Although Shipyard Sally was intended to gee up the spirits of the massive numbers of unemployed in England at the time; particularly the dockyard workers, the films intention fell flat. The "feel good" atmosphere that, "things will improve" and "we all will be OK" is pervasive. Sally, (Gracie Fields) the saloon singer, fights for the reopening of the shipyard where her customers work; armed with a petition of thousands of unemployed workers, meets the head of the Shipyards. Its here she sings the memorable "Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye". However all this effort fell on fallow ground because unfortunately, prior to the films release (16 October 1939 UK), on the 1 September 1939 came the invasion of Poland by Germany and the subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom. The world was at war and the UK shipyards were about to be tripled in size. The vagaries of release date;
The film was released 16 October 1939 (UK) more than a month after the beginning of the Second World War.
The film was released 16 October 1939 (UK) more than a month after the beginning of the Second World War.