Will Hay is a somewhat forgotten British comedy star whose best work was done in the days of black & white films. Some of them are classics of their type like 'Oh, Mr Porter' and 'The goose steps out,' as well as others. Hay was a bit like W.C.Fields in that he had his own unique style and his quirky eccentric quintessential English characters don't always transpose to a international audience.
The world of very parochial British garden fêtes, church meetings, village steeple funds,bent horse races and touts, are hard to translate. This very creaky studio bound production only hints at the promise of Hay's later far better work. Not helped by the main emphasis for the humour is on the deafness of one of the villagers and the confusion this causes. There are one or two amusing moments but by and large, this is turgid stuff, even at the short running time of 70 minutes.
This is really a work in progress, as Hay begins to define the slightly dodgy schoolmaster/professor character that came alive in his later films. Where he was greatly supported by his two sidekicks, Albert and Harbottle, both sadly missing here, although the latter makes a fleeting appearance as a stable hand.
One for the completists and those with an interest in Hay's early career.
The world of very parochial British garden fêtes, church meetings, village steeple funds,bent horse races and touts, are hard to translate. This very creaky studio bound production only hints at the promise of Hay's later far better work. Not helped by the main emphasis for the humour is on the deafness of one of the villagers and the confusion this causes. There are one or two amusing moments but by and large, this is turgid stuff, even at the short running time of 70 minutes.
This is really a work in progress, as Hay begins to define the slightly dodgy schoolmaster/professor character that came alive in his later films. Where he was greatly supported by his two sidekicks, Albert and Harbottle, both sadly missing here, although the latter makes a fleeting appearance as a stable hand.
One for the completists and those with an interest in Hay's early career.