It's Not Cricket | |
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Directed by |
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Written by |
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Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Gordon Lang |
Edited by | Esmond Seal |
Music by | Arthur Wilkinson |
Distributed by | Gainsborough Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 77 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
It's Not Cricket is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Alfred Roome and starring Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Susan Shaw and Maurice Denham. It was written by Gerard Bryant, Lyn Lockwood and Bernard McNabb. It is the second (after 1941's Crook's Tour ) of two starring films for Radford and Wayne. [1] It was one of the final films made by Gainsborough Pictures before the studio was merged into the Rank Organisation.
Major Bright and Captain Early are intelligence officers in the British army of occupation in post-World War 2 Germany. They are sent home on leave, but fail to notice that their new batman is actually wanted war criminal Otto Fisch. He vanishes on arrival in England and the two officers are punished by early demobilisation. Uncertain what to do in civvy street, they decide to use the "skills" they learned in the army and set up a private detective agency, "Bright and Early". They engage a secretary, Primrose Brown, but she's not very busy as they have as yet no clients.
Primrose's boyfriend/fiancee invites them all to a weekend country house party for a cricket match, but what they don't know is that the cricket ball they buy in London actually contains a valuable diamond that Fisch has stolen. It has been hidden in the hollow ball by his friend and protector Mr Felix, who runs a sporting goods shop.
As the match gets under way Fisch and Felix watch from the cover of the trees, then infiltrate the game and steal the ball. A free-for-all chase ensues, and Bright and Early manage to recover the ball and the diamond. They have now become celebrities and don't lack for eager clients. Fisch is still working for them, as they remain unaware of his identity.
Alfred Roome directed the film with Roy Rich, with Rich focusing on dealing with the actors. Roome called the movie "a slapstick action thing, really, almost a children’s picture. What I’d do now is cut out all the terrible, boring romance stuff with Susan Shaw; there was a lot of other chat that should have gone too, but other than that, it’s not too bad... We managed to doll the sets and clothes up quite nicely, so that it looked quite expensive." [2]
It was one of 15 films selected by Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane in The British 'B' Film, their survey of British B films, as among the most meritorious of the B films made in Britain between World War II and 1970. They said it contained "some of the most humorous moments in a British film of the period", and praised the performances, Maurice Denham's in particular. [3]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne exploit to the full every humorous possibility to be found in this somewhat thin story, which degenerates into pure slapstick in the closing sequences." [4]
Naunton Wayne, was a Welsh character actor, born in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales. He was educated at Clifton College. His name was changed by deed poll in 1933.
Dead of Night is a 1945 black and white British anthology supernatural horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Sally Ann Howes and Michael Redgrave. The film is best remembered for the concluding story featuring Redgrave and an insane ventriloquist's malevolent dummy.
Arthur Basil Radford was an English character actor who featured in many British films of the 1930s and 1940s.
Quartet is a 1948 British anthology film with four segments, each based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham. The author appears at the start and end of the movie to introduce the stories and comment about his writing career. It was successful enough to produce two sequels, Trio (1950) and Encore (1951), and popularised the compendium film format, leading to films such as O. Henry's Full House in 1952.
Millions Like Us is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It stars Patricia Roc, Gordon Jackson, Anne Crawford, Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Moore Marriott and Eric Portman.
Charters and Caldicott started out as two supporting characters in the 1938 Alfred Hitchcock film The Lady Vanishes. The pair of cricket-obsessed characters were played by Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford. The characters were created by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. The duo became very popular and were used as recurring characters in subsequent films and in BBC Radio productions. Charters and Caldicott have also been played by other actors, and they eventually had their own BBC television series.
Susan Shaw was an English actress.
Room for Two is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Frances Day, Vic Oliver and Greta Gynt. The film was written by Gilbert Wakefield, based on his 1938 stage farce. The film's Italian setting was overtaken by events, as by the time of its release Fascist Italy had entered the Second World War against Britain.
Crook's Tour is a 1940 British comedy spy film directed by John Baxter featuring Charters and Caldicott. It is adapted from a BBC radio serial of the same name.
The Huggetts are a fictional family who appear in a series of British films which were released in the late 1940s by Gainsborough Pictures. The films centre on the character of Joe Huggett, played by Jack Warner, the head of a working class London family. Along with the Gainsborough melodramas, the Huggett films proved popular and lucrative for the studio. All four films were directed by Ken Annakin and produced by Betty E. Box.
Helter Skelter is a 1949 British romantic comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Carol Marsh, David Tomlinson and Mervyn Johns. A radio star becomes involved with a wealthy heiress. The title is a common expression to describe a situation of "chaotic and disorderly haste".
Two on the Tiles is a 1951 British comedy film directed by John Guillermin and starring Herbert Lom, Hugh McDermott and Brenda Bruce. It was made at the Walton Studios by the independent Vandyke Productions for release as a second feature. It was one of three back-to-back productions Guillermin directed for the company at Walton Studios, along with Smart Alec and Four Days,. It was released in the U.S. as School for Brides.
It's Not Cricket may refer to:
The Large Rope is a 1953 British crime film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Donald Houston, Susan Shaw and Robert Brown.
Hammer the Toff is a 1952 British second feature crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley and Patricia Dainton. The film was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by John Creasey, the 17th in the series featuring upper-class sleuth Richard Rollinson, also known as "The Toff".
A Girl in a Million is a 1946 British comedy film. It is notable for featuring Joan Greenwood in an early starring role; and Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne in their comedy double act as two cricket-obsessed Englishmen, this time called Fotheringham and Prendergast.
The Great Van Robbery is a 1959 black-and-white British crime film starring Denis Shaw and Kay Callard, directed by Max Varnel. It was written by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard and produced by The Danzigers.
The Night Won't Talk is a 1952 British crime film directed by Daniel Birt and starring John Bailey, Hy Hazell and Mary Germaine. The murder of an artist's model leads the police to investigate the artistic community of Chelsea.
The Diplomatic Corpse is a 1958 British second feature comedy thriller film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Robin Bailey, Susan Shaw and Liam Redmond. It was written by Maurice Harrison and Sidney Nelson and produced by ACT Films.
Stolen Time is a 1955 British crime drama film directed by Charles Deane and starring Richard Arlen, Susan Shaw and Vincent Ball. It was released in the United States in 1958 under the alternative title of Blonde Blackmailer.