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Orders Is Orders

  • 19331933
  • 1h 2m
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
20
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • IMDbPro
Orders Is Orders (1933)
  • Comedy
A brash American movie producer arrives at an army base in England wanting to shoot a movie and use the soldiers as extras. The base commander doesn't want any part of it, but the producer a... Read allA brash American movie producer arrives at an army base in England wanting to shoot a movie and use the soldiers as extras. The base commander doesn't want any part of it, but the producer and his secretary cook up a scheme to trick the officer into letting him use the base and i... Read allA brash American movie producer arrives at an army base in England wanting to shoot a movie and use the soldiers as extras. The base commander doesn't want any part of it, but the producer and his secretary cook up a scheme to trick the officer into letting him use the base and its men. Their plan succeeds, but things don't turn out quite the way they were expecting.
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
20
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Walter Forde
  • Writers
    • Leslie Arliss
    • Anthony Armstrong(play)
    • Sidney Gilliat
  • Stars
    • Charlotte Greenwood
    • James Gleason
    • Cyril Maude
Top credits
  • Director
    • Walter Forde
  • Writers
    • Leslie Arliss
    • Anthony Armstrong(play)
    • Sidney Gilliat
  • Stars
    • Charlotte Greenwood
    • James Gleason
    • Cyril Maude
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 3User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

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    Top cast

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    Charlotte Greenwood
    Charlotte Greenwood
    • Wanda Sinclairas Wanda Sinclair
    James Gleason
    James Gleason
    • Ed Waggermeyeras Ed Waggermeyer
    Cyril Maude
    Cyril Maude
    • Col. Bellamyas Col. Bellamy
    Finlay Currie
    Finlay Currie
    • Daveas Dave
    Percy Parsons
    Percy Parsons
    • Zingbaumas Zingbaum
    Cedric Hardwicke
    Cedric Hardwicke
    • Brigadieras Brigadier
    Donald Calthrop
    Donald Calthrop
    • Paveyas Pavey
    Ian Hunter
    Ian Hunter
    • Capt. Harperas Capt. Harper
    Jane Carr
    Jane Carr
    • Patricia Bellamyas Patricia Bellamy
    Ray Milland
    Ray Milland
    • Dashwoodas Dashwood
    Edwin Lawrence
    • Quartermasteras Quartermaster
    Eliot Makeham
    Eliot Makeham
    • Pvt. Sleeas Pvt. Slee
    Hay Plumb
    Hay Plumb
    • Pvt. Goffinas Pvt. Goffin
    Wally Patch
    • Regimental Sergeant Majoras Regimental Sergeant Major
    Jane Cornell
    • Starletas Starlet
    Glennis Lorimer
    • Marigoldas Marigold
    Sydney Keith
    • Rosenblattas Rosenblatt
    • Director
      • Walter Forde
    • Writers
      • Leslie Arliss
      • Anthony Armstrong(play)
      • Sidney Gilliat
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

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    A brash American movie producer arrives at an army base in England wanting to shoot a movie and use the soldiers as extras. The base commander doesn't want any part of it, but the producer and his secretary cook up a scheme to trick the officer into letting him use the base and its men. Their plan succeeds, but things don't turn out quite the way they were expecting. —frankfob2@yahoo.com
    • army base
    • army
    • farce
    • based on play
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genre
      • Comedy
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Connections
      Remade as Orders Are Orders (1954)

    User reviews3

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Archetypal British humour at its best
    Based on a stage play by the great Ian Hay, 'Orders is Orders' would appear to be a standard British comedy of its period - in fact it turns out to be even more interesting. For one thing, in transferring the very basic plot (American director wishes to make a movie in a British army barracks)to the screen, director Walter Forde takes the opportunity of including extensive shots of infantrymen drilling on their parade ground. Thus the film has considerable historic interest as a social document - but even more when you look at the cast. Ray Milland, for instance, as the romantic lead, reminding us what a devastatingly handsome man he was before age and Hollywood took their toll. Or Cyril Maude as Colonel Bellows in one of his very few film roles, portraying a Blimp figure even more wittily than George Graves' Colonel Lukyn in the better-remembered 'Those were the Days' shot the following year. Or Cedric Hardwicke, two years before his knighthood, and already, it would seem, rehearsing his Count Frollo in the 1939 'Hunchback of Notre Dame'. Or Hay Plumb, in his younger days director of the 1913 version of Hamlet, and who ended his career as a bus driver in Clapham, but here playing one of a pair of bumbling privates (the other is the ubiquitous and ever-delightful Eliot Makeham)in much the same droll style as Laurel and Hardy. Which brings me to the central point of the film - its humour. The characteristics of British humour at its best (innuendo rather than obviousness, wry wit, mock solemnity) are sometimes difficult for those born elsewhere to grasp. But if ever a movie could be used as a demonstration lesson, this is it. As the confrontation between British and American values proceeds, the action becomes more and more hilarious, culminating in an inspired farcical climax. Though not the absolutely most amusing of British comedies of the thirties, 'Orders is Orders' certainly counts as one of the most watchable, and should not be missed by serious enthusiasts of the cinema. One final point: the film's taking its title from the catchphrase "orders is orders", common in Britain from Victorian times to the 1960s. When the story was remade twenty years later, the studio opted for the more grammatically correct 'Orders are Orders', thereby missing the point entirely. Both versions occur on the soundtrack of Forde's film, but it's the older idiom which provides, and pointedly so, the very last words of its spoken dialogue. What does the phrase suggest? Watch Maurice Evans delivering it in 'The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan' when his valet insists he goes to bed early, and all will become clear without further explanation.
    helpful•1
    1
    • brian-joplin
    • Mar 22, 2014

    Details

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    • Release date
      • July 18, 1933 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Orders Are Orders
    • Filming locations
      • Gainsborough Studios, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK
    • Production company
      • Gaumont British Picture Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 2 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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