Oh, Mr. Porter! (1937)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Marcel Varnel

Writers:

Frank Launder (original story)
J.O.C. Orton (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1950 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

William Porter is working as a lowly wheel tapper on the English Railways until, through the influence of his downtrodden brother-in-law (who happens to be managing director of the railway company), he is offered the position of station master at the isolated station at Buggleskelly in Northern Ireland. Rather a poisoned chalice, as station masters as Buggleskelly have a reputation for going mad and not lasting all that long... Once in Buggleskelly, he hears the story of One-eyed-Joe (the phantom miller), meets his two station hands (the wily Harbottle and good-for-nothing Albert) and somehow has his train stolen by the Phantom Miller... Featuring some of the most inspired lines of pre-war cinema ("next trains gone","I'm their centre forward","If I can't be Gladstone, I'm not playing","You're wasting your time","Everything around here is either too old or won't work - and you're both!"...watch how Porter sniffs and bumbles through life!

Plot Keywords:

Railway | Train | Ireland | Train Crash | Bar Fight

Cast

Will Hay	...	William Porter
Moore Marriott	...	Jeremiah Harbottle
Graham Moffatt	...	Albert Brown
Sebastian Smith	...	Charles Trimbletow
Agnes Lauchlan	...	Mrs Trimbletow
Percy Walsh	...	Superintendent
Dennis Wyndham	...	Grogan
Dave O'Toole	...	The Postman

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (British Acoustic Film Full Range Recording System)

Certification:

UK:U

Filming Locations:

Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, UK

Company:

Gainsborough Pictures

Trivia:

The 'driver's cab view' along the track at the beginning of the film was actually filmed by hanging a camera out of the end of the train, then showing the resulting footage backwards: this is why the train appears to be engaging in 'wrong-track' running throughout this section!

Quotes:

[William Porter is wheel-tapping a train]
Managing director's wife: You may think me a little stupid but why do they tap them?
William Porter: Well, you see madam, it's like this. If I tap the wheel with this hammer and the wheel goes clang, then I know that the wheel's there.
Managing director: But supposing that the wheel doesn't go clang?
William Porter: Well, then I know that the train's gone!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Brides of Dracula (1960)

Oh, Mr Porter!

'Oh, Mr Porter!' is seen as possible the most popular of the many films made staring Wil Hay. The team of three (Graham Moffat, Moore Marriot and Hay) seem to fit together well leading each other to witty and well perform punchlines that capture the spirit of the early black and white comedy genre. The tale, based on the placement of a lack lustre station manager at a sleepy backwater station in Ireland, is the perfect setting for Hay to act out his famous role as the bumbling but likable head of operations. Assisted by Marriot and Moffat the three find themselves embroiled in a gun running plot and the ghost of the old miller. Great fun and a reflection of an era long gone.