The Galloping Major

A fond recall of life in the 40's for a culture about to be altered from strong community and fellowship to selfish, materialistic, plastic and shallow strangers of today.

The film is a fantasy about the past when dreams could come true set in a characterful neighbourhood rich in persons, buildings, transport, courtesies and endeavour.

A pleasant experience to flow along with the story through a memory provoking past .... put the kettle on and enjoy with a slab of coconut cake from Woolworths.

I have never been very fond of films which have horse racing as their subject and this film reinforced my view.I presume that this is supposed to be a comedy but it fails to raise a laugh despite all of the considerable talents involved with this film. In fact I found more interest in viewing Belsize Park in the fifties.I think about the only joke is showing the area,called Lambs Green in the film with a large factory and a bus garage.Now that is a laugh.A cinema is featured,maybe the old Classic in Pond Street. Also of interest are the London buses of that era which I remember well.As well there is Alfie Bass shouting Star News Standard.In those days London had 3 evening papers.Otherwise the film is a bore which doesn't deserve its high rating.

The comedies of Henry Cornelius are reliable for their genuinely good humour prevalent in all the mass of actors, and in his films they tend to gather in cheerful crowds. The point here is that all the successes happen by accident, nothing is really intended, Basil Radford runs a pet shop, nothing else, while Hugh Griffith comes haunting him for his debts, and it looks rather bleak from the start in a dreary neighbourhood as well. But Basil has a daughter, and she is the sunshine of the film, inspiring everyone with exhilaration in spite of some accidents on the way. They buy a horse, and it's the wrong one, it runs away and is painted in irrecognizable colours, it is transported far away from London, and so it goes - the race is on, and ends in the same style, in total apparent defeat, which by accident is turned to the opposite, but not without some nerve-racking business on the way - Hugh Griffith himself has to be ultimately carried out on a stretcher. But the good humour conquers all, and it's a hell of a merry-go-round, risking never to stop in its whirling bolting in further mishaps, but ultimately you will end up as cheerful as any of all the hundreds of actors in the syndicate for racing an impossible horse.

The films directed by Henry Cornelius can be counted on the fingers of one hand: Passport to Pimlico (1948) -- one of Britain's most successful comedies -- The Galloping Major (1951) -- Genevieve (1953) -- possibly Britain's number one combined box office and critical success for the year -- I Am a Camera (1955) -- which failed to fill audiences with enthusiasm but nonetheless provoked the ire of the censor and thus became a top money-maker by default -- and finally Next To No Time (1957) which failed dismally even though it starred Kenneth More and was deliberately kept back from release until More scored a major triumph with A Night To Remember.

So how does The Galloping Major fare in this line-up? Very well, in my opinion. It has a lively script with several very ingenious touches. I love his moral-ground introduction in which A.E. Matthews lays down the law to our hopeful hero, but in the very next scene we discover that his motivation is more than somewhat curdled. The same goes for the introductory and following scenes featuring Hugh Griffith.

All the players bar one are at the top of their form. True, Kenneth More has little to do and doesn't really look the film director type; but the big letdown is Raymond Glendenning who hogs the camera so avidly, it seems like he's never going to let go! For a while there, it seems like Cornelius is going to make a thing of double-decker buses. This doesn't follow through, but happily, transport is certainly one of the main items on his agenda.

In all, despite Gendenning and an adequate but not exactly overly charismatic hero, plus a few slow patches here and there, The Galloping Major is a British character-filled delight.

Interesting look at a bygone era of the early 50's in the London district of Lambs Green. But today we still love the GG's just like then. Some things never change. I was amazed at the way the bookies communicated with their colleagues in the stands (all line of sight). The film "dry rot" also showed them communicating odds with arm movements - fascinating, I've no idea what they were 'saying'. Seeing the old double decker buses brings back memories. They also had some real old buses that looked prewar as well. Lots of familiar British actors like Basil Radford playing the major and Joyce Grenville and Jimmy Hanley. Not a laugh out loud comedy more a comical drama post- Ealing production that apparently was based on an idea by the actor playing the Major. You can also catch sight of the 'Carry On' star Charles Hawtrey in a bit part. This film runs the gauntlet of emotions when bets of all sorts are involved. Just enjoy the ride and races.