Britannia of Billingsgate

For anyone interested in British film production in the 1930s this is a must see film.We get to view the whole production from inception to premiere.We have a detailed look at the British Acoustic system then in use.We get to see both inside and outside of Gaumont British Shepherds Bush studio.which was after the war purchased by the BBC.We see the production of a musical number live with the orchestra on the studio floor.No prerecording in those days.If like me you are also a fan of British cinema building then you have a further treat in store.The premiere takes place at the Gaumont Palace(now Appollo)Hammersmith.It is one of the few cinema palaces of the 30s still more or less intact.We get to see the floodlight exterior,the foyer,the auditorium with the organist rising from the pit(the organ has recently been reinstalled).We see the projectionist starting the projectors and subsequently at the end bringing up the house lights.Also at the beginning there is a view of the old Billingsgate fish market.So don't be put off by the other review.The story is irrelevant what the film shows is how a British musical was produced and shown in the 30s.

It was cute. Gordon Harker's character did provide me with a few laughs.

This musical comedy from the early years of British talkies is one of only two films to feature once popular music hall and recording star Violet Loraine. In it she plays Bessie Bolton, a fishmonger's wife who is "discovered" by a film studio when her singing is accidentally recorded while they are filming at Billingsgate Fish Market. The rest of the film concerns the effects this has on the rest of her family, husband Bert(well-played by familiar cockney character actor Gordon Harker), son Fred (a thankless part for John Mills) and daughter Pearl (a gross caricature of the working class by Kay Hammond).

Unfortunately plot-wise not much of this is very entertaining, and perhaps apart from Violet Loraine herself and Gordon Harker, Drusilla Wills as Mrs Wigglesworth comes off best. While the role of Italian film director Guidobaldi (Anthony Holles) may have been intended as humorous it falls flat from start to finish.

Miss Loraine and fellow music hall star George Robey were responsible for introducing one of the most popular songs of World War I, "If You Were the Only Girl in the World". While none of the musical numbers in this film approach that kind of success, one must admit that they are pleasant enough on the ear without being in any way memorable, and in fact the musical numbers are probably the best thing about the film. Which I guess in its own way is a tribute to an almost forgotten leading lady from the British music hall past.

As a movie is being made about life in London's historic Billingsgate fish-market, a dodgy fishmonger, who always thinks he knows best, starts meddling with the sound equipment. By mistake (and a thoroughly contrived one), they find they've recorded his longsuffering wife singing at work in the café next door, and decide they've found a new star.

Suddenly Bert and Bessie are living the high life, with the twentyish John Mills as their motorbike-mad son and Kay Hammond as the flirtatious daughter. Bessie is soon top of the bill in a smash hit, but has to slip away from the grand premiere because her son has entered for a motorbike race, which she thinks is too dangerous for him.

Much of the action is hard to follow, partly because we don't always know who's who and what's where in their new home full of unfamiliar servants, but predictably we end on Bessie singing a Violet Loraine hit 'What do I care?' to huge applause. At 47, Loraine is trying film for the first time (but talkies were still quite new). Maybe she was trying to escape from being identified only as George Robey's co-duettist in 'If you were the only girl in the world', for which both of them were (and are) chiefly remembered.

The Italian film director is played in an embarrassingly clichéd style, possibly trying to mimic Monty Banks. You may spot Glennis Lorimer in her first film-part as John Mills' girlfriend. Although never a top star, she would soon enjoy wide exposure all the same, as the face in the opening frame of every Gainsborough Pictures movie for about fifteen years.

This is terrible. It's moderately interesting to see the workings of a major 1930s studio but it's no MAKE ME A STAR or WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD. The characters are just so one dimensional.

Even Gordon Harker, who's usually quite engaging is void of any personality. You're unable to relate to any of these cardboard characters and because you can't get to know them, you can't care about them. You have to force yourself to sit through this!

It was envisaged as a vehicle to re-launch the career of Violet Lorraine. She had been incredibly famous a couple of decades earlier. In 1916 she duetted with George Robey to record one of the most popular songs of World War I: 'If you were the only girl in the world.' Having been retired for over ten years, Michael Balcon thought that she was just what the audiences of 1933 would like. For those who remembered her, this was probably wonderfully nostalgic for them (maybe like the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion?) Unless you're a fan of Edwardian music hall however you're not going to be enamoured by Miss Loraine. Don't expect a 1930s style musical!

Gaumont-British made some great musicals in the 1930s but this isn't one of them.