George Formby,, was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he sang light, comic songs, usually playing the ukulele or banjolele, and became the UK's highest-paid entertainer.
Basil Dearden was an English film director.
Keep Fit is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring George Formby, Kay Walsh and Guy Middleton. Formby was at his British top box-office peak when this comedy was made.
Trouble Brewing is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring George Formby, Googie Withers and Gus McNaughton. It was made by Associated Talking Pictures, and includes the songs "Fanlight Fanny" and "Hitting the Highspots Now". The film is based on a novel by Joan Butler, and the sets were designed by art director Wilfred Shingleton.
Richard Percy Jones, known as Dick Jones or Dickie Jones, was an American actor and singer who achieved success as a child performer and as a young adult, especially in B-Westerns. In 1938, he played Artimer "Artie" Peters, nephew of Buck Peters, in the Hopalong Cassidy film The Frontiersman. He is also known as the voice of Pinocchio in Walt Disney's film of the same name.
Grover "George" Alan Cleveland was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1930 and 1954.
Robert Edward Randall was an American film actor known under his stage name, Robert Livingston. He appeared in 136 films between 1921 and 1975. He was one of the original Three Mesquiteers. He also played The Lone Ranger and Zorro.
Gus McNaughton, also known as Augustus Le Clerq and Augustus Howard, was an English film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1930 and 1947. He was born in London and died in Castor, Cambridgeshire. He is sometimes credited as Gus MacNaughton. He appeared on stage from 1899, as a juvenile comedian with the Fred Karno company, the influential British music hall troupe. In films, McNaughton was often cast as the "fast-talking sidekick", and he appeared in several popular George Formby comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. He also appeared twice for director Alfred Hitchcock in both Murder! (1930) and The 39 Steps (1935).
Ronald Alfred Shiner was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall.
Spare a Copper is a 1940 British black-and-white musical comedy war film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring George Formby, Dorothy Hyson and Bernard Lee. It was produced by Associated Talking Pictures. It is also known as Call a Cop. The film features the songs, "I'm the Ukulele Man", "On the Beat", "I Wish I Was Back on the Farm" and "I'm Shy". Beryl Reid makes her film debut in an uncredited role, while Ronald Shiner appears similarly uncredited, in the role of the Piano Mover and Tuner.
Joss Ambler was an Australian-born British film and television actor. He usually played somewhat pompous and irascible figures of authority, particularly in comedy films. He was an effective foil to George Formby in both Trouble Brewing and Come On George!, and similarly to Will Hay in The Black Sheep of Whitehall,.
The Last Curtain is a 1937 British crime film directed by David MacDonald and starring Campbell Gullan, Kenne Duncan and Greta Gynt. The film blends drama and comedy and its plot follows an insurance investigator who examines a series of robberies that have taken place. Much of the action takes place backstage at the fictitious Trafalgar Theatre.
Much Too Shy is a 1942 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring George Formby, Kathleen Harrison, Hilda Bayley and Eileen Bennett. The cast includes radio star Jimmy Clitheroe, later "Carry On'" star Charles Hawtrey, Peter Gawthorne and Joss Ambler.
Give Me the Stars is a 1945 British musical drama film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Leni Lynn, Will Fyffe, Jackie Hunter and Olga Lindo. American Toni Martin travels to Scotland and finds herself looking after her cranky grandfather Hector MacTavish, and even taking over his music hall act.
Harold Elliott Makeham was an English film and television actor.
I See Ice is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring George Formby, Kay Walsh and Betty Stockfeld. The film depicts the adventures of a photographer working for a London newspaper. It features the songs "In My Little Snapshot Album", "Noughts And Crosses" and "Mother What'll I Do Now".
Feather Your Nest is a 1937 British musical comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring George Formby, Polly Ward and Enid Stamp-Taylor. It contains Formby's signature tune, Leaning on a Lamp-post.
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.
This is a summary of 1939 in music in the United Kingdom.
By the Shortest of Heads is a 1915 British film directed by Bert Haldane and starring George Formby. It was Formby's first film; he was aged ten at the time.
