Something in the City

"William Ningle" (Richard Hearne) who stopped working seven years ago has been continuing to leave his home (and wife) each morning. Once outdoors, he transforms from the pinstripe-suited City gent into a dishevelled looking pavement artist on London's Trafalgar Square. When the son of a newspaper tycoon seeks to wed his daughter, the father (Garry Marsh) decides to check on the suitability of his potential in-laws and so Hearne must juggle his twin persona to stay ahead of his pursuers - which, by now, also includes the police looking for a missing person... Once it's navigated the rather clunky opening scenes this film picks up speed quite quickly and although the humour - slapstick at times - is pretty gentle, it is still quite a fast paced little comedy with decent efforts from Marsh, George Merritt - as the totally befuddled police inspector - and a fleeting appearance from Dora Bryan making for a fun 75 minutes.

I was 4 in 1950 when this film was produced and 8 when we got our first TV when Richard Hearn was performing his "Mr Pastry" character on BBC TV children's hour (the only channel in those days before ITV was established in 1955).Of course I remember Hearn's slapstick style of comedy and it was typical of having only white Anglo-Saxon casts in 1950s TV films and lack of sophistication in story lines.Basically Hearn uses a poste restante address to obtain his mail and then retires after 25 years working in the City of London and for that service is awarded a clock which plays "Westminster Chimes".To get this clock home of course gives rise to slapstick opportunities like falling over two girls' skipping rope.Richard Hearn was always very well spoken, a trait which I noticed in the mid fifties when I saw his act.This film has the usual predictable slapstick comedy by Mr Pastry more at home in a circus.

His character has a generous nature and he ensures his friends are suitably rewarded when he contrives to extract from Gary Marsh (the boss of a newspaper) £5000 (less £400 for his friends) so that he can present the remaining £4600 to his impecunious and intended son in law so that his daughter can marry him.Remember what inflation has done to monetary values over 67 years!The in-laws especially the wife are nouveau riche, snobby and disdainful of others whom they perceive are less well off than themselves. Average and predictable 6/10.

A wonderfully simple story of Mr Ningle (Richard Hearne) who lost his job in the City many years ago, but didn't like to tell the wife. So off he goes to Town each day in his pinstripe and bowler, collects his mail and then changes clothes and works as a pavement artist. Unfortunately Bill Shine is sent by Garry Marsh to tail him, as Ningle might not be a suitable father-in-law. When Ningle escapes detection, Shine calls the police. They find Ningle's clothes and assume he's been done in. A suspicious character seen near the scene is of course Ningle himself and the police set out to track Ningle in connection with his own "death"! But it ends with a frantic scooter chase, happily ever after!

An enjoyable remake by director Maclean Rogers of his own 1937 quota quickie as a vehicle for Richard Hearne.

Aided by attractive photography by Brendan Stafford - both on location and in the studio - Hearne's athletic prowess as an alter ego strongly resembling Mr Pastry is well displayed.

For those old enough to remember the UK's 'Mr Pastry' TV series of the late 50's-early 60's, this film will come as a welcome surprise and a reminder of a once popular star of British family culture. Richard Hearne, star of that long-vanished show here plays Richard Ningle, a mild-mannered family man pretending to work in an office all day while in fact he is an 'art dealer' each day - out begging on the side of a busy London thoroughfare. Complications ensue when his daughter announces her engagement to a snooty couple's son, the father of whom promptly dispatches an investigative reporter to check out the status of Ningle.

None of this is of very much import: what matters here is the physical comedy and treasured screen presence of Hearne whose structured physical comedy (as opposed to the musical-hall slapstick variety more common elsewhere in British cinema) is a delight. Hearne's droopy, pale 'tache is arguably as much a signature of his persona as Harold Lloyd's glasses or Chaplin's cane, and at the moment when it appears in the film (to usher in Ningle's alter-ego 'Artie') this watcher, at least, enjoyed a small frisson which must have also been enjoyed more strongly by contemporary audiences.

A good deal of the running time of Something in The City is Taken up with physical comedy, as Ningle or 'Artie' escape from various pursuers, and for the most part this is successful. Indeed Hearne's natural grace and movement, his use of props and situations, avoidance of cheap laughs and his lack of bumbling through the various narrative mishaps occasionally reminded this viewer of Buster Keaton. There's plenty of comic support too, notably a very young Dora Bryan as an increasingly exasperated cafe waitress. The comedy is lightly done and ultimately the whole thing is something of a delightful fantasy.

Hearne disappeared from our screen too soon and his memory is faint now (The comic mantle he left was perhaps passed on to figures such as Harry Worth then Michael Crawford for new generations). We are lucky to have this film to see now as a reminder of once what was, and how good it was. The picture and sound is perfectly acceptable. Look out for a brief appearance by Stanley Baker as a young police constable at the end.