Good Morning, Boys!

"Good Morning, Boys" is a wonderful early English comedy. When one considers the picture Americans have of the stiff upper lip of the British, a comedy of this nature in the 1930s is a surprise. More so because of the stern upbringing of boys across the pond shown by most films of the period. But, here is proof of the comedy offerings of early British cinema. And it is a hilarious delight.

Will Hay stars as Dr. Benjamin Twist. He seems more intent on teaching his boys about things in life than any formal education. The plot itself is a zany one. It contains equal doses of witty dialog, goofy lines, and crazy antics. Dr. Twist prattles on about one subject after another with the dean and Lady Bogshott, an admirer of Twist. They are played admirably by Fewlass Llewellyn and Martita Hunt, respectively. This is all to the consternation of the new school board chairman, Col. Willoughy-Gore, played by Peter Gawthorne. The cast of boys is hilarious. Graham Moffatt is the leader, as Albert Brown.

At one point, the Colonel calls Twist's prattling dialog a "Twisterism." The script truly has some nonsensical lines that are sure to bring a smile – if not loud laughter, from any viewer. This is a very funny and entertaining film. One other reviewer said it compares favorably with early American slapstick and buffoonery such as that of Abbott and Costello and the Marx Brothers. However, I would caution parents who have troubles disciplining teenagers. You may not want them to see the shenanigans of boys from almost a century ago that this film shows.

One of my favorite "Twisterisms" is when Twist appears before the school board to defend the learning of his boys. A board member addresses him: "The colonel claims that the boys couldn't answer the questions. Why couldn't they?" Twist replies: "Well, possibly he didn't ask them the right ones. When all's said and done, the boys can't answer questions for which they don't know the answers, can they?"

Will Hay returns as Dr Benjamin Twist who this time is the head of a errant school for boys.

Life is easy for Dr Twist, he bets with the boys on the races but gets rings run around him when it comes to trying to teach them anything. Into this comes Col Willougby-Gore ex Bengal Lancer and who is intent on ousting the "Incompetent" Dr Twist whom infuriates him.

Into this is a father of a pupil who is getting busted out of prison to go and steal the Mona Lisa for some French Hoods! Throw in a "contest" between schools (the outcome of which has Twists career in the balance) and a visit to Paris and got all the fuel you need for another classic Will Hay outing.

Graham Moffat stars again as Albert and a very small (in one scene) part for Charles Hawtrey as a snooty "swot" from another school who is outfoxed by the crafty Arthur

Two years after introducing the bumbling incompetent headmaster Dr Twist to the world of talking pictures, Will Hay brings him back again in a new story with a better script, better production values and a better director, Marcel Varnel. Marcel Varnel proved to be the ideal director for Will Hay - his presence on this movie makes it stand far above the earlier BOYS WILL BE BOYS feature.

Monsieur Varnel allows the camera to follow the action rather than the action be confined to where the camera and indeed microphones are. Like Leo McCarey was doing in America, Marcel Varnel also had a reputation for encouraging improvisation on set. This technique might have made some actors uncomfortable but it the perfect vessel to capture the raw, natural comedy and facial expressions of Will Hay. This film, now with the experience of three previous pictures at Gainsborough under its belt and a director on the same wavelength as Mr Hay and the writers gives this film a much more professional than when we first met Dr Twist back in 1935 and more importantly, it's funnier.

This was made just a couple of months before they made Will Hay's best film, OH MR PORTER and so although this is must for any fans of silly 1930s English comedies, one cannot help comparing it to the superior OH MR PORTER. One the plus side however this does feature lovely Lilli Palmer - although she's hard to recognise in the blonde wig.

Benjamin Twist (Will Hay) is a different kind of schoolteacher, he teaches the pupils very little of worth. That is except gambling and bluffing a way thru life. When grumpy Colonel Willoughby-Gore visits the class, he is mortified to find the boys have learnt next to nothing of value in Twist's class. Seeking to get Twist fired, Gore calls on the school board to fire him. But wanting to be fair, the board suggest that Twist and eight of is class enter the inter-school examinations in London. Where, if they make the grade, Twist will save his job. Oh dear! Not only is his job in the hands of a bunch of gambling, smoking dunces, but trouble comes in the form of Arty Jones, an escaped convict and father to one of Twist's boys. There's a robbery in the pipeline, and Twist and his class are going to be right in the middle of it.

To all intents and purposes, Good Morning Boys is structurally a remake of Will Hay's frothy entertainer, Boys Will Be Boys from 1935. Much like the 35 film, this film sees Hay as a bumbling teacher surrounded by roguish boys and with shifty crooks on the horizon. There's still an affluent lady who's on Twist's side, a gruff Colonel who's out to get Twist and a crooked father of one of the boys after a priceless item. However, in spite of the obvious similarities (there's more, such as the "Watt is a unit of electricity" replacing the "how high is a Chinaman"? skit), the quality of writing and direction is considerably better.

This was the first of eight films that Marcel Varnel directed Hay in, of which it's fair to say contain half a dozen of them that are Hay's best pictures. Correctly suggesting that both men were comfortable working with each other. The other first of note is that this was the film that saw Hay bring Dr Benjamin Twist to the screen, he would reprise the character twice more in Convict 99 (1938) and Hey! Hey! USA (also 1938). Here the plot contains plenty of zip to it as teacher and boys end up in Paris, where the Louvre, and a certain Mona Lisa painting, provide scope for plenty of laughs. Of which Hay and his colleagues are only too happy to deliver the goods. Prior to this we have indulged in cheeky cheating, search party fun patrol and a bookies blackboard skit that's purely joyous in its writing. But it's with the Paris set finale that it hits its mark, acrobats and punch ups are merely the start of the fun on its way.

Joining Hay on the cast list is the integral to his career, Graham Moffatt as Albert Brown {a character Moffatt played 7 times with Hay}. With notable performances also coming from Martita Hunt, Peter Gawthorne, Fewlass Llewellyn, Mark Daly, Lilli Palmer (who sings the delightful "Baby, Whatcha Gonna Do Tonight?") and look out for a young Charles Hawtrey as a posh class swot. It may be missing the considerable comic excellence of Hay's other important career sidekick, Moore Marriott, but it's still one of the better Hay movies to forever enjoy and savour. 8/10