William Washington Beaudine was an American film director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out a remarkable 179 feature-length films in a wide variety of genres.
Val Guest was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer, for whom he directed 14 films, and for his science fiction films. He enjoyed a long career in the film industry from the early 1930s until the early 1980s.
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.
Will Fyffe, CBE was a Scottish music hall and performing artist on stage and screen during the 1930s and 1940s.
Arthur Crabtree was a British cinematographer and film director. He directed films with comedians such as Will Hay, the Crazy Gang and Arthur Askey and several of the Gainsborough melodramas.
Hey! Hey! USA is a 1938 British comedy film starring comedian Will Hay, Edgar Kennedy and Eddie Ryan. Hay appears as Benjamin Twist, a porter who accidentally finds himself on a ship bound for the United States. The film features an early appearance by child actor Roddy McDowall, before he went to live in America.
Alex Vetchinsky was a BAFTA nominated British film art director and production designer. He worked on more than a hundred productions during a career that lasted between 1928 and 1974. Vetchinsky was employed for many years at Gainsborough Pictures. He later worked frequently for Rank, including on several Carry On films.
Leslie Arliss was an English screenwriter and director. He is best known for his work on the Gainsborough melodramas directing films such as The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady during the 1940s.
Edward Black was a British film producer, best known for being head of production at Gainsborough Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during which time he oversaw production of the Gainsborough melodramas. He also produced such classic films as The Lady Vanishes (1938).
Smuggler's Cove is a 1948 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on October 10, 1948 by Monogram Pictures and is the eleventh film in the series.
Alfred Wallace Roome was an English film editor and occasional director.
Neutral Port is a 1940 British war comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Will Fyffe, Leslie Banks, Yvonne Arnaud, and Phyllis Calvert, with a supporting role for Wally Patch. It was produced and distributed by Gainsborough Pictures and shot at the company's Lime Grove Studios in West London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky. It was one of several films Fyffe made for Gainsborough.
Owd Bob is a 1938 British drama film directed by Robert Stevenson. It stars Will Fyffe and John Loder. The film was released as To the Victor in the United States. It was based on the 1898 novel Owd Bob, previously filmed in 1924.
Laugh It Off is a 1940 British musical comedy film directed by John Baxter and Wallace Orton, and starring Tommy Trinder, Jean Colin, Anthony Hulme and Marjorie Browne. It was filmed at Walton Studios starting in November 1939, just after the outbreak of war.
They Came by Night is a 1940 British crime film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Will Fyffe, Phyllis Calvert and Anthony Hulme. It was made at the Islington Studios by Gainsborough Pictures and released by 20th Century Fox. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky. It was based on the West End play of the same title by Barré Lyndon.
O-Kay for Sound is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring the Crazy Gang troupe of comedians. After falling on hard times the members of the Crazy Gang are busking on the streets of London. However, they are hired as extras on a film set. After arriving at the studios they are mistaken for a group of potential investors and given free run of the studios, causing chaos.
Take It from Me is a 1937 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Max Miller, Betty Lynne and Buddy Baer. It is often referred to by its working title, Transatlantic Trouble. Ahead of its opening in Australia, the filmmakers were sued there by a Lady Fairhaven who complained that a character in the film with the same name could be confused for her. The case was settled out of court. Existing cast lists only refer to a "Lady Foxham"; it is possible the offending name was ultimately overdubbed. It is now believed to be a lost film.
Rulers of the Sea is a 1939 American historical drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Margaret Lockwood and Will Fyffe. The film's story is based on the voyage of the SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the North Atlantic, from Britain to the United States. The film was made by Paramount Pictures, but featured Lockwood and Fyffe who were two of the leading stars of the British Gainsborough Pictures studios. The supporting cast features Alan Ladd.
Junction City is a 1952 American Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and starring Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette and Jock Mahoney. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film's art direction was by Charles Clague. This was the sixty-fourth of 65 films in the Durango Kid series.
Rolling Home is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Ralph Ince and starring Will Fyffe and Molly Lamont. It was made at Shepperton Studios.
