Bless 'Em All (film)

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Bless 'Em All
Bless 'Em All film Opening titles (1948).jpg
Directed by Robert Jordan Hill
Written byAileen Burke
Leone Stewart
Arthur Dent
Produced byArthur Dent
John Guillermin (associate producer)
Starring Hal Monty
Max Bygraves
Production
company
Robert Jordan Hill Productions (as Advance)
Distributed by Adelphi Films
Release date
  • July 1948 (1948-7)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Bless 'Em All is a 1948 British musical comedy second feature (B movie) [1] film directed by Robert Jordan Hill and starring Hal Monty and Max Bygraves. [2] [3] It was written by Aileen Burke, Leone Stewart and Arthur Dent. John Guillermin was an associate producer. [4]

Contents

Plot

In the Second World War Skimpy, Tommy and Jock meet at their army call-up medical and are assigned to the same unit. Tommy is soon in trouble with bad-tempered Sergeant Willis. Later Tommy falls for ENSA singer Val, then discovers she has a date with Willis. Posted to France, Skimpy takes a fancy to Lisette, to find that Willis used to be her admirer. Returning to France after the 1940 retreat, the friends meet again.

Cast

Production

It was the first of two Adelphi Films to star Hal Monty as Skimpy. It was also the screen debut of Max Bygraves. [5]

Music

The film contains the songs "Bless 'Em All", "I'll be Seeing You", "Siegfried Line", "Boom", "All's Well Mademoiselle", "Hi-Di-Hi", "Victory Waltz", "Maggie Cock-A-Bendy", I'm Afraid to Love You" and "What More Can I Say". [6]

Reception

The film appears to have been reasonably popular. [5]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The film is a skit on the old Army life, and is extremely funny in the parts which are not too-long-drawn-out. Army entertainments serve to provide the three friends with a reason for doing individual variety acts which are really the best part of the film. Hal Monty's impersonation of a silent film audience is particularly good; but the film as a whole is amateurish and technically below average. Les Ritchie is excellent as the sergeant, but Hal Monty, Max Bygraves and Jack Milroy, as the three friends, are wasted in a badly photographed, sketchy production." [7]

Kine Weekly wrote: "Wildly incoherent but cheery low comedy musical extravaganza, dealiing with Army life. Hal Monty, the popular radio and music-hall comic, is given his head and his lively interpretations effectively link the crazy strip of stock gags. A trifle long, but funny for the most part, it's a reliable rib-tickler for the industrial masses." [8]

Preservation status

The film was included on the British Film Institute's 75 Most Wanted list of lost films, with only a two-and-a-half minute trailer known to survive. [3] In 2012 the BFI reported that they had been notified of a cut-down version titled Be Kind Sergeant available on eBay. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 102. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "Bless 'Em All". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Bless 'Em All / BFI Most Wanted". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (17 November 2020). "John Guillermin: Action Man". Filmink.
  5. 1 2 Pratt, Vic; Lees, Kate (2020). "CHAPTER 3 EARLY DAYS WITH ADELPHI FILMS". In Guillermin, Mary (ed.). John Guillermin: The Man, The Myth, The Movies. Precocity Press. pp. 28–30.
  6. 1 2 Josephine Botting (4 April 2014). "BFI Most Wanted: our discoveries so far". British Film Institute. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "Bless 'Em All". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 16 (181): 58. 1 January 1949. ProQuest   1305808224.
  8. ↑ "Bless 'Em All". Kine Weekly . 385 (2183): 22. 3 March 1949. ProQuest   2732609871.
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