is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Jane Carr, Helen Haye and Jack Hobbs. It was made at Beaconsfield Studios. In the film, a couple returning home from a honeymoon in Paris find that their flat has been taken over by their friends.

The Bailiffs is a 1932 British comedy film, based on a sketch by Fred Karno and starring Flanagan and Allen, made by Associated Talking Pictures at Ealing Studios.

References

  1. "A Fire Has Been Arranged". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  2. BFI.org
  3. Sutton, David R. (2000). A chorus of raspberries: British film comedy 1929–1939. University of Exeter Press. p. 137.
  4. "A Fire Has Been Arranged" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . 2 (13): 144. 1 January 1935 via ProQuest.
  5. "A Fire Has Been Arranged" . Kine Weekly . 224 (1487): 43. 17 October 1935 via ProQuest.