Jumping for Joy

Last updated

Jumping for Joy
"Jumping For Joy" (1956).jpg
Original campaign book
Directed by John Paddy Carstairs
Written by
Produced by Raymond Stross
Starring
Cinematography Jack E. Cox
Edited by John D. Guthridge
Music by Larry Adler
Distributed by The Rank Organisation
Release date
  • 21 February 1956 (1956-02-21)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Jumping for Joy is a 1956 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Frankie Howerd, Stanley Holloway, Joan Hickson and Lionel Jeffries. [1] It was written by Henry Blyth and Jack Davies. It tells of the comic adventures of an ex-worker at a greyhound racing track.

Contents

Plot

Willie Joy works at a greyhound track as a cleaner, which involves picking up droppings from the dog track between races. He is tricked into standing in the line of the lure and falls on it as it speeds past with the dogs chasing it. He is fired.

Breeder Bert Benton has a sick dog and sells it to Joy who takes it home. His landlady evicts him. He meets con-man "Captain" Jack Montague and together they hatch a plan to make money from the dog, whom they name "Lindy Lou". Nursed back to health, Lindy starts to prove herself at racing trials. Benton wants to buy her back.

Crooks use Joy as an unwitting collaborator in fixing races and placing large bets. They pass doped meat for the dog but Joy and Montague eat it themselves. The crooks find them asleep but cannot find the dog. They detach Montague's railway carriage home and move it onto an active railway line. When they awake they are told they are near Doncaster. The dog is rescued just before the carriage is hit by a train.

Lindy Lou wins the Gold Cup but only due to a distraction in crowd as Joy hits a policeman to ensue a whistle is blown. He is arrested and recognises the distinctive shoes of Haines of Scotland Yard as the ringleader of the crooks.

Cast

Production

Lindy Lou was actually a racing greyhound called Moyshna Queen from Wandsworth Stadium. [2]

Joyce Gardner was a well known professional billiards player at the time, not an actress.

Critical reception

In contemporary reviews Variety called the film a "hilarious dog racing comedy," [3] adding: "Frankie Howerd, popular TV and vaude comic here, gets the maximum of laughs out of a dismissed trackboy role"; Monthly Film Bulletin said "An inoffensively obvious and naive comedy, Jumping for Joy is enlivened by a somewhat macabre running joke about a myopic old woman driver and assured and pleasant performances by Frankie Howerd and Stanley Holloway." [4] Kine Weekly said "The picture smoothly follows through with its basic gags and, oddly enough, the more they are repeated the livelier they become." [5]

Halliwell's Film and Video Guide 2000 describes the film as a "totally predictable star comedy which needs livening up"; [6] the Time Out Film Guide 2009 describes the film as "lame". [7] TV Guide called the film a "Sporadically funny comedy". [8]

Musical score

The New York Times noted: "the delightful harmonica score in Jumping for Joy is provided by American expatriate Larry Adler". [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Howerd</span> English actor and comedian (1917–1992)

Francis Alick Howard, better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Fraser</span> Scottish actor (1908–1987)

William Simpson Fraser was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play When We Are Married.

<i>The Runaway Bus</i> 1954 British film by Val Guest

The Runaway Bus is a 1954 British comedy film produced, written and directed by Val Guest. It stars Frankie Howerd, Margaret Rutherford and Petula Clark and an ensemble cast of character actors in a story about a bus caught in fog while a gang of crooks tries to carry off a heist. The film was shot at Southall Studios in London with sets designed by the art director Wilfred Arnold. It was the film debut of Belinda Lee. The film is referenced in an episode of Frankie Howerd's 1970s radio series.

<i>Up the Front</i> 1972 British comedy film by Bob Kellett

Up the Front is a 1972 British comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Frankie Howerd, Bill Fraser, and Hermione Baddeley. It was written by Sid Colin and Eddie Braben. Set during the First World War, it is the third film spin-off from the television series Up Pompeii!. The plot concerns Lurk, a coward who is hypnotised into bravery.

<i>The Sandwich Man</i> (1966 film) 1966 British film by Robert Hartford-Davis

The Sandwich Man is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis starring Michael Bentine, with support from a cast of British character actors including Dora Bryan, Harry H. Corbett, Bernard Cribbins, Diana Dors, Norman Wisdom, Terry-Thomas and Ian Hendry. It was written by Hartford-Davis and Bentine.

