Let the People Sing (film)
Let the People Sing is a 1942 British comedy film directed by John Baxter,[1] and starring Alastair Sim, Fred Emney and Edward Rigby. The film's sets were designed by R. Holmes Paul. It was made at Elstree Studios.[2]
| Let the People Sing | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Original British lobby card | |
| Directed by | John Baxter |
| Produced by | John Baxter Wallace Orton |
| Written by | John Baxter Barbara K. Emary Geoffrey Orme J.B. Priestley (novel) |
| Starring | Alastair Sim Fred Emney Edward Rigby |
| Music by | Kennedy Russell |
| Cinematography | James Wilson |
| Edited by | Jack Harris |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Anglo-American Film Corporation |
Release date | 10 August 1942 |
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The screenplay concerns a small town that bands together to try to save their music hall from closure. It was based on the novel Let the People Sing by J. B. Priestley.[3]
Main cast
- Alastair Sim as Professor Ernst Kronak
- Fred Emney as Sir George Denberry-Baxter
- Edward Rigby as Timmy Tiverton
- Oliver Wakefield as Sir Reginald Foxfield
- Patricia Roc as Hope Ollerton
- Annie Esmond as Lady Foxfield
- Marian Spencer as Lady Shepshod
- Olive Sloane as Daisy Barley
- Maire O'Neill as Mrs. Mitterley
- Gus McNaughton as Ketley
- Charles Hawtrey as Young Orton
- Peter Gawthorne as Major Shiptonthorpe
- Aubrey Mallalieu as Commander Spofforth
- G.H. Mulcaster as Inspector
- Wally Patch as Sam
- Horace Kenney as Walter Shepton
- Morris Harvey as Jim Flagg
- Ida Barr as Katie
- Spencer Trevor as Colonel Hazelhead
- Robert Atkins as Hassock
- Diana Beaumont as Secretary
- Syd Crossley as Uncle Alfred
- A. Bromley Davenport as Agent
- Charles Doe as Mayor
- Alexander Field as Packles Junior
- Ian Fleming as United Plastics barrister
- Richard George as Tom Largs
- Leopold Glasspoole as Pelham
- Michael Martin Harvey as Handover
- David Keir as Mr. Finningley
- Henry B. Longhurst
- Eliot Makeham as Town clerk
- George Merritt as Police Sergeant
- Mignon O'Doherty as Dr. Buckley
- Stan Paskin as Attendant
- Peter Ustinov as Dr. Bentika
Critical reception
Time Out wrote "John Baxter was the British director probably least patronising and most sympathetic to the working classes and their culture during the '30s and '40s, and even if his films now often seem naïve and simplistic, it's good at least to see an honest and humorous attempt to deal with life outside Mayfair. Less scathing than Love on the Dole (his best known film), this adaptation of a JB Priestley novel is a spritely, vaguely Capra-esque comedy...Fred Emney steals the show as a government arbitrator susceptible to the charms of alcohol."[1]
References
- "Let the People Sing, directed by John Baxter - Film review".
- "Let the People Sing (1942)". Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
- Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636 – via Google Books.
Bibliography
- Murphy, Robert. Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48. Routledge, 1992.
External links