Stanley Augustus Holloway was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady. He was also renowned for his comic monologues and songs, which he performed and recorded throughout most of his 70-year career.
Sing As We Go is a 1934 British musical film starring Gracie Fields, John Loder and Stanley Holloway. The script was written by Gordon Wellesley and J. B. Priestley.
Champagne is a 1928 British silent comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Betty Balfour, Gordon Harker and Jean Bradin. The screenplay was based on an original story by writer and critic Walter C. Mycroft. The plot concerns a young woman forced to take a job after her father loses his fortune.
Betty Balfour was an English screen actress, popular during the silent era, and known as the "British Mary Pickford" and "Britain's Queen of Happiness". She was best known to audiences for her Squibs series of films.
29 Acacia Avenue is a play by Denis and Mabel Constanduros. Its 1945 British comedy-drama film adaptation, directed by Henry Cass, was released in the U.S. as The Facts of Love.
Meet Me Tonight is a 1952 omnibus British comedy film adapted from three one act plays by Noël Coward: Red Peppers, Fumed Oak and Ways and Means; which are part of his Tonight at 8.30 play cycle. The film was released as Tonight at 8:30 in the U.S. It was directed by Anthony Pelissier and starred Valerie Hobson, Nigel Patrick, Stanley Holloway, Ted Ray and Jack Warner.
Third Time Lucky is a 1931 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Bobby Howes, Dorothy Boyd and Gordon Harker. It was made at Islington Studios and based on the 1929 West End play of the same title by Arnold Ridley. The film's sets were designed by art director Walter Murton.
The Co-Optimists is an all-talking sound 1929 British musical film revue directed by Edwin Greenwood and Laddie Cliff and starring Davy Burnaby, Stanley Holloway and Betty Chester. It was made at Twickenham Studios. The film was broken up into parts and re-released as six short films in 1931.
My Old Dutch is a 1934 British drama film directed by Sinclair Hill and starring Betty Balfour, Gordon Harker, Michael Hogan and Florrie Forde. The film portrays the lives of Londoners during the First World War. The film was made at Islington Studios by Gainsborough Pictures. The film's sets were designed by Peter Proud. Bryan Edgar Wallace contributed to the screenplay, adapted from the stage play written by Arthur Shirley and also based on Albert Chevalier's famous song.
Love on Wheels is a 1932 British musical comedy film directed by Victor Saville and starring Jack Hulbert, Gordon Harker, Edmund Gwenn and Leonora Corbett.
Beauty and the Barge is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Gordon Harker, Judy Gunn and Jack Hawkins. It was produced by Julius Hagen's production company Twickenham Film Studios, but made at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith rather than at Twickenham. It was based on the 1905 play Beauty and the Barge by W. W. Jacobs.
Brother Alfred is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Gene Gerrard, Molly Lamont and Elsie Randolph. It is based on the 1913 play of the same title by P.G. Wodehouse and Herbert Westbrook. It was shot at the Elstree Studios of British International Pictures. The film's sets were designed by the art director David Rawnsley.
Her Favourite Husband is a 1950 British-Italian comedy film directed by Mario Soldati and starring Jean Kent, Robert Beatty and Margaret Rutherford. The screenplay was by Noel Langley, based on an adaptation by Stefano Vanzina, Mario Monicelli and Soldati of the 1947 play Quel bandito sono io! by Peppino De Filippo. The film's art direction was by Piero Gherardi.
Song of the Forge is a 1937 British musical film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Stanley Holloway, Lawrence Grossmith and Eleanor Fayre. The screenplay concerns an elderly blacksmith who refuses assistance from his wealthy son in spite of his own poverty.
Squibs is a 1921 British silent comedy film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Hugh E. Wright and Fred Groves. It was followed by three sequels starting with Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep and a 1935 remake.
Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep is a 1922 British silent comedy film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Fred Groves and Hugh E. Wright. It was the sequel to the 1921 film Squibs.
Play Up the Band is a 1935 British musical comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Stanley Holloway, Betty Ann Davies and Leslie Bradley.
The Lad is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Gordon Harker, Betty Stockfeld and Jane Carr. It was made at Twickenham Studios. The film is based on a novel by Edgar Wallace.
Squibs M.P. is a 1923 British silent comedy film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Hugh E. Wright and Fred Groves.
Squibs' Honeymoon is a 1923 British silent comedy film directed by George Pearson and starring Betty Balfour, Hugh E. Wright and Fred Groves. It was the last of the silent film series featuring the character, although Balfour returned to play her in the 1935 sound film Squibs. Both Pearson and Balfour were particular favourites of the British film critic, and later leading screenwriter, Roger Burford. In his first article for the magazine Close Up Burford would write "Not long ago a film of the Squibbs series was reported to be on at a small cinema in a slum district. It was a rare chance, and we went at once. We were not disappointed: the film was English, with proper tang; the tang of Fielding or Sterne.' Burford's comments help place the Squibbs films perfectly in British culture between the wars. They were very much working-class comedy, drawing on a vernacular, performative tradition, but at the same time their "Englishness" is characteristic of the kinds of satirical comedies found in the novels of Henry Fielding and Laurence Sterne. That earthy satire, based on everyday life, made these comedies unpalatable to middle class audiences but the Squibbs films were amongst the most interesting, and well shot, films in Britain in the 1920s.
