| Convict 99 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Marcel Varnel |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | Edward Black |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Arthur Crabtree |
| Edited by | R. E. Dearing |
| Distributed by | Gainsborough Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Convict 99 is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Will Hay, Moore Marriott, Graham Moffatt and Googie Withers.
It was one of several comedies Hay made for producer Ted Black. [1]
Incompetent Dr Benjamin Twist is dismissed from his job as headmaster at St. Michael's School (the school returns in a later film The Ghost of St. Michael's ), and applies for a job in another school.
Going for interview, he is called into another office where they are expecting John Benjamin, a strict prison governor recently arrived from Australia who is applying for the vacancy at Blackdown Prison in Devon. On the way to what Twist believes is the school, he becomes drunk, and on arrival is mistaken for Max Slessor, a prisoner who had escaped during a jailbreak.
Designated Convict 99 and in for seven years for forgery, Twist is soon discovered to be the new Prison Governor, and once put in his (dubiously) rightful place embarks on a programme to make the prison a more friendly place for the prisoners, funding it from the proceeds of a football pools win and stock market investments.
Things take a turn for the worse, when the recaptured Slessor escapes again with a signed cheque. Altering the figures, he draws the entire prison funds from the bank. Twist and some of the convicts head in a prison van to Limehouse, in east London, to catch Slessor, recover the lost funds and then successfully break into the bank in the middle of the night to return the money.
William Thomson Hay was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film Oh, Mr. Porter! (1937), made by Gainsborough Pictures, is often cited as the supreme British-produced film-comedy, and in 1938 he was the third highest-grossing star in the UK. Many comedians have acknowledged him as a major influence. Hay was also a keen amateur astronomer.
Georgette Lizette "Googie" Withers, CBE, AO was an English entertainer. She was a dancer and actress, with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. She was a well-known actress and star of British films during and after the Second World War.
Oh, Mr Porter! is a 1937 British comedy film starring Will Hay with Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt and directed by Marcel Varnel. While not Hay's commercially most successful, it is probably his best-known film to modern audiences. It is widely acclaimed as the best of Hay's work, and a classic of its genre. The film had its first public showing in November 1937 and went on general release on 3 January 1938. The plot of Oh, Mr Porter was loosely based on the Arnold Ridley play The Ghost Train. The title was taken from Oh! Mr Porter, a music hall song.
Graham Victor Harold Moffatt was an English comedic character actor. He is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': a plump cheekily insolent street-savvy youth.
George Thomas Moore Marriott was an English character actor best remembered for the series of films he made with Will Hay. His first appearance with Hay was in the film Dandy Dick (1935), but he was a significant supporting performer in Hay's films from 1936 to 1940, and while he starred with Hay during this period he played a character called "Harbottle" that was based on a character Marriott usually played. His character Harbottle was originally created by Hay when he used the character in his "The fourth form at St. Michael's" sketches in the 1920s.
Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison. Unlike later women-in-prison TV series, Bad Girls, and Australian series, Prisoner, and Wentworth (2013–2021), Within These Walls tended to centre its story-lines around the prison staff rather than the inmates.
Ask a Policeman is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt.
Boys Will Be Boys is a 1935 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine which stars Will Hay, Gordon Harker and Jimmy Hanley. The film is set at Narkover School, where headmaster Doctor Alec Smart becomes involved in the disappearance of a valuable necklace.
Dandy Dick is a 1935 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Will Hay. It was based on the 1887 play Dandy Dick by Arthur Wing Pinero. It is the second and last of his films to be based on a play by Arthur Wing Pinero – the first was Those Were the Days which was based on The Magistrate. Moore Marriott, who played an uncredited role in the film, later became a famous foil to Hay in films later on alongside Graham Moffatt, it was during the film of Dandy Dick that Marriott introduced the idea of being a supporting player to Hay.
Good Morning, Boys! is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and featuring Will Hay, Graham Moffatt, Martita Hunt, Lilli Palmer and Peter Gawthorne. It was made at the Gainsborough Studios in Islington.
Back-Room Boy is a 1942 British comedy mystery film directed by Herbert Mason, produced by Edward Black for Gainsborough Pictures and distributed by General Film Distributors. The cast includes Arthur Askey, Googie Withers, Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott. It marked the film debut of Vera Frances. The original story was written by J.O.C. Orton, Marriott Edgar and Val Guest. A man from the Met Office is sent to a lighthouse on a remote Scottish island to monitor the weather, where he hopes to escape from women, but soon finds the island overrun by them.
The Ghost of St. Michael's is a 1941 British comedy-thriller film, produced by Ealing Studios.
Windbag the Sailor is a 1936 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Will Hay. The film marked the first appearance of Hay with Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott acting as his straight men, however both Moffatt and Marriott had previously acted separately in films starring Hay, namely in Dandy Dick and Where There's a Will, respectively.
Where There's a Will is a 1936 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Will Hay, Graham Moffatt and Norma Varden. It features an incompetent solicitor who unwittingly becomes party to a bank robbery.
Old Bones of the River is a comedy film released in 1938 starring British actor Will Hay with Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt and directed by Marcel Varnel, based on the characters created by Edgar Wallace.
Where's That Fire? is a 1940 British comedy film, produced by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt. It was the last film Will Hay made with his most famous comic foils, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt.
It Always Rains on Sunday is a 1947 British film adaptation of Arthur La Bern's novel of the same name, directed by Robert Hamer. The film has been compared with the poetic realism movement in the French cinema of a few years earlier by the British writers Robert Murphy and Graham Fuller.
I Thank You is a 1941 black and white British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch, Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott. The screenplay was by Marriott Edgar and Val Guest. The film was produced by Edward Black at Gainsborough Pictures. The title of the film is the literal version of Arthur Askey's famous catch-phrase which he idiosyncratically pronounced as "Ay-thang-yaw".
Dr. Benjamin Twist is a recurring fictional character who appears in several films featuring comedian Will Hay, who portrays the character in all mediums.
Wilfred Walter was an English film and theatre actor, sometimes credited as Wilfrid Walter. He was born Franz Wilfrid Walter, son of the actor Richard Walter.