mundsen

This is one of the most memorable single acting performances I have seen in 50 years of watching the box.

Le Mesurier is simply outstanding. Dennis Potter's script certainly gives le Mesurier something decent to do, of course: it's a gift to an actor. But this particular actor makes a meal of it, breaking down before our eyes. Such an apparently mannered performer, so familiar to us all from "Dad's Army" -in this, he simply does familiar things in a slightly different way, to devastating effect. Manners and breeding, and he's somehow so SEEDY. One would never say that le Mesurier was 'wasted' in comedy, but it's splendid to see just how deep-beneath-the-skin he can go, and with such total control. Technique working in service of insight. He KNOWS this guy, and he's merciless.

I suspect that this was made 'as live' - it has that intensity you got with long-take scenes shot in slightly constricted sets. There is a real feeling - SO rare in television - of watching a performance rather than a paste-up.

Rather than a documentary, this is a sort of free-association of British film comedy right back to the beginning of the sound era.

For anyone interested in showbiz history, this is a simply invaluable compilation - like a Brit version of "That's Entertainment". All star cast? Lumme! People like Jack Train and Old Mother Reilly and Will Hay and George Formby... much of it culled from newsreels and what the Brits used to call 'quota quickies'. It gives a wonderful sense of the "tatty" world of film-making in Britain: tiny sets, stolid camera-work etc.

The graphic in the credits at the front (an animation of a huge fat woman from a typical British 'saucy postcard') captures the tone perfectly.

Frank Muir provides just enough commentary: mainly, the acts are given the space to do their thing. (God, this is a funny movie.) I confess, I saw this only once, quite by accident, on afternoon TV. If I recall correctly, this is where I saw George Formby singing "Imagine me sitting on the Maginot Line"... one of those things which, once seen, is never forgotten...

Oh, and "Wilson Keppel and Betty's" 'Egyptian Dance': picture two scrawny British bank-clerks in fezzes doing a totally glum-faced sand-dance... one of the greatest eccentric dance numbers ever filmed...

When we look back on musicals, I guess we tend to remember the 'epics'. Big productions like "Footlight Parades" and "Singin' in the Rain" and "West Side Story".

But there was also a whole long-lived genre of 'chamber musicals' - little cheapies, one step up from the B-list, and sometimes - in the case of the singing cowboys - one step up from the C-list! The scale is smaller, but that's no reason for them all to slip off into obscurity. "Two weeks with love" is fun; "My gal sal" is fun; "For me and my gal" is lots of fun.

And if you ask me "I'll see you in my dreams" is a real charmer. It's an interesting story, even in the flossied up version: because it deals with relatively 'unknown' songwriter, Gus Kahn, it probably gives a better idea of Tin Pan Alley history than the various Gerswhin and Porter and Kern projects. The low-budget production values probably help, too: the whole thing has a pleasantly domestic scale.

Kahn's lyrics help things out considerably, too. Compare this movie with "Words and Music" - the Kalmar and Ruby songbook is spread pretty thin to fill a whole movie. No such problem with Gus: it's a pleasant ongoing surprise to discover that he wrote the lyrics to so many familiar standards.

Neither Danny nor Doris exactly "chews the scenery", but this is a fine showcase for them; there's little sexual chemistry, but there's a kind of professional rapport that makes the characters' relationship seem very believable and deep and adult. (And you can't say that about a lot of musicals.) Doris is such a credible actor in what's basically a dramatic role; the later comedies are fun, but she had more range than people give her credit for. And she's one of the best singers in the history of the movies: give her a couple of great songs, and the show's worth the price of admission already.

I like Danny Thomas in this. Because of where I live, I never saw Danny on TV: his shows weren't broadcast here. So whenever I've seen him since, I've thought he was overacting heinously. Here, he's very charming and dignified - a sort of Wallace Beery / Ernest Borgnine type.