Keep Your Seats, Please!

More than a vehicle for the popular George Formby, this pleasant musical offers star turns by comedienne Florence Desmond and the inimitable Alistair Sim, plus an appealing tot called Binkie Stuart. Based on a Russian play, this plot has George trying to discover which of a half dozen chairs his late and eccentric aunt has hidden his inheritance in. Of course, the chairs have been sold at auction, requiring George to pursue them various locales, each allowing a Marx Brothers-type comic sequence.

KEEP YOUR SEATS, PLEASE! Is an early Ealing comedy starring George Formby, and it's most notable for being the one where he sings his most famous ukelele song, 'When I'm Cleaning Windows', in a scene randomly shoehorned into the narrative. That set-piece is indeed the highlight of the movie, but the rest is amiable enough, a typical character-focused comedy about a hidden inheritance and some unscrupulous villains trying to get their hands on it. Formby is certainly an acquired taste but I found him quite likeable in a goofy way in this one, and you do get the treat of an early Alistair Sim role where the actor plays - what else? - a villain.

I have Nail Deans autobiography. He says that he had the utmost difficulty in persuading Florence Desmond to take the female lead because her part consisted mainly of rushing after George carrying a child of three. However she needed the money.

He says that they had to be careful about his musical members because he couldn't read a note of music.

He adds that none of his films did worthwhile business in the West End but elsewhere it was a case of all seats sold most of the time.

His films sold on the strength of his personality. So far as the audience was concerned he was gormless. His best known number was featured in this film.

Daft ha'p'orth George Formby tries to claim a fortune left him by a rich aunt hidden in one of a set of chairs - but the chairs get sold at auction and split up, prompting a frantic runaround. Gus McNaughton is his sly accomplice whose cut rises from 10% to 100% during the course of the operation. Alistair Sim is also after the stash. George gets to twang "When I'm Cleaning Windows" and a couple of other saucy numbers. Most remarkable is the first appearance of Britain's answer to Shirley Temple, Binkie Stuart, who at 3 years old is singing, dancing and cracking jokes - a bit of an eye-opener. Quite worthwhile, and with a surprisingly satisfying ending.

Out of work and dossing around, George (George Formby), the favourite nephew of a favourite wealthy aunt (Dame May Whitty) is left a secret inheritance after the aunt dies, but the cheque has been sewn into a seat that has been auctioned off with many of her other possessions. George learns of this and learning that all seven dining room chairs have been sold separately seeks them out.

Turned into a Formby vehicle from a novel by Ilya Ilf and adapted by regular Formby writer Anthony Kimmins and Thomas J. Geraghty and Ian Hay, this is a good early star turn as Formby/Kimmins still tries to find the formula that works for his films. There are plenty of laughs and set pieces, some quite hilarious. Produced by Basil Dean, Formby even gets to sing one of his best known songs, 'When I'm Cleaning Windows'.