Claude Hulbert Movies
- 1960
The title of this British farce, one assumes, does not refer to the producers' assessement of its box office success. Richard Murdoch, Sandra Dorne and Jon Pertwee star as, respectively, an American secret agent, a pretty British customs official, and a vain TV star. This less-than-dynamic trio sets about to foil a gang of smugglers. They do, but not before a lot of furniture is smashed and a lot of clothes torn asunder. Yes, it's funny, but for a whole 77 minutes? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1956
Droll British farceur Fred Emney is the star of Fun at St. Fanny's. Emney plays Dr. Septimus Jankers, headmaster of an exclusive boy's college. When the insititution is threatened with a shutdown instigated by its creditors, Dr. Jankers decides to "shake down" a wealthy, middle-aged student threatening to withhold that worthy's long-overdue student accreditation. The overaged "schoolboy" is played by music hall-TV comedian Cardew Robinson, who in 1956 was at the height of his popularity--so much so that he plays "himself'. Fun at St. Fanny's is chock full of the sort of healthily vulgar humor indigenous to the British stage of the 1940s and 1950s; even the title is a cheeky double-entendre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Emney, Cardew Robinson, (more)
- 1949
Veteran British music hall favorite Sid Field made his second and last film appearance in Cardboard Cavalier. Set during the 17th-century British Civil War, the film stars Field as vegetable vendor Sidcup Butterfield. Our hero is dragooