Sally in Our Alley (1931 film)

Last updated

Sally in Our Alley
Sally in Our Alley (1931 film).jpg
Directed by Maurice Elvey
Written by Miles Malleson
Archie Pitt
Alma Reville
Based on The Likes of Her
by Charles McEvoy
Produced by Basil Dean
Starring Gracie Fields
Ian Hunter
Florence Desmond
Gibb McLaughlin
Cinematography Alex Bryce
Robert Martin
Edited by Otto Ludwig
Music by Ernest Irving
Production
company
Distributed by RKO Pictures
Release date
  • 9 July 1931 (1931-07-09)
Running time
74 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Sally in Our Alley is a 1931 British romantic comedy drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Gracie Fields, Ian Hunter, and Florence Desmond. [1] It was written by Miles Malleson, Archie Pitt and Alma Reville based on the 1923 West End play The Likes of Her by Charles McEvoy.

Contents

Plot summary

A British soldier goes off to fight in the First World War, with his girlfriend waiting and worried at home. He is soon wounded in battle and crippled. He comes to the conclusion that she would be better off believing that he has been killed so she can get on with her life. She gets the news and is devastated. Several years later she is still grieving for him, but he has now been cured and goes looking for her.

Cast

Production

Shooting for the film started on 23 March 1931 at Beaconsfield Studios by Associated Talking Pictures, who relocated to Ealing Studios the following year. Shooting lasted six weeks, concluding in early May. It marked the screen debut of Gracie Fields who was an established music hall star. Fields' husband, the screenwriter Archie Pitt was originally set to play the role of Alf Cope. However, after less than a week of filming, as Fields and Pitt were travelling back from shooting, their car crashed. Though Fields escaped injury, Pitt was forced to withdraw from the cast in order to recuperate. Due to his experience and availability, the role was quickly recast with Fred Groves. [2] The film incorporated Fields' hugely popular signature song, Sally , itself a reference to Henry Carey's 1725 song, Sally in Our Alley , which had long been a traditional English country dance. It included the first use of the Dunning Process in Britain. [3]

The film took £100,000 at the box office, [4] establishing Fields as a national film star.

The film's sets were designed by the art director Norman G. Arnold.

Critical reception

Kine Weekly wrote: "This  sentimental drama of Cockney life, freely adapted from the stage play, "The Likes of 'Er," has a scrappy story, and it does not provide Gracie Fields with an outstanding vehicle for her film debut, but she is too clever an entertainer to let the inadequate material seriously cramp her style. Whether clowning, sentimentalising or singing, she knows how to reach her audience, and puts herself over well. The picture begins and ends with Gracie Fields, and its success, which is assured from the start, lies in her pull. Unquestionably a box-office attraction." [5]

Variety said: "Better than most English films and enhanced for the provinces by the presence of Gracie Fields. Songs are not particularly impressive and the general standard nothing to shout about. As a film proposition Miss Fields doesn't exactly suggest sufficient sympathy to hold the romantic lead, but her eccentric singing and dialect gagging records well and should get a good quota of laughs from her fans over here. Introduction of the songs is resourceful and some of the gags are quite good. Dialog is pert on English comedy lines. But the whole canvas is very small and the footage seems very long." [6]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as “mediocre” and wrote: ''A shaky start which Gracie Fields screen career did well to survive.'' [7]

Leslie Halliwell wrote: "Poor girl loves wounded soldier. Early talkie drama which made Gracie Fields a star and gave her a theme song." [8]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Of interest only to historians or those addicted to "Our Gracie", this worse-than-mediocre film made Gracie Fields a star and gave her her lifelong signature song, Sally." [9]

Home media

This film was released in the UK as part of the Gracie Fields collector's edition DVD box set in 2008, which in addition to this film includes Looking on the Bright Side (1932), Love, Life and Laughter (1934), Sing As We Go (1934), Look Up and Laugh (1935), Queen of Hearts (1936) and The Show Goes On (1937). A Blu-ray standalone version followed in 2020, restored from a 35mm fine grain master print.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gracie Fields</span> British actress, singer and comedian (1898–1979)

Dame Gracie Fields was a British actress, singer and comedian. A star of cinema and music hall, she was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the highest paid film star in the world in 1937. Fields was known affectionately as Our Gracie and the Lancashire Lass and for never losing her strong, native Lancashire accent. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and an Officer of the Venerable Order of St John (OStJ) in 1938, and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1979.

<i>Father Came Too!</i> 1964 British film by Peter Graham Scott

Father Came Too! is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips and Stanley Baxter. It was written by Jack Davies and Henry Blyth.

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

Up the Creek is a 1958 British comedy film written and directed by Val Guest and starring David Tomlinson, Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White, David Lodge and Lionel Jeffries.

<i>Hour of Decision</i> (film) 1957 British mystery film directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards

Hour of Decision is a 1957 British mystery film directed by C. M. Pennington-Richards and starring Jeff Morrow, Hazel Court and Anthony Dawson. It was written by Norman Hudis based on the 1954 novel Murder in Mayfair by Frederic Goldsmith.

