Pack Up Your Troubles (1940 film)

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Pack Up Your Troubles
Pack Up Your Troubles film Lobby card (1940-2).jpg
Lobby card
Directed by Oswald Mitchell
Written by
Produced byF.W. Baker
Starring
Cinematography Geoffrey Faithfull
Music by Percival Mackey
Production
company
Distributed byButcher's Film Service (UK)
Release date
  • February 1940 (1940-02)(UK)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Pack Up Your Troubles is a 1940 British second feature ('B') [1] comedy film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Reginald Purdell, Wylie Watson and Patricia Roc. [2] It was written by Milton Hayward, Reginald Purdell and Con West.

Contents

It takes its name from the First World War marching song "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag".

Plot

Garage owner Tommy and ventriloquist friend Eric join the army and travel to France, where they are captured by the Nazis. However, Eric's voice-throwing skills come in handy in engineering their escape and in obtaining top secret information.

Cast

Box office

According to Kinematograph Weekly the film "held its own" at the British box office in August 1940. [3]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The title expresses the whole spirit of this film, which is cheerful, light-hearted nonsense. The somewhat ordinary story is redeemed by excellent acting and the two principals, Reginald Purdell and Wylie Watson, are extremely funny." [4]

Picturegoer wrote: "It is ingenuous stuff, with a mixture of song, sentiment and patriotic conviction. Reginald Purdell and Wylie Watson are quite good as the pals and Patricia Roc makes a pretty heroine. Wally Patch is on his best form as the inevitable bullying sergeant. As burlesque German officers, Meinhart Maur and Manning Whiley are good." [5]

TV Guide called it a "Lightweight comedy worth watching for Purdell's and Watson's nice comic performances." [6]

Sky Cinema wrote, "Not the Laurel and Hardy comedy of the same name but a British romp from the war years, which gave character kings Wylie Watson (best-known for his 'Mr Memory' in Hitchcock's The 39 Steps ) and Reginald Purdell a rare chance to blossom into leading roles. They're pretty funny together, too. The story's routine, but the leading lady is a very young and pretty Patricia Roc and some good old music-hall songs include Roll Out the Barrel, Pack Up Your Troubles and Goodbye Sally. Cheerful nonsense." [7]

References

  1. ↑ Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 8. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "Pack up Your Troubles (1940)". Archived from the original on 31 May 2017.
  3. ↑ Billings, Josh (9 January 1941). "Quality maintained despite blitz conditions". Kinematograph Weekly. p. 26.
  4. ↑ "Pack Up Your Troubles". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 7 (73): 54. 1 January 1940. ProQuest   1305806684.
  5. ↑ "Pack Up Your Troubles". Picturegoer . 9: 14. 1 August 1940. ProQuest   1771127216.
  6. ↑ "Pack Up Your Troubles". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  7. ↑ "Pack Up Your Troubles". Sky Cinema. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018.
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