Ramsbottom Rides Again

Arthur Askey was as they used to say a star of stage screen and radio.This was one of his later films,which he made for Jack Hylton,in the early stages of his film producing years,and which was directed by John Baxter,his last directorial effort.Some of Askeys films are reasonable particularly The Ghost Train and Make Mine A Million.However this film appears to be a rather weak remake of the Crazy Gang's "Frozen limits".It wasn't a great original and now it is even unfunnier,if that is possible.The film features many of his stage cast such as his daughter Anthea,and Glenn Melvin.It is a sad ending to a distinguished career of John Baxter who is one of the great unsung heroes of British cinema

Watching Ramsbottom Rides Again which is a film in bad need of restoration I was having a lot of trouble following the Yorkshire speech pattern of the cast. Particularly that of music hall performer Albert Askey. In fact the only time that things were clear was when Frankie Vaughn and Shani Wallis made some nice music.

Askey is a Yorkshire pub owner who inherits a pub in western Canada where apparently things are as wild as in the Old West. If it weren't for all the British accents this could have been Roy Rogers Republic western.

With pub ownership comes the job of deputy sheriff and Askey has to face the local villain played by Sid James. Sid wants control of the saloon Askey has and he's got more than a hankering for the deputy's job.

There's a lengthy sequence involving Askey and his beanpole sidekick Glenn Melvyn having to stow away on the ship over to Canada because they don't have enough money for passage for the whole family. Some funny moments there and with a fixed card game and prying moosehead between Askey and James.

If the film is restored maybe subtitles are in order.

But

I'll be quite up front about this one--I am NOT an Arthur Askey fan and it was a very hard sell for me. Perhaps it would help if I was British or if I lived back in the 1940s or 50s. All I know is that I've seen several of his movies and I find his them difficult to love.

Surprisingly, the film started off very well and I thought I might just like this one. Askey runs a pub in England and learns that he might be about to inherit a large sum from his grandfather, 'Wild Bill' Ramsbottom. Wild Bill was quite a he-man and lived the cowboy life in Canada--and Bill (Askey) is excited about following in his granddad's footsteps (even though the very diminutive Bill is a tiny man, unlike his bigger-than-life grandfather). The problem is that an evil baddie, Black Jake, is determined to steal Bill's inheritance...even if it means shooting him.

When Bill eventually makes it to Canada, the quality of the film slipped dramatically. Up until then, I actually enjoyed it--which really surprised me. But the second half of the film had some serious problems--the most important of which is that it wasn't funny. It also had a lot of story elements that simply were undeveloped or were stupid. For example, Black Jake had MANY chances to kill Bill but never did get around to trying it--even though again and again he said he would. He simply didn't act very bad--and that's a problem. He acted more like a villain in a kid's movie--all bluster. Also, Bill became a deputy and captured Black Jake....yet oddly he's let go and the film never talked about this. After all, Black Jake threatened to kill Bill and even tried...and he was never put in jail when he was captured?! Heck, if I was Deputy Bill, I would have just shot him in the face and been done with it! There also were some completely irrelevant story lines that didn't make sense and were never complete--such as some circus animals that escaped and were running amok in the West and then just disappeared from the film. Add to this some singing that often disrupted the momentum of the film (and the STYLE just didn't fit at all into a western), a cheap joke involving Bill's friend who stutters and some dopey Indians and you have a film that just left me very cold. Overall, while the plot had promise, the film slowly fizzled as it progressed to a less than satisfying ending.

Arthur Askey and company head off to Canada where Askey's grandfather owned some land on which gold or oil or maybe fossilized schmoos have been found. Things pick up a bit when the villain of the piece turns out to be Sid James, but never enough to cover anyone in cinematic glory.

It's like one of those RKO Bs of the early 1940s, in which some temporarily popular radio comedian was given the leading role and the professionals tried to cover up the movie's lacks, like a cat on tiles. As it was, a severe disappointment given some of the beautifully timed farces that Askey performed in under the direction of Marcel Varnel.