<i>Steptoe and Son Ride Again</i> 1973 British comedy film by Peter Sykes

Steptoe and Son Ride Again is a 1973 British comedy drama film directed by Peter Sykes and starring Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett. It was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

<i>Mrs. Brown, Youve Got a Lovely Daughter</i> (film) 1968 British film by Saul Swimmer

Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter is a 1968 British musical comedy film directed by Saul Swimmer and starring Peter Noone. The film showcases the British rock band Herman's Hermits, and is their second and final feature film, following Hold On! in 1966. The group sings nine songs including the title track and the romantic hit song "There's a Kind of Hush".

<i>Dry Rot</i> (film) 1956 British film by Maurice Elvey

Dry Rot is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey, and starring Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Peggy Mount, and Sid James. The screenplay is by John Chapman, adapted from his 1954 Whitehall farce of the same name.

<i>Further Up the Creek</i> 1958 British film by Val Guest

Further Up the Creek is a 1958 British comedy film written and directed by Val Guest and starring David Tomlinson, Frankie Howerd, Shirley Eaton, Thora Hird and Lionel Jeffries. It served as a follow-up to Up the Creek (1958), with Peter Sellers not reprising his role because it clashed with the filming of The Mouse That Roared (1959). Frankie Howerd replaced him.

<i>The Dog and the Diamonds</i> 1953 British family drama film by Ralph Thomas

The Dog and the Diamonds is a 1953 British family drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Kathleen Harrison, George Coulouris, and Geoffrey Sumner. The screenplay was by Patricia Latham. It was produced by Peter Rogers and distributed by the Children's Film Foundation.

<i>Street Corner</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Muriel Box

Street Corner is a 1953 British drama film directed by Muriel Box and starring Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan, Anne Crawford, Rosamund John and Barbara Murray. It was written by Muriel Box and Sydney Box. While it is not quite a documentary, the film depicts the daily routine of women in the police force from three different angles. It was conceived as a female version of the 1950 film The Blue Lamp.

<i>Sailor Beware!</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Gordon Parry

Sailor Beware! is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Peggy Mount, Shirley Eaton and Ronald Lewis. It was written by Philip King and Falkland Cary adapted from their 1955 stage play of the same name. It was released in the United States by Distributors Corporation of America in 1957 as Panic in the Parlor.

<i>Up Pompeii</i> (film) 1971 British comedy film by Bob Kellett

Up Pompeii is a 1971 British sex comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Frankie Howerd and Michael Hordern. It was written by Sid Colin based on an idea by Talbot Rothwell.

<i>Dancing with Crime</i> 1947 British film by John Paddy Carstairs

Dancing with Crime is a 1947 British film noir film directed by John Paddy Carstairs, starring Richard Attenborough, Barry K. Barnes and Sheila Sim. A man hunts down the killer of his lifelong friend.

<i>An Alligator Named Daisy</i> 1955 British film by J. Lee Thompson

An Alligator Named Daisy is a 1955 British comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Donald Sinden, Jeannie Carson, James Robertson Justice, Diana Dors, Roland Culver and Stanley Holloway. It was written by Jack Davies based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Charles Terrot.

<i>A Touch of the Sun</i> (1956 film) 1956 British comedy film

A Touch of the Sun is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Frankie Howerd, Ruby Murray and Dennis Price. It was written by Alfred Shaughnessy.

<i>The Man in the Back Seat</i> 1961 British film by Vernon Sewell

The Man in the Back Seat is a 1961 British second feature crime film, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Derren Nesbitt and Keith Faulkner. It was written by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Paice based on an Edgar Wallace story.

<i>Child in the House</i> 1956 British film by Cy Endfield

Child in the House is a 1956 British drama film directed and written by Cy Endfield and starring Phyllis Calvert, Eric Portman and Stanley Baker. It is based on the 1955 novel A Child in the House by Janet McNeill. A girl struggles to cope with her uncaring relatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wandsworth Stadium</span> Former greyhound racing venue in London

Wandsworth Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium in Wandsworth, London, England.

The 1955 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year was the 30th year of greyhound racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

References

  1. ↑ "Jumping for Joy". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN   07207-1106-1.
  3. ↑ "Jumping for Joy". Variety . 201 (13): 6. 29 February 1956. ProQuest   962909941 – via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "Jumping for Joy". Monthly Film Bulletin . 23 (264): 32. 1 January 1956. ProQuest   1305816503 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ "Jumping for Joy". Kine Weekly . 467 (2537): 8. 9 February 1956. ProQuest   2676975620 – via ProQuest.
  6. ↑ John Walker (ed.) Halliwell's Film and Video Guide, London: HarperCollins, 1999, p.443
  7. ↑ John Pym (ed.) Time Out Film Guide 2009, LOndon: Ebury: 2008, p.552
  8. ↑ "Jumping For Joy Review". Movies.tvguide.com. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Hal Erickson (2014). "Jumping-for-Joy - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.