It's in the Bag | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Herbert Mason |
Written by | Con West (unconfirmed) |
Produced by | F. W. Baker (unconfirmed) |
Starring | Elsie Waters Doris Waters Ernest Butcher |
Cinematography | Geoffrey Faithfull Gerald Gibbs |
Edited by | Percival Mackey |
Music by | Percival Mackey |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Butcher's Film Service |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
It's in the Bag is a 1944 British comedy film directed by Herbert Mason and starring Elsie Waters, Doris Waters and Ernest Butcher. [1] It was produced and distributed by Butcher's Film Service. Gert and Daisy try to recover a valuable lost dress.
It was followed by the ITV television series Gert and Daisy (1959).
Gert and Daisy are hard up, and to raise some cash sell a dress bequeathed to them by their grandmother. Too late, they realise the dress has £2000 hidden in it, and set about retrieving it from the buyer, a theatrical costumier. Their landlady's son, Joe, gets to hear about it and joins the chase to try and get his hands on the money.
The film is listed on the BFI 75 Most Wanted list of lost films, [2] but it was given a DVD commercial release by Renown Pictures Ltd in May 2014, although the Renown version is only 63 minutes long. [3]
Kinematograph Weekly called the film a "cheery low-life comedy extravaganza", adding: "Amusing and up-to-date, if sketchy, story, great team work of Elsie and Doris Waters, impressive staging, useful supporting cast, bright song numbers, good title. [4]
Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A typically broad Waters Sisters farce which moves with immense speed from one fantastic episode to another. During the whole film, both Gert and Daisy are well up to their usual form, fooling and back-chatting, not to mention appearing as a supposedly tragic heroine and a little Lord Fauntleroy type of boy. They contribute, too, quite an attractive song. The rest of the cast, and particularly Ernest Butcher as an overwrought theatrical producer, aid and abet to the best of their ability." [5]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Slight story moved along at great speed, yet another variant on The 12 Chairs." [6]
Florence Elsie Waters and her sister Doris Ethel Waters were English comic actresses and singers who performed as a double act. They are remembered for creating the comedy characters Gert and Daisy, and have been described as "the most successful female double-act in the history of British music hall and variety".
It's Great to Be Young is a 1956 British Technicolor musical comedy film about a school music teacher, starring Cecil Parker and John Mills.
Blood Orange is a 1953 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Tom Conway and Mila Parély. It was released in the United States as Three Stops to Murder. A private eye investigating a jewel robbery at a London fashion house finds himself involved in a murder mystery.
Stolen Assignment is a 1955 British comedy 'B' film directed by Terence Fisher and starring John Bentley and Hy Hazell. It was produced by Francis Searle for Act Films Ltd and was a sequel to Fisher's Final Appointment (1954), featuring sleuthing journalists Mike Billings and Jenny Drew.
Strangers' Meeting is a 1957 crime drama film directed by Robert Day and starring Peter Arne and Delphi Lawrence.
Just My Luck is a 1957 British sports comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Norman Wisdom, Margaret Rutherford, Jill Dixon and Leslie Phillips.
Find the Lady is a 1956 British comedy thriller 'B' film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Donald Houston, Beverley Brooks and Mervyn Johns.
When You Come Home is a 1948 British comedy film directed by John Baxter and starring Frank Randle, Leslie Sarony and Leslie Holmes.
Alias John Preston is a 1955 British 'B' thriller film directed by David MacDonald and starring Christopher Lee, Betta St. John and Alexander Knox. A mysterious and wealthy man moves to a small village where he outwardly appears to be a friendly figure but nurses a dangerous secret.
The Gilded Cage is a 1955 second feature British crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Alex Nicol, Veronica Hurst and Clifford Evans.
No Trace is a 1950 British second feature crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Hugh Sinclair, Dinah Sheridan and John Laurie. A crime writer murders a blackmailer, and is then asked to help solve the case by the police.
Gert and Daisy is a 1959 British television sitcom. Starring the comedy act of the same name, the series aired on ITV, and was produced by Jack Hylton Productions for Associated-Rediffusion Television. The series aired for six episodes. Created by Ted Willis, who also created Jack Warner's Dixon of Dock Green series, Gert and Daisy was not successful, apparently because it relied on scripts written by others rather than on the sisters' own writing skills. All the episodes still exist but the series has yet to appear on home video.
Fun at St. Fanny's is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Fred Emney, Cardew Robinson and Vera Day. The film revolves around the teachers and students at St Fanny's private school. It was based on Robinson's "Cardew the Cad" character which he created in 1942 and was featured in the BBC's Variety Bandbox programme.
The Scarlet Web is a 1954 British second feature crime film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Griffith Jones, Hazel Court and Zena Marshall.
Come Back Peter is a 1952 second feature British comedy film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Patrick Holt, Peter Hammond and Humphrey Lestocq. It was an independent picture by Charles Reynolds Productions.
Love's a Luxury, also known as The Caretaker's Daughter, is a 1952 British second feature comedy film directed by Francis Searle and starring Hugh Wakefield, Derek Bond and Michael Medwin. It is version of the stage play of the same name by Edward Hole and Guy Paxton, and was made by the Manchester-based Mancunian Films.
Gert and Daisy Clean Up is a 1942 British comedy film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Elsie Waters, Doris Waters and Iris Vandeleur.
Gert and Daisy's Weekend is a 1942 British comedy film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Elsie Waters, Doris Waters and Iris Vandeleur.
Radio Parade is a 1933 British musical comedy film directed by Richard Beville and Archie de Bear and featuring an ensemble cast including Florence Desmond, Claude Hulbert, Jeanne De Casalis and the comedy double act Clapham and Dwyer. A revue film, it was made by British International Pictures who had produced a similarly formatted film Elstree Calling in 1930. It contained many of the leading radio stars of the era. A further revue film Radio Parade of 1935 also followed.
Not to be confused with the 1943 Canadian World War II documentary of the same name.