The Love Match

As a child of 6 or 7 years I found all of Arthur Askey's 1950's films hilarious, this one in particular as it contained the following gag:

Alf Hall is Rose Brown's dimwitted boy friend. When he knocks on the Brown's front door for the very first time Bill Brown opens it and all Alf can do is splutter out his name "Alf 'all, Alf 'all." Bill's reply is "Don't worry I'll catch you."

That little scene has stayed in my mind for more than forty years!

As a 10-year old boy, I was taken by my Dad to see "Invaders from Mars" with Leif Ericson. We left talking about the support feature, Arthur Askey in "The Love Match". Typically English and Lancashire to boot, it has soccer and steam trains, what more could a young boy want. A young Shirley Eaton (painted gold in Goldfinger) is a delight despite her over-the-top Lancashire accent and what can I say about Danny Ross, who all but steals the show as Rose Brown's young man (his party-piece is a pratfall with instant recovery - very funny). Arthur Askey is a joy (but then I'm biased) and to see Rob Wilton as the magistrate was the icing on the cake. A gentle comedy that leads me to the timeless cliché 'they don't make 'em like that anymore' and more's the pity.

Arthur Askey and Glenn Melvyn are a pair of football-mad railway men . Askey has misplaced fifty pounds of union money, his daughter Shirley Eaton has a new ballroom dancing partner and boyfriend who's the son of the Manchester United manager, and his son has just gotten a position on United --- problem is Askey is a City fanatic.

It's based on a play that Melvyn wrote -- the leads took seven weeks off from the run to make the movie and it's been opened up nicely for the screen. The problem is that in opening it up, they didn't trim the other parts, so that at 85 minutes, it has a few scenes that seem to lead no place in particular and could well have been cut, despite the wonderful, lightning-fast speed at which everyone babbles the comic Manchester dialogue and takes staccato pratfalls -- Danny Ross, as Eaton's love interest, looks as if all his falls were viciously undercranked.

Some of Askey's 1940s efforts are absolutely dire.It is little surprise when he stopped making films after "Bees In Paradise" which is truly awful.So it is something of a surprise to see how good he is in this film.Mind you he shortly returned to dismal form with "Ransbottom Rides Again".clearly he was very reliant on his material.Glenn Melvyn's screen play is funny and clearly tailor made for Askey.the whole film is very nostalgic with steam engines and views of Burnden Park and The Valley.There are a lot of film of matches which are extremely interesting.There is one notable continuity howler.Askey's son is playing against a team with dark shirts,however in the inert he hi playing against a team in white.A real bonus for lovers of music hall is the scene in the magistrates court with the great Robb Wilton doing part of his famous act.Worh seeing just for that.

This is a very funny film from the mid 50's about Bill who is a railway motorman who is a giant football (soccer) fan. He goes to a match with his co-worker Wally (played by the writer of this gem, Glenn Melvyn) and by accident he hits the referee with a pie in the face. He is hauled off to court and fined 5 pounds, but Wally, who is deliberately dim in the film, hands the bag of money which was for a railwaymen party to someone who promptly uses the money to pay her fine of 50 pounds. So, how are they going to get the money back? There are other characters in this film, namely Bill's wife, who has great one liners, his son who is going to play football for the team Bill hates and his daughter, the stunning Shirley Eaton, who is entered in a dance contest in Liverpool. This is a great comedy about a family and their own part of the world. The screenplay by Mr. Melvyn is superb, and there are genuinely hilarious moments. No matter what kind of comedy you like, this is very highly recommended. Its crisp, the wit keeps flowing and the laughs are plenty. What more can you ask for?