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While Nero Fiddled

Original title: Fiddlers Three
  • 1944
  • Passed
  • 1h 5m
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
131
YOUR RATING
Frances Day and Tommy Trinder in While Nero Fiddled (1944)
AdventureComedyFantasy

A pair of Jolly Jack Tars on shore leave take a Wren (lady sailor) to Stonehenge and get caught in a time warp finishing up in ancient Rome.A pair of Jolly Jack Tars on shore leave take a Wren (lady sailor) to Stonehenge and get caught in a time warp finishing up in ancient Rome.A pair of Jolly Jack Tars on shore leave take a Wren (lady sailor) to Stonehenge and get caught in a time warp finishing up in ancient Rome.

  • Director
    • Harry Watt
  • Writers
    • Angus MacPhail
    • Diana Morgan
  • Stars
    • Tommy Trinder
    • Frances Day
    • Sonnie Hale
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.4/10
    131
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Harry Watt
    • Writers
      • Angus MacPhail
      • Diana Morgan
    • Stars
      • Tommy Trinder
      • Frances Day
      • Sonnie Hale
    • 6User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Tommy Trinder in Somewhere in France (1942)
    While Nero Fiddled (1944)
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    Top cast

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    Tommy Trinder
    Tommy Trinder
    • Tommy Taylor
    Frances Day
    Frances Day
    • Poppaea
    Sonnie Hale
    Sonnie Hale
    • The Professor
    Francis L. Sullivan
    Francis L. Sullivan
    • Nero
    Diana Decker
    • Lydia
    Elisabeth Welch
    • Nora
    Mary Clare
    Mary Clare
    • Volumnia
    Ernest Milton
    Ernest Milton
    • Titus
    Frederick Piper
    • Auctioneer
    Robert Wyndham
    • Lionkeeper
    Russell Thorndike
    • High Priest
    Danny Green
    Danny Green
    • Lictor
    James Robertson Justice
    James Robertson Justice
    • Centurion of the 8th Legion
    Wallace Bosco
    • Roman Citizen
    • (uncredited)
    Gerry Judge
    • Roman Citizen
    • (uncredited)
    Kay Kendall
    Kay Kendall
    • Girl
    • (uncredited)
    Alec Mango
    Alec Mango
    • Secretary
    • (uncredited)
    Charles Paton
    Charles Paton
    • Roman Writing Epitaph
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Harry Watt
    • Writers
      • Angus MacPhail
      • Diana Morgan
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Fiddlers Three
    7.0
    Fiddlers Three

    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      First film of Alec Mango.
    • Goofs
      When struck by lightning at Stonehenge, they arrived in Rome in sailors' uniforms. One year later when struck by lightning in Rome, they arrived at Stonehenge back in uniform; they should have been dressed as Romans.
    • Quotes

      Nero: Delicious debauchery!

    • Connections
      Featured in A Bit of Scarlet (1997)
    • Soundtracks
      Sweet Fanny Adams
      (uncredited)

      Music by Geoffrey Wright

      Lyrics by Roland Blackburn

      Sung by Tommy Trinder and Sonnie Hale

    User reviews6

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    FIDDLERS THREE (Harry Watt, 1944) ***
    To begin with, I had acquired a number of Tommy Trinder musical comedy vehicles but this is actually the first one I checked out, even if it is officially a sequel to SAILORS THREE (1940)! The result was surprisingly satisfactory and, even more so, remarkably inspired: in fact, it even treats an inherent lack of originality (being the old 'transported to ancient times' routine, probably dating from Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court") as a joke – when a Roman the heroes meet mentions a Mr. Eddie Cantor having 'visited' them previously (in the 1933 ROMAN SCANDALS; there is even a play on the latter title when Trinder loses a sandal in Poppea's private quarters and Nero – played by Francis L. Sullivan – organizes a Cinderella-type 'contest' to find its proprietor and get even with him!).

    The time-travel incident occurs during a stormy night at Stonehenge and also involves fellow sailor Sonnie Hale and a girl they save from the clutches of a lecher. They first come across a Roman legion (headed by James Robertson Justice) and, subsequently, they are captured and taken to the market-place to be sold at auction – however, here we get a jab at the slowness of transport in this era when they take a whole year to arrive, by which time Trinder and Hale's features are well hidden under a mass of facial hair! They end up at the Palace where, predictably, Hale has been purchased as a woman (later on, the star himself turns up at an orgy doing an incongruous Carmen Miranda impersonation!) and Trinder as a sort of prophet (for which ruse the Emperor's exploits as laid down in the history books suddenly comes in handy)...although, funnily enough, it takes him a long time to foretell the one act Nero is most notorious for today i.e the burning of Rome!

    The finale, then, has the trio being inventively thrown to the lions (they stand in the above section of a compartment, with the floor slowly opening under their feet to reveal the hungry felines below)…but another providential storm comes to their rescue, and they are soon back where we started (except that they should logically be in whatever has taken the place of the arena in the present day!). While there are a few too many songs, these are admittedly rather good (with lyrics co-written by future director Robert Hamer!) – one of them even has Poppea giving us the low-down on a number of Roman Emperors she had 'known' and, yet another, is warbled by her black maidservant! By the way, the same year saw the release of a similarly-themed film (and which I also own) from this country i.e. TIME FLIES: this had another Tommy, Handley, turning up during the reign of Elizabeth I; while the title of the film under review refers to nothing in particular, there was later an unrelated Three Stooges short in 1948 that went under the same moniker!
    helpful•5
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    • Bunuel1976
    • Apr 18, 2011

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 29, 1946 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Fiddlers Three
    • Filming locations
      • Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK(studio: made at Ealing Studios Limited London, W.5., A British Picture made at Ealing Studios London also)
    • Production company
      • Ealing Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 5 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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