<i>Inn for Trouble</i> 1960 British film by C. M. Pennington-Richards

Inn for Trouble is a 1960 black and white British comedy film directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards and starring Peggy Mount, David Kossoff and Leslie Phillips. It was a spin-off of the ITV sitcom The Larkins (1958–1964). The film is notable for the final credited appearances of Graham Moffatt and A. E. Matthews.

<i>Three Men in a Boat</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Ken Annakin

Three Men in a Boat is a 1956 British CinemaScope colour comedy film directed by Ken Annakin, starring Laurence Harvey, Jimmy Edwards, David Tomlinson and Shirley Eaton. It was written by Hubert Gregg and Vernon Harris based on the 1889 novel of the same name by Jerome K. Jerome.

<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>Penny Paradise</i> 1938 film by Carol Reed

Penny Paradise is a 1938 British comedy film directed by Carol Reed and starring Edmund Gwenn, Betty Driver and Jimmy O'Dea.

<i>House of Blackmail</i> 1953 British film by Maurice Elvey

House of Blackmail is a 1953 British second feature drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Mary Germaine, William Sylvester and Alexander Gauge. It was written by Allan MacKinnon. The plot follows a soldier and his girlfriend, who become mixed up with a blackmailer.

<i>Burnt Evidence</i> 1954 British film by Daniel Birt

Burnt Evidence is a 1954 British second feature thriller film directed by Daniel Birt and starring Jane Hylton, Duncan Lamont and Donald Gray. It was produced by Ronald Kinnoch for ACT Films.

<i>King of the Underworld</i> (1952 film) 1952 British film by Victor M. Gover

King of the Underworld is a 1952 British crime film directed by Victor M. Gover and starring Tod Slaughter, Patrick Barr and Tucker McGuire. It was written by John Gilling. It was followed by a sequel Murder at Scotland Yard (1953).

<i>You Lucky People!</i> 1955 film

You Lucky People! is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Tommy Trinder, Mary Parker and Dora Bryan. Originally titled Get Fell In, the film was renamed to match Trinder's familiar catchphrase. It was shot in a rival French process to CinemaScope, called 'CameraScope', with the attendant publicity describing "the first feature to be made with an anamorphic lens in black and white! It's a camerascoop!". It was shot at Beaconsfield Studios near London with sets designed by the art director Ray Simm.

<i>This Week of Grace</i> 1933 film

This Week of Grace is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Gracie Fields, Henry Kendall and John Stuart. The screenplay concerns a poor, unemployed woman who is made housekeeper at the estate of a wealthy duchess. It was promoted with the tagline "Cinderella in modern dress". It includes songs written by Harry Parr-Davies, including "My Lucky Day" and "Happy Ending".

<i>A Honeymoon Adventure</i> 1931 film

A Honeymoon Adventure is a 1931 British thriller film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Benita Hume, Peter Hannen and Harold Huth. Written in collaboration by Rupert Downing and Basil Dean, it The film was shot at Beaconsfield Studios. Location shooting, including the railway scenes took place in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Groves (actor)</span> British actor (1880–1955)

Fred Groves was a British actor of the celebrated Groves acting family. On stage from 1896, he appeared in the original West End production of Noël Coward's Cavalcade (1931-2); and was a leading man in silent films, latterly becoming a character player in movies. He appeared in the 1925 play Number 17 in the West End.

Escape Route is a 1952 British black-and-white second feature thriller film, directed by Seymour Friedman and Peter Graham Scott, and starring George Raft, Sally Gray and Clifford Evans.

Archie Pitt was a British music hall performer, showman and talent agent. He is best known for his marriage to Gracie Fields whose career he managed.

<i>The Hostage</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Harold Huth

The Hostage is a 1956 British crime film directed by Harold Huth and starring Ron Randell, Mary Parker and John Bailey. It was written by Alfred Shaughnessy,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally (Gracie Fields song)</span> 1931 song by Gracie Fields

"Sally" is a popular song written by Leo Towers, Harry Leon and Will E. Haines. It was first sung by Gracie Fields in the 1931 film Sally in Our Alley. "Sally" was released on His Master's Voice as the B-side of the record "Fall In and Follow the Band".

References

  1. ↑ "Sally in Our Alley". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Gracie Fields' Film: Car Accident Causes Archie Pitt's Withdrawal from Cast". Kinematograph Weekly. 2 April 1931.
  3. ↑ "Elvey's Big Cast: "Sally in Our Alley" Starting on Monday at Beaconsfield". Kinematograph Weekly. 19 March 1931.
  4. ↑ Sweet, Matthew (2005). Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema. Faber and Faber. ISBN   978-0571212989.
  5. ↑ "Sally In Our Alley". Kine Weekly . 173 (1265): 27. 6 February 1931 – via ProQuest.
  6. ↑ "Sally In Our Alley". Variety . 103 (6): 34. 21 July 1934 – via ProQuest.
  7. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 140. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  8. ↑ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 876. ISBN   0-586-08894-6.
  9. ↑ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 799. ISBN   9780992936440.
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.