Saloon Bar

This is probably the greatest film, set entirely inside a pub, ever made (admittedly a small field). The interest is not on the whodunit plot, and certainly not on the plausibility of the premise that the regulars in a pub could solve a mystery in a single night before closing time. But the combination of a group of vintage character actors doing their stuff, in a setting dripping with nostalgic possibilities, is irresistible. Mervyn Johns at his most lugubrious, spending virtually the entire picture on a barstool; Gordon Harker as a bumptious bookie; Roddy Hughes as a vague, cheery doctor; a wonderfully characterised set of bar staff; a hilarious group of cheeky carol singers (including the young Roddy McDowall). The film gives a tremendous sense of the small communities in the middle of London in the immediate pre-war, and the transient populations of rich and poor alike who might wander through. The historians and sociologists can detect the wartime social solidarity about to break down; those who lived through the times can enjoy the nostalgia. Warm, funny and brilliantly realised.

This film is based on a stage play but doesn't fall into the traps of adaptation. It is neither static not slow moving.

The film was made by the husband and wife team of Walter and Culley Forde. Very rare for a woman to be in such a position in those days.

A very experienced cast is a great help. Felix Aylmer in a very brief role. Martin Clunes father,Alec,plays the convicted murderer. One of my favourites,Gordon Harker,plays the lead role of a bookie trying to clear the convicted murderer before the following mornings execution. Mervyn John's is propped up in his corner giving forth with often inappropriate sayings.

A first class thriller.

I watched an absolutely charming piece of British ensemble called of all things "Saloon Bar" (1940), with Gordon Harker, Mervyn Johns, Elizabeth Allan, Joyce Barbour, Anna Konstam, Cyril Raymond, Judy Campbell, and others (among whom is a very young pre-teen Roddy McDowall. Taking place basically in a single setting on Christmas Eve or thereabouts, in an evidently pre-war bar, the ostensible idea behind this piece is to save a young man from being hanged in the morning for a murder he didn't commit. But - how to prove it... This began as a play written by Frank Harvey (who also contributed to the screenplay) and then was put on the screen by Angus MacPhail and Jon Dighton. This is one of the four films on Volume 10 of the Ealing Studios Rarities series put out in Britain in the last few years (total of 14 volumes). Mervyn Johns sits on his bar stool during the entire film without moving, drinking, and making wry and sarcastic comments endlessly, deliciously. Elizabeth Allan is Queenie, a bar tending girl the hapless accused was seeing before his sentence. A competing bartendress from another establishment is Judy Campbell. The landlord of the bar where nearly all of the action takes place has an expectant wife upstairs, and it seems that she's been bearing first a boy, then a girl, then a boy, then a girl, in alternate years for some time now. Meanwhile, between endless quaffs of endless Lion ale, Gordon Harker is trying to figure out who really murdered the old lady the young man on death row is accused of killing. If all this sounds, perhaps, somewhat predictable, maybe even stagnant, or boring - trust me, it isn't in the least. It crackles with wit and wonderful acting and direction and atmosphere. It is indelibly British, the definition of it for Americans who think they know what that means, but who really don't. If you're into what pre-World War II Britain was like, this is the essence, a time and a culture that just doesn't exist anymore at all, but which is captured here in a water drop under the spyglass perfectly. Simply great!

British character actors at their best. The wonderful Gordon Harker stands out as usual but there isn't a weak link in the cast. The story is okay but doesn't matter that much, it's all about the atmosphere and the cast. A real comedy drama with the accent on the comedy. Why don't the make films like this any more and thank you Talking Pictures for making so many available.

Bought this great movie recently. It is out now on DVD and is one of the four movies on -"The Ealing Studios Rarities Collection - Volume 10". (The other 3 titles are: The Divided Heart, His Excellency & Let's Be Famous)

Network have done a terrific job on putting out this wonderful series of the lesser known movies from the Ealing Studio.

Don't miss this one. The period atmosphere is spot on. Anyone who knows the Salisbury pub in St Martin's Lane will feel right at home here. There are even roaring fires.

Gordon Harker and Mervyn Johns stand out in a superb cast and you will have great fun trying to work out Whodunnit!

It is presented here in a lovely, newly restored print too.

As I said before....DON'T miss this one !