Gasbags

Written byProduced byEdward BlackStarringCinematographyArthur CrabtreeEdited byR. E. DearingMusic byLouis LevyDistributed byGeneral Film Distributors1 February 194177 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

Gasbags is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and Marcel Varnel and starring The Crazy Gang as well as Moore Marriott.^[1] The film was a morale-booster in the early part of the Second World War.^[2]

Production

It was shot at the Lime Grove Studios in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky. It was the fourth and final film starring the comedians at Gainsborough Pictures. Flanagan and Allen subsequently moved to British National where they made a further four films over the next few years.

Plot summary

The Crazy Gang's mobile fish and chip shop is tethered to a barrage balloon which lifts the shop into the air and the gang is carried to Nazi Germany. They are captured but break out of prison, impersonate Adolf Hitler and return to England in a stolen secret weapon.

Cast

• Bud Flanagan as Bud
• Chesney Allen as Ches
• Jimmy Nervo as Cecil
• Teddy Knox as Knoxy
• Charlie Naughton as Charlie
• Jimmy Gold as Goldy
• Moore Marriott as Jerry Jenkins
• Wally Patch as Sergeant-Major
• Peter Gawthorne as Commanding Officer
• Frederick Valk as Sturmfuehrer
• Eric Clavering as Scharffuehrer
• Anthony Eustrel as Gestapo Officer
• Carl Jaffe as Gestapo Chief
• Manning Whiley as Colonel
• Torin Thatcher as SS Man
• George Merritt as German General
• Irene Handl as Burgomaster's wife
• Leonard Sharp as Chip Shop customer
• Mavis Villiers as Woman
• Henry Longhurst as Woodcutter
• Theodore Zichy as 2nd in Command

Critical reception

TV Guide called it "An exhilarating comedy";^[3] while the Radio Times called it "the best film ever made by the Crazy Gang...Director Marcel Varnel has just the right surreal touch to make it work and leave audiences laughing."^[2]

Soundtrack

• Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen - "Yesterday's Dreams" (Written by Michael Carr and Dorothy Day)

References

Bibliography

• Mayer, Geoff. Guide to British Cinema. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.

External links

• Gasbags at IMDb