Bobby Howes was one of a band of West End stage performers who had a film career before the war,and little after it.This film looks as if it was based on a play.Howes receives a letter from his late aunt advising him that if he looks in the bust of Napoleon he will learn something to his advantage.There are 4 busts and by chance they all happen to be located in a girls boarding school.so Howes has to pretend to me a PE master in order to get access to the school.In the meantime he is being pursued by a Chinaman who wants the return of a cup that Howes has given to the school as it belongs to him.The amusement that arises from these plot devices is strictly limited.There are 3 musical numbers which are tuneful but unmemorable.This is one of a series of musicals turned out by ABPC before the war.
3 Reviews
Bobby Howes, Vera Pearce, Bertha Belmore, Wylie Watson
drednm25 October 2016
Musical romp, with a silly plot about and inheritance and a bust of Napoleon in a girls' school, stars Bobby Howes as an heir who masquerades as a girl's brother to gain entrance to a girls' school. He gets involved with a Chinese warlord and several loony characters. Lots of wordplay, sight gags, and songs highlights this one.
Howes mugs broadly and sings well as he performs some impressive physical comedy (at age 42). He's especially funny when teamed with his co-stars, Vera Pearce, Bertha Belmore, and Wylie Watson, in a series of madcap skits and songs, including "Indian Trio" and "Exercise." The nightshirt scenes is very funny as well.
Others in the cast include Rene Ray as the leading lady, Aubrey Dexter as Reeves, and Lyn Harding as the Chinese warlord.
Fast-paced and very enjoyable.
Howes mugs broadly and sings well as he performs some impressive physical comedy (at age 42). He's especially funny when teamed with his co-stars, Vera Pearce, Bertha Belmore, and Wylie Watson, in a series of madcap skits and songs, including "Indian Trio" and "Exercise." The nightshirt scenes is very funny as well.
Others in the cast include Rene Ray as the leading lady, Aubrey Dexter as Reeves, and Lyn Harding as the Chinese warlord.
Fast-paced and very enjoyable.
Howes About That
boblipton12 August 2016
This is a very minor comedy as Bobby Howes discovers his late aunt left something for him in a bust of Napoleon ... and he's sold the bust, along with the house it's in to a girl's school whose pupils seem to be drawn from a rather leggy chorus. I wouldn't say hilarity ensues. It's one of those plots cobbled together from several comedy skits. However, it's pleasant enough to spend 75 minutes with and the music is all right, even if the lyrics are either very weird or just so 1930s British I can't take any pleasure from them.
Howes was never a major star, but he worked steadily on the stage and occasionally in the movies until his death. He had the title role in the stage version of FINIAN'S RAINBOW: as Finian, not the rainbow.
Howes was never a major star, but he worked steadily on the stage and occasionally in the movies until his death. He had the title role in the stage version of FINIAN'S RAINBOW: as Finian, not the rainbow.
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