Not copyrighted and never released in any size or form in the United States. U.K. release through General Film Distributors: July 1938. Never theatrically released in Australia. 87 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Through a series of typical misunderstandings, Dr Twist gets himself selected as prison governor but winds up as convict 99.
VIEWER'S GUIDE: I cannot understand the British censor's "Adult" classification. Perhaps he thought that Twist's insobriety which leads to his downfall would disturb children, though I see it as a good moral lesson. Or perhaps he thought that the prison system was unjustly lampooned and criticized, thus causing children to lose faith in British justice. Or was it all the slapstick knockabout material that made him think children can't stand to see people knocked on the head or fall down holes or be brow-beaten by cretins or be diddled by smarties? Children are too sensitive for that sort of stuff, are they? Not my kids!
COMMENT: Not one of Hay's best comedies, though it does have three or four absolutely hilarious moments, including Twist's encounter with Slim Charlie and a bank robbery in reverse. Why it is not as consistently funny is a bit of a mystery as the material is certainly promising and the players are nothing if not enthusiastic. And it has all been produced on a breathtakingly lavish budget. I have the feeling that maybe the players are trying just a bit too hard and that maybe the situations would have been more amusing had a more casual approach been adopted. Also I feel that some of the jests are overworked. Despite her prominence in the cast list, Googie Withers has but a small role, whilst both Kathleen Harrison and Basil Radford disappear from the plot at early stages. We also miss a prison song. Why didn't the scriptwriters think of that? It would have enhanced the school-jail relationship no end as well as providing amusement on its own account.
SYNOPSIS: Through a series of typical misunderstandings, Dr Twist gets himself selected as prison governor but winds up as convict 99.
VIEWER'S GUIDE: I cannot understand the British censor's "Adult" classification. Perhaps he thought that Twist's insobriety which leads to his downfall would disturb children, though I see it as a good moral lesson. Or perhaps he thought that the prison system was unjustly lampooned and criticized, thus causing children to lose faith in British justice. Or was it all the slapstick knockabout material that made him think children can't stand to see people knocked on the head or fall down holes or be brow-beaten by cretins or be diddled by smarties? Children are too sensitive for that sort of stuff, are they? Not my kids!
COMMENT: Not one of Hay's best comedies, though it does have three or four absolutely hilarious moments, including Twist's encounter with Slim Charlie and a bank robbery in reverse. Why it is not as consistently funny is a bit of a mystery as the material is certainly promising and the players are nothing if not enthusiastic. And it has all been produced on a breathtakingly lavish budget. I have the feeling that maybe the players are trying just a bit too hard and that maybe the situations would have been more amusing had a more casual approach been adopted. Also I feel that some of the jests are overworked. Despite her prominence in the cast list, Googie Withers has but a small role, whilst both Kathleen Harrison and Basil Radford disappear from the plot at early stages. We also miss a prison song. Why didn't the scriptwriters think of that? It would have enhanced the school-jail relationship no end as well as providing amusement on its own account.