Time Flies

Director Forde was a leading figure in British film-making of the 1930s and 1940s, helming two classic and influential 'engine' thrillers i.e. THE GHOST TRAIN (1931; which is now apparently lost but which he remade 10 years later!) and ROME EXPRESS (1932), as well as star vehicles for many a comedian (such as Jack Hulbert, The Crazy Gang and Arthur Askey). This, then, is the fourth film of his I have checked out (besides owning 15{!} more that are still unwatched) and it follows in the latter vein i.e. starring now-forgotten radio comic Tommy Handley.

The film is chiefly valuable for its deft mish-mash of several genres: for instance, the titular epithet (which turns up so often and so casually in our daily conversation) is approached here on a literal plane by having our four protagonists dodging pursuit by literally taking flight in both space and time via a ball-shaped metal craft! The time machine (invented by distinguished character actor Felix Aylmer) – perhaps the very first of its kind to be seen in movies! – strands its occupants in 16th century England (despite its pedigree, the present-day scenes are supposedly set in New York!) and, as was the case with the same year's similarly-themed FIDDLERS THREE, the heroes try to use the stuff they learned from history-books to their advantage: however, the locals do not take kindly to their prophesying The Great London Fire of 1666 and, even less appreciated are their foretelling of Queen Elizabeth I's perennial spinsterhood and the fact that her family's hated relatives, the Stuarts, will thus succeed her!; incidentally, apart from her, we also get to meet Walter Raleigh (not yet knighted, he is surprised when addressed as such!), William Shakespeare (having trouble writing the love scenes in "Romeo & Juliet", the spirited heroine – who, early on, is surprisingly shown in her underwear – 'suggests' a few of the play's most-quoted lines!) and the famous duo of John Smith (played by the odd-looking Roy Emerton from the same year's Shakespearean adaptation of HENRY V!) and Pocahontas.

However, the film is obviously also a musical comedy (this being still wartime): while the former is first presented conventionally via an on-stage revue number, it is eventually incorporated into the narrative when the protagonists are about to be executed and they buy some time for themselves by bursting into an impromptu performance! As for the comedy, the nominal star is a scoundrel in the Will Hay mould (incidentally, his two frequent sparring partners Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt also turn up here!); he is best-known for IT'S THAT MAN AGAIN (1942), from the same director, and which was essentially a transcript of his popular radio show – and, even if nowhere near as endearing as Hay, he still manages a reasonable amount of funny quips and, memorably, instigates a scene in which America is claimed in the name of Britain and in the presence of the Queen three times in a row!

When finally going back to the present, the time machine misses the mark by a few hours so that the characters vanish immediately after landing since these were not supposed to be anywhere near the contraption at the appointed time! By the way, another novelty they adopt to astound the people of this by-gone era is a camera which allows their escape from jail by projecting footage of themselves on the walls, and which then has the suspicious guards befuddled by chasing what appears to be mere shadows! Incidentally, though I watched the film as part of my ongoing Easter epic marathon, this aspect comes through mainly in the period evocation rather than with any overt spectacle (even if the whole concept is decidedly elaborate at that)...

Time travel comes about unexpectedly for Tommy, Susie, Bill and the Professor. The Prof. has invented this "timeball" which is like an earlier model of the car from Back To The Future. He's showing Susie the ins and outs of it, not worrying about hitting all the buttons because it won't work unless the trapdoor is shut. Thing is, Bill and Tommy, on the run from some cops, have climbed into the giant sphere to hide, and shut the door after them! So they go whizzing up a million miles, Susie slams a lever accidentally, they all get knocked out due to lack of oxygen, and when they awake, it's in 16th century England.

Tommy is throwing jokes over his shoulder at every opportunity, this starts off as funny but soon wears very thin. He's up to his neck in trouble, teaching the Queen how to gamble and then pretending he owns America and selling off blocks of land to the townsfolk and noblemen. The Prof is all very serious and ends up being arrested when he comments on how "Queen Bess" died - of course, this is the time when she is still holding court. Bill bumbles around a lot. It's Susie who has the most fun. She's got a voice like Ginger Rogers, and twice as much energy as Betty Hutton, and is hilarious to watch, whether trying to hail a cab (in 16th century London!), or prompting Shakespeare with lines from Romeo & Juliet, dressing up as a man, and singing any number of lively songs to buy a little time before they are all drawn and quartered.

Very, very weird. But still quite enjoyable. 8/10.

I enjoy this era of British comedy / movies. I can watch these over and over again. How refreshing it is to watch good hearted, clean and witty comedy.

Movies such as - The Ghost of St Michaels, The Black Sheep of Whithall, Bees in Paradise, Good morning Boys, Give us the Moon etc are pure British gems !

I admire the Brits for turning out these now classic movies during the war and post war period, love watching 'em !!! from an Aussie movie admirer with strong British traditions and family ties. Only movies to watch !!

This is an amusing film, with a surprisingly early use of the concept of a time machine (Hungary's Sziriusz, from 1942, predates it), invented by professorial Felix Aylmer and crookedly financed by lovable scoundrel Tommy Handley. Thanks to a chapter of accidents, they go back in time to the sixteenth century, together with a vaudeville double act, the excellent Evelyn Dall and quite good George Moon. Presumably they hoped the film would get a US audience, as the modern-day bookends are set in a New York made of cardboard, all the money is in dollars and all the Elizabethan characters are carefully explained by Moon reading out of an encyclopedia.

Between them they give Shakespeare the lines for Romeo and Juliet's balcony scene, teach Elizabeth I how to play Find the Lady, introduce Stephane Grapelli's troubadour to jazz, and give Sir Walter Raleigh his first smoke. Tommy can't stop himself swindling people, and sells America off to the English nobility, much to the chagrin of Captain John Smith. Smith is accompanied by a statuesque and politically incorrect Pocahontas (the virtually unknown Iris Lang in a wonderful performance), who is surprisingly able to drink everyone under the table. Moore Marriott appears fleetingly in a pillory, and there is a bit more of Graham Moffatt, in their last film together.

It is a surprise to realise that Handley made so few films. As a radio comic, his trademark was idiotic double talk and lame puns strung together almost too quickly for the audience to groan. His screen time is always confident and he is obviously the star. He even dominates the opening scene from behind a curtain. It's That Man Again brilliantly realised the surreal radio series ITMA for the screen, and Time Flies, released a year later, might easily have led to a film career, but this was his last full-length picture.

The humour is of course of its time - if you don't like the highly verbal wordplay popularised by British wartime radio, then you won't like Handley's scenes very much. But Handley almost matches Will Hay in his creation of a wily, despicable, cowardly, cheating and yet wholly likable petty crook, played without the remotest hint of sentimentality.

I've always enjoyed this Tommy Handley outing, in the year of grace 1943 he was at the height of his ITMA popularity. It remains a rather bizarre film to have been made during WW2, but of course would have served a purpose as a morale booster as well as being simply simple fun.

In modern Manhattan Tommy sponsors Professor Felix Aylmer's Time Ball, a huge silver ball/ space-time -ship, and eventually they, Evelyn Dall and George Moon end up in Elizabethan England - to absolutely everyone's consternation. They have some hilarious escapades, heavy with deliberate anachronisms, but it's Tommy's film - without his incessant witticisms it would have been a pretty poor show. Sometimes it falls flat, other times it's pure genius at work - at a tense life or death fraught moment he suddenly worries about having left the rice pudding "on". The scene where the four of them escape from prison from under Really Raleigh's nose - and how! - is breathtaking stuff for 1943.

To most people it's probably dated badly, but to me the salvageable bits are a treasure, and the hokey bits bearable.