Back-Room Boy

"Back-Room Boy" is a light British comedy of World War II. It also is a mild satire and propaganda film that pokes some fun at the BBC, Germany's navy and some others. The star of the film is Arthur Askey, a long-time comedian and stand-up entertainer whose venues included radio, TV and films. His career wound down by the 1970s. Most Brits, old film buffs, and enthusiasts of British comedy would know of Askey. But most English-speakers on the West side of the pond since the last half of the 20th century wouldn't know of him.

In his films that I've seen and enjoyed, Askey reminds me of Harold Lloyd. Besides looking a little like Lloyd, Askey's lively manner closely resembled Lloyd's. But Askey didn't get into the cliffhanger or perilous positions that Lloyd was known for. In this film, Askey does make a risky rope bridge crossing from one ocean rock to another.

Askey's character, Arthur Philbeam, longs for solitude away from women and a demanding job. So, he takes his wartime BBC job to a remote lighthouse on a rock off the North coast of Scotland. From there, he's to transmit weather reports to the BBC.

Things go all wrong, and the fun happens when he first is joined by a young girl who stows away on the boat that takes him to the island. Then they are joined by several women and two old tars who survived a shipwreck. After some strange disappearances, they discover that German agents are hidden on the rock and have planned some skullduggery.

This is the only film I know of that shows or has any mention of a backroom boy, as such. And, surely the only film that calls attention to the renowned BBC radio broadcast of the exact Greenwich Time. This was done using a "backroom boy" (man or woman) who would push the button or key the pip that made the sound. For those of us on the West side of the pond, those were the pip signals that the BBC broadcasts for exact Greenwich time.

The pips originated in 1924, and since 1990 the BBC has broadcast them to mark the exact hour. People would use the radio signals to set and adjust clocks and watches. Americans had something similar in the early days of television, when an announcer would say something to mark the exact hour at different times. For instance, "At the sound of the tone, the exact time will be 10 p.m. Central Standard Time."

Unfortunately, since digital broadcasting has time lags, the reliance on the pips for calibrating clocks and watches has waned. But that shouldn't dim one's enjoyment of this light comedy.

I probably say each Askey comedy is the "best one so far" so if I said it now it wouldn't carry any weight.

But it is.

It's the teaming of him and Googie Withers that does it, and it's interesting to see her both very young and very dark. I know she was a natural brunette in any case but I've gotten so used to seeing her as a blonde in her late 30's roles!

Askey was the guy who does the pips in the hour so that everyone can set their watches. Although this job doesn't bode too well with his girlfriend (Joyce Howard) so he makes a mockery of it one night and somehow gets a new job - relegated to watching over a lighthouse on a deserted island where apparently some evil mermaid haunts. He's glad to be there if only to be away from women at last but this changes when Googie's boat is torpeedoed and she's stranded there with him, and then about seven more of her girlfriends make it to land after her. The movie takes a decidedly more mysterious turn when they all start disappearing without a trace.

I'd give this one a 10 and put it up with other great laughs such as "The Ghost Train", "Charley's Big-Hearted Aunt" and "Bees In Paradise".

This was Arthur Askey's fifth film (and sans Stinker), and in my opinion his last really good one - three flag wavers and many nothing's followed. It's also one of my favourite British WW2 comedy efforts, a jolly time-passing Hun-beater.

At the BBC Arthur is responsible for transmitting on the hour every hour The Wireless Pips - wonder how many people believed it - but not surprisingly it wreaks havoc with his social life. Big, now a confirmed misogynist is posted to a lonely Scottish lighthouse where there are no women ... when he arrives. Never mind the photo of the topless woman, there's soon Googie and a gaggle of leggy and laughing lovelies for him to try and ignore too. With a plethora of spooky disappearances he's up against Jerry (and "Quislings") but doesn't know it until near the end - the audience would've guessed from the beginning they'd make a show. A refreshing extra dimension was added with Vera Francis, the "13 year old from Lambeff" - her world-weary and cynical comments still sound fresh and amusing even at this distance. Arthur and Vera made a good team, this one's worth watching just to see them spark.

A pleasant outing for all concerned, sad to think it was all downhill afterwards.

An interesting curiosity, this. Originally written for Will Hay, Arthur Askey was substituted when Hay switched studios. The result is a gentle comedy that conforms to the Will Hay template, complete with support from Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt, of a self-important incompetent put in charge of a remote outpost - in this case a WW2 meteorological station in an abandoned lighthouse off the coast of Scotland.

At first you wonder how it's going to work with Askey all alone and talking to himself for a whole film (although this is actually managed very well), but of course he's soon joined on his desolate rock by stowaways, shipwrecked mariners, Nazi fifth-columnists, and, most improbably but entertainingly, a boatload of glamorous women on their way to a fashion show.

Arthur Askey is surprisingly good in this, presumably because the script forces him to abandon his usual mugging to the audience and instead gives him an actual character, albeit one of Will Hay's. There's excellent support from Googie Withers and child star Vera Frances, who very nearly steals the film. And while there are plenty of gags, as you'd expect, the adventure aspect also works well, with the rag-tag group of plucky British misfits taking on the might of the German navy. You can see how this would have hit the spot in 1942.

After being jilted by his fiancee, Arthur Pilbeam wants a job where he will encounter no women. He is sent to a lighthouse on a remote Scottish island which is being run as a meteoroligical station where he is supposed to be the only inhabitant. However, Jane, a young girl, has stowed-away on his boat. She is looking for her uncle on the neighbouring island. Then model Bobbie turns up - her boat has been torpedoed. With the arrival of another boatload of survivors, bringing the total occupancy of the island to 13, things are getting a little crowded. That's when they all start to disappear, one by one...