Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous music hall entertainment and subsequent, more respectable variety entertainment differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts.
Hubert Robert Harry Gregg was a British broadcaster, writer and actor. In his later years, he was known for the BBC Radio 2 "oldies" shows A Square Deal and Thanks for the Memory. He was also a novelist, theatre director and hit songwriter.
Matilda Alice Powles, Lady de Frece was an English music hall performer. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era. Her career lasted from 1869 until 1920. Starting in provincial theatres with her father as manager, she performed her first season in London in 1874. She typically performed as a dandy or fop, also playing other roles. She found additional success as a principal boy in pantomime.
Sir Abraham Walter de Frece was a British theatre impresario, and later Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1920 to 1931. His wife was the celebrated male impersonator Vesta Tilley.
Patricia Kirkwood was a British stage actress, singer and dancer who appeared in numerous performances of dramas, cabaret, revues, music hall, variety and pantomimes. She also performed on radio, television and films. In 1954, BBC Television broadcast The Pat Kirkwood Show; she was the first woman appearing on British television to have her own series.
Poet's Pub is a 1949 British second feature ('B') comedy film directed by Frederick Wilson and starring Derek Bond, Rona Anderson and James Robertson Justice. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same title by Eric Linklater. The film was one of four of David Rawnsley's Aquila Films that used his proposed "independent frame" technique.
The Blakes Slept Here is a 1953 British second feature ('B') short Technicolor film directed by Jacques Brunius and starring Harcourt Williams, David King-Wood and Dorothy Gordon. The screenplay was by Brunius and Roy Plomley.
Three Men in a Boat is a 1956 British CinemaScope colour comedy film directed by Ken Annakin, starring Laurence Harvey, Jimmy Edwards, David Tomlinson and Shirley Eaton. It was written by Hubert Gregg and Vernon Harris based on the 1889 novel of the same name by Jerome K. Jerome.
No Funny Business is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Victor Hanbury and starring Laurence Olivier, Gertrude Lawrence, Jill Esmond and Edmund Breon. It was written by Hanbury and Frank Vosper based on a story by Dorothy Hope.
As Long as They're Happy is a 1955 British musical comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Jack Buchanan, Susan Stephen and Diana Dors. It was written by Alan Melville based on the 1953 play of the same name by Vernon Sylvaine. It was shot in Eastmancolor at Pinewood Studios near London with sets designed by the art director Michael Stringer.
Life in Emergency Ward 10 is a 1959 British film directed by Robert Day and starring Michael Craig and Wilfrid Hyde-White. It was written by Hazel Adair and Tessa Diamon, based on the television series Emergency Ward 10.
Up in the World is a 1956 black and white comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Norman Wisdom, Maureen Swanson and Jerry Desmonde. It was written by Jack Davies, Henty Blyth and Peter Blackmore, and produced by Rank.
That Woman Opposite is a 1957 British crime drama, directed by Compton Bennett and starring Phyllis Kirk, Dan O'Herlihy and William Franklyn. The screenplay, by Bennett, was adapted from John Dickson Carr's 1942 novel The Emperor's Snuff-Box.
The Mysterious Mr. Nicholson is a 1947 British crime film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Anthony Hulme, Lesley Osmond and Frank Hawkins. It was written by Francis Miller and Mitchell. The plot concerns a valuable inheritance, murder, confusions of identity, and a mysterious crime boss.
Doublecross, also known as Queer Fish, is a 1956 second feature British crime film directed by Anthony Squire and starring Donald Houston, Fay Compton and William Hartnell. The screenplay was by Squire and Kem Bennett based on his 1955 story "The Queer Fish".
Rock You Sinners is a 1957 British second feature black and white musical film directed by Denis Kavanagh and featuring early British rock and roll artistes, including Art Baxter and His Rock 'n' Roll Sinners, known for their song "Rock You Sinners".
Lauri de Frece was an English actor and singer who appeared in musical theatre and in films of the silent era. He was the younger brother of Walter de Frece and the husband of Fay Compton.
Dolores Rousse was an American film actress who performed under the name Gloria Roy later in her career.
Richard L. Warner (1856–1914), known as Dick Warner, was a London theatrical agent during the fin de siecle. He was the founder of Warners International Actors and Musical Agency and in 1888 he launched the Music Hall Benevolent Fund, which provided a financial safety net for music hall entertainers, their widows and children. During actors' strikes early in the 20th century, Warner was trusted as a negotiator by actors, and he was the only agent invited as a go-between by the Proprietors of Entertainments Association.
