Time Flies

It is curious that 2 time travel films appeared within months of each other.This film and Fiddlers Three.I prefer the later.Though it has to be said that Handley transfers better to film than Trinder.However the script in this film is variable.It was to be the last film of Handley and the last pairing of Marriott and Moffat

I liked it. It's a cute little movie. Miss Dall was the spark in it that kept it going. The ending could have been better, maybe left open the possibility of other adventures (a sequel or two). Would be nice to make a modern version. Maybe going back or forward to a few different places in time with some chase scenes and twists and turns, like losing one of the characters in an era and then returning to rescue them before an unfortunate event. I'm tired of all the special effect movies now-a-days with no real plot and aren't funny, that are violent and very forgetful. The effects used in the movie were nice considering they were from the forties.

I've always enjoyed this Tommy Handley outing, in the year of grace 1943 he was at the height of his ITMA popularity. It remains a rather bizarre film to have been made during WW2, but of course would have served a purpose as a morale booster as well as being simply simple fun.

In modern Manhattan Tommy sponsors Professor Felix Aylmer's Time Ball, a huge silver ball/ space-time -ship, and eventually they, Evelyn Dall and George Moon end up in Elizabethan England - to absolutely everyone's consternation. They have some hilarious escapades, heavy with deliberate anachronisms, but it's Tommy's film - without his incessant witticisms it would have been a pretty poor show. Sometimes it falls flat, other times it's pure genius at work - at a tense life or death fraught moment he suddenly worries about having left the rice pudding "on". The scene where the four of them escape from prison from under Really Raleigh's nose - and how! - is breathtaking stuff for 1943.

To most people it's probably dated badly, but to me the salvageable bits are a treasure, and the hokey bits bearable.

The professor (Felix Aylmer) is showing Susie (Evelyn Dall) around his time machine when it accidentally takes off with Tommy (Tommy Handley) and Bill (George Moon) also on board. They are transported to Elizabethan England where they come across Walter Raleigh, William Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth 1, Captain John Smith and Pocohontas. Will our time travellers return?

The film has genuinely funny moments, eg, Dall feeding Shakespeare with his lines, and entertaining dialogue, eg, Handley calling someone a "tosspot". However, the film also has tedious sections which drag, eg, the escape sequence at the end where the time machine is on the bonfire. The music sections are pleasant but forgettable and Evelyn Dall comes across as the best character. Watch for an amusing portrayal of Pocohontas from Iris Lang - she can outdrink Oliver Reed. Overall, it's an OK film but it is made in that British silly way where the comedy relies on music-hall style one-liners and you know that no-one is ever in danger of any kind.

Time travel comes about unexpectedly for Tommy, Susie, Bill and the Professor. The Prof. has invented this "timeball" which is like an earlier model of the car from Back To The Future. He's showing Susie the ins and outs of it, not worrying about hitting all the buttons because it won't work unless the trapdoor is shut. Thing is, Bill and Tommy, on the run from some cops, have climbed into the giant sphere to hide, and shut the door after them! So they go whizzing up a million miles, Susie slams a lever accidentally, they all get knocked out due to lack of oxygen, and when they awake, it's in 16th century England.

Tommy is throwing jokes over his shoulder at every opportunity, this starts off as funny but soon wears very thin. He's up to his neck in trouble, teaching the Queen how to gamble and then pretending he owns America and selling off blocks of land to the townsfolk and noblemen. The Prof is all very serious and ends up being arrested when he comments on how "Queen Bess" died - of course, this is the time when she is still holding court. Bill bumbles around a lot. It's Susie who has the most fun. She's got a voice like Ginger Rogers, and twice as much energy as Betty Hutton, and is hilarious to watch, whether trying to hail a cab (in 16th century London!), or prompting Shakespeare with lines from Romeo & Juliet, dressing up as a man, and singing any number of lively songs to buy a little time before they are all drawn and quartered.

Very, very weird. But still quite enjoyable. 8/10.