Where There's a Will

Will Hay films seem to get less funnier as the years roll by.

Maybe the memory cheats and you just realise he was probably never that funny in the first place.

In Where There's a Will he has a short routine with the rotund Graham Moffatt who plays the office boy who reads western comics.

Hay plays Benjamin Stubbins an incompetent solicitor with no clients, plenty of debt and fond of a drink. His daughter lives in a stately home with wealthy in laws who pretend to her that her father is doing well.

Stubbins is taken in with a wealthy American who gives Stubbins an advance to trace his family roots. The American and his gang plan to rob a bank and Stubbins office is conveniently located and they just want him out of the way.

Once Stubbins discovers what is happening it is too late and his fingerprints are all over the bank safe.

This really is atrocious stuff, painfully unfunny. Some knockabout stuff at the end redeems it somewhat.

The only people who are going to like this movie are those who think. If it's old, in black and white. It must be a classic!

"where There's a Will' has an early Thirties look to it. The jazz in the background really gives it an old-time feel overall. I would have liked to have seen more Graham Moffat who plays the smart alec office boy. Will Hay is always a victim of circumstances and mistaken identity. In this film he plays a heavy-drinking and down-at-the-heels lawyer who is not doing well and is the shame of his family. However, his fortunes begin to turn when he gets involved with three American crooks. The blond who plays the leading lady is hot stuff. Will Hay is the British answer to W.C. Field. His movies are always very enjoyable if you're willing to give them a chance.

Penniless solicitor Benjamin Stubbins takes on a job from a group of Americans who say that they want to track down their ancestors from Scotland. In reality they want to rob the bank below his office but soon Stubbins realises his mistake and tries to thwart their getaway.

A vehicle for Will Hay in which, typically, he plays a bungling character. The humour is patchy, and the best scenes are those early on in the interplay with his office boy, played by Graham Moffat, but there's enough laughs to make it worthwhile. Hay fans will enjoy.

"Where There's a Will" mightn't go down as one of Will Hay's best films but he maintained my interest throughout. The material is rather inconsistent and the direction sluggish. Marcel Varnel would have been far better a choice. The scene with Hay and the butler getting drunk is very well done and the film does build to a good climax. Graham Moffatt has nothing to do, no point in him being included. Luckily, this would all change for the better before long. I'm not sure why there were American actors cast for the film, the people of the United States wouldn't understand Will Hay's humor as it's distinctly British.

Benjamin Stubbins {Will Hay} is an incompetent solicitor, who unbeknown to himself, is involved in a bank robbery.

Between 1934 and 1943, Will Hay made 18 feature length films. Starting out working for British International Pictures {3 films}, then Gainsborough Pictures {9} and finally doing his last five films for that bastion of old time British cinema, Ealing Studios. For those counting, the odd one out is Where's That Fire? Which was made by Twentieth Century-Fox. All of them are of varying quality, but each one, including the lesser lights such as this William Beaudine directed piece, showcase what a comic talent Will Hay was. Hay was a master of acting with his face as much as his voice and bodily movement. Given a good script, and a good supporting cast from which to feed off, Hay managed to give British cinema some of its finest comedy entries. Oh Mr Porter! Ask A Policeman and My Learned Friend are fit to grace any list of Great British cinema.

So where does that leave Where There's A Will? Well as a Hay performance it's really rather good. Suitably playing the buffoon with maximum cheek and incredulity, it's Hay who keeps the film from being a so so piece. That it isn't anything more than time filling entertainment outside of Hay himself, is down to the thinly plotted writing {surprising with the talented Sidney Gilliat co-writing} and the lack of decent comic villains. While Graham Moffatt, who along with Moore Marriott helped Hay realise his comedic ability in his career high points, is badly wasted. But still it's charming enough in spite of its lazy screenplay, none more so than with its breezy Christmas finale at the Wimpleton family estate, and it does find Hay on particularly entertaining form. 6.5/10