Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous music hall entertainment and subsequent, more respectable variety entertainment differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts.
Sir George Edward Wade, CBE, known professionally as George Robey, was an English comedian, singer and actor in musical theatre, who became known as one of the greatest music hall performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a comedian, he mixed everyday situations and observations with comic absurdity. Apart from his music hall acts, he was a popular Christmas pantomime performer in the English provinces, where he excelled in the dame roles. He scored notable successes in musical revues during and after the First World War, particularly with the song "If You Were the Only Girl ", which he performed with Violet Loraine in the revue The Bing Boys Are Here (1916). One of his best-known original characters in his six-decade long career was the Prime Minister of Mirth.
Ronald Macdonald Hutchison, professionally known as Harry Tate, was an English comedian, who performed in the music halls, in variety shows, and in films.
Sweet Rosie O'Grady is a 1943 Technicolor musical film about an American singer who attempts to better herself by marrying an English duke, but is harassed by a reporter. Directed by Irving Cummings, it stars Betty Grable and Robert Young.
Princess Charming is an operetta with music composed by Albert Szirmai. The English libretto by Arthur Wimperis and Lauri Wylie is based on the Hungarian libretto by Franz Martos. The operetta is set in the Palace of the Elyrian Embassy in the fictional European country of Novia and the Sigman Castle adjoining the Royal Palace. The story concerns a young princess who accepts a proposal of marriage from the elderly king of a neighboring country as protection against an uprising by her own subjects. Captain Torrelli, a military officer sent by the king, fears imminent danger to the princess and marries her himself. The officer then escorts her to his king for an annulment, but the couple fall in love and elope.
Oxford Music Hall was a music hall located in Westminster, London, at the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. It was established on the site of a former public house, the Boar and Castle, by Charles Morton, in 1861. In 1917 the music hall was converted into a legitimate theatre, and in 1921 it was renamed the New Oxford Theatre. In May 1926 it closed and was demolished.
Love Story is a 1944 British black-and-white romance film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring Margaret Lockwood, Stewart Granger, and Patricia Roc. Based on a short story by J. W. Drawbell, the film is about a concert pianist who, after learning that she is dying of heart failure, decides to spend her last days in Cornwall. While there, she meets a former RAF pilot who is going blind, and soon a romantic attraction forms. Released in the United States as A Lady Surrenders, this wartime melodrama produced by Gainsborough Pictures was filmed on location at the Minack Theatre in Porthcurno in Cornwall, England.
Two Thousand Women is a 1944 British comedy-drama war film about a German internment camp in Occupied France which holds British women who have been resident in the country. Three RAF aircrewmen, whose bomber has been shot down, enter the camp and are hidden by the women from the Germans.
Royal Cavalcade, also known as Regal Cavalcade, is a 1935 British, black-and-white, drama film directed by six separate directors: Thomas Bentley, Herbert Brenon, Norman Lee, Walter Summers, W. P. Kellino and Marcel Varnel. The film features Marie Lohr, Hermione Baddeley, Owen Nares, Robert Hale, Austin Trevor, James Carew, Edward Chapman and Ronald Shiner as the Soldier in Trenches. The film was presented by Associated British Pictures Corporation.
Why Bring That Up? is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film directed by George Abbott and starring minstrel show comedians Charles Mack and George Moran, as blackface team Two Black Crows.
The Middle Watch is a 1940 British comedy film, directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Jack Buchanan, Greta Gynt, Fred Emney and Kay Walsh. It was produced by Associated British Picture Corporation at their Welwyn Studios. It was based on a play of the same title by Ian Hay and Stephen King-Hall which had previously been adapted as a film in 1930, and which was adapted again in 1958.
Reginald Purdell was an English actor and screenwriter who appeared in over 40 films between 1930 and 1951. During the same period he also contributed to the screenplays of 15 feature films, such as The Dark Tower, and had a brief foray into directing with two films in 1937.
Patricia Gets Her Man is a 1937 British romantic comedy film directed by Reginald Purdell and starring Hans Söhnker, Lesley Brook and Edwin Styles. The screenplay concerns a woman who attempts to attract a film star.
Old English is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and produced by Warner Bros. The film is based on the 1924 West End play of the same name by John Galsworthy. The film stars George Arliss, Leon Janney, Betty Lawford and Doris Lloyd. The film had its premiere August 21, 1930 at the Warner's Theatre in Hollywood.
Jiggs and Maggie in Society is a 1947 American comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and starring Joe Yule, Renie Riano and Tim Ryan. The film is part of the Jiggs and Maggie series, the first sequel to the 1946 film Bringing Up Father.
This is a summary of 1943 in music in the United Kingdom.
Soft Lights and Sweet Music is a 1936 British musical film directed by Herbert Smith and starring Bert Ambrose, Evelyn Dall and Harry Tate. It was made by British Lion at Beaconsfield Studios. The film is a musical revue showcasing a selection of bands and variety acts of the day. It takes its title from Elisabeth Welch's popular BBC radio show, which ran from 1933 to 1935.
Pack Up Your Troubles is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Reginald Purdell, Wylie Watson and Patricia Roc. It takes its name from the First World War marching song "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag".
Marie Lloyd Jr. was a British entertainer, composer and actress notable for her performances impersonating her mother, the music hall performer Marie Lloyd.
Say It with Music is a 1932 British musical drama film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Jack Payne, Percy Marmont and Evelyn Roberts. It was produced by Herbert Wilcox's British and Dominions Films at Elstree Studios. It takes its title from the 1921 song Say It with Music by Irving Berlin which features in the soundtrack, and was an early example of a string of bandleader-centric films produced by British studios during the decade. It is also notable for providing an early acting role for the then-24-year-old William Hartnell, who decades later would go on to portray the First Doctor on Doctor Who.
