Back-Room Boy

One of Arthur Askey's better moments, in a Ghost Train/Oh Mr Porter-style comedy-thriller featuring a haunted lighthouse and a boatload of disappearing girls. Plenty to savour. In particular, Askey's performance, stripped of the charmless mugging to which he was regrettably prone, is very enjoyable, and unusually for him bears a passing resemblance to a member of the human race. Disappointed in love, he turns all misogynistic, tries to run away from women, and of course ends up surrounded by them; he is greatly supported by a dry, even sardonic script.

Other pluses include Moore Marriott on good form as Jerry, and a splendid debut by Vera Frances, surely one of the top child stars of the UK cinema. A real shame she didn't make more films. She delivers several marvellous lines, pearls of wisdom indeed, in a convincing cockney accent, although perhaps flawed by her imperfect diction; a very nice dry run for her finest moment with Tommy Handley in It's That Man Again. The opening sequence, where Askey is the man charged with doing the pips for the BBC, is splendid - as another commentator has already said, one wonders how many of the audience actually believed that they were produced by hand. The BBC has always inspired a vein of mildly surrealistic comedy, and Askey was one of its best exponents. And the scene where Askey first sees Googie Withers is genuinely scary.

There are minuses. After the BBC sequence, the plot takes an age to get going, and the scares of the middle third of the picture aren't connected strongly enough with those of the final third. The actual plot feels a bit bolted onto the rest of the picture. And although, in this genre, it is essential that the lead character is a cowardly incompetent who undoes the villains, here Askey is too cowardly, and does too little to thwart the sinister plot. Finally, Graham Moffatt has a couple of decent lines, but basically there is not enough for him to do, and sadly he is by now much too old to play the Albert character.

But all in all, a nice film, a cosy hour and a quarter, several good jokes, and certified safe even for committed Askeyphobes.

"Back-Room Boy" is a light British comedy of World War II. It also is a mild satire and propaganda film that pokes some fun at the BBC, Germany's navy and some others. The star of the film is Arthur Askey, a long-time comedian and stand-up entertainer whose venues included radio, TV and films. His career wound down by the 1970s. Most Brits, old film buffs, and enthusiasts of British comedy would know of Askey. But most English-speakers on the West side of the pond since the last half of the 20th century wouldn't know of him.

In his films that I've seen and enjoyed, Askey reminds me of Harold Lloyd. Besides looking a little like Lloyd, Askey's lively manner closely resembled Lloyd's. But Askey didn't get into the cliffhanger or perilous positions that Lloyd was known for. In this film, Askey does make a risky rope bridge crossing from one ocean rock to another.

Askey's character, Arthur Philbeam, longs for solitude away from women and a demanding job. So, he takes his wartime BBC job to a remote lighthouse on a rock off the North coast of Scotland. From there, he's to transmit weather reports to the BBC.

Things go all wrong, and the fun happens when he first is joined by a young girl who stows away on the boat that takes him to the island. Then they are joined by several women and two old tars who survived a shipwreck. After some strange disappearances, they discover that German agents are hidden on the rock and have planned some skullduggery.

This is the only film I know of that shows or has any mention of a backroom boy, as such. And, surely the only film that calls attention to the renowned BBC radio broadcast of the exact Greenwich Time. This was done using a "backroom boy" (man or woman) who would push the button or key the pip that made the sound. For those of us on the West side of the pond, those were the pip signals that the BBC broadcasts for exact Greenwich time.

The pips originated in 1924, and since 1990 the BBC has broadcast them to mark the exact hour. People would use the radio signals to set and adjust clocks and watches. Americans had something similar in the early days of television, when an announcer would say something to mark the exact hour at different times. For instance, "At the sound of the tone, the exact time will be 10 p.m. Central Standard Time."

Unfortunately, since digital broadcasting has time lags, the reliance on the pips for calibrating clocks and watches has waned. But that shouldn't dim one's enjoyment of this light comedy.

Arthur Askey plays Arthur Pilbeam, who after recently being jilted by his fiancé swears off women and seeks employment away from them. He lands a post at a remote lighthouse on one of the Scotish Isles, here he thinks he's finally cracked it and can enjoy solitude whilst providing the meteorological bulletins. However, his peace is soon shattered when young Jane walks into his life, she stowed-away on his boat for she's searching for her uncle on a neighbouring island. Then Bobbie shows up after her boat was torpedoed, then another boat load of survivors, predominantly women, arrive. Arthur is beside himself, but worse is to come for all of a sudden they all start to disappear one by one. Could this be another Mary Celeste? Only in lighthouse form?

Produced out of Gainsborough Pictures, this Askey vehicle is directed by Herbert Mason and co-written by Marriott Edgar, Val Guest & J.O.C. Orton. Starring alongside Askey are Googie Withers, Moore Marriott, Graham Moffatt and Vera Francis. Very much along the lines of another Guest/Edgar scripted piece, the classic Oh Mr Porter! this fun and breezy picture sees Askey restrained and the film be all the better for it. In truth it takes its time to get going, practically 40 minutes pass by before the additional characters start being introduced. Which means we are at the mercy of Askey and the delightful Vera Francis for much of the movie. But it works.

Francis isn't an annoying child star, she has nice delivery and her role is so well scripted it keeps the film breezy. Her natural like presence appears to have a good effect on Askey, who is more relaxed and thus the comedy is more humanistic and real. Enter the support players, who somewhat understandably given the plot, aren't given much to do. Which is a shame because more of Withers, Marriott & Moffatt would obviously have been a bonus. But it is what it is and as the mystery element kicks in, and some sinister undertones sidle up next to the comedy, the lack of meat for the support characters' bones is easily forgiven. There's no real surprises come the finale, but one thinks nobody would be expecting that given the time of the film's release. So sit back and enjoy this fun mystery for it's one of the better Askey pictures. 7/10

Arthur Askey is at his best in this combination mystery and war propaganda. Arthur plays a weatherman who is sent to a stormy island lighthouse off the coast of Scotland. He is thankful for his solitude and his separation from the world of women. However, he soon finds himself surrounded by a young girl and a bevy of beautiful women. Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt show up on the island as well to help Askey provide the laugh. The guys and the gals are soon matching wits with the Nazis who are bent on setting up a mine field in the North Sea. Arthur Askey is a bit more restrained in this movie compared to other efforts and it works to his advantage.

After being jilted by his fiancee, Arthur Pilbeam wants a job where he will encounter no women. He is sent to a lighthouse on a remote Scottish island which is being run as a meteoroligical station where he is supposed to be the only inhabitant. However, Jane, a young girl, has stowed-away on his boat. She is looking for her uncle on the neighbouring island. Then model Bobbie turns up - her boat has been torpedoed. With the arrival of another boatload of survivors, bringing the total occupancy of the island to 13, things are getting a little crowded. That's when they all start to disappear, one by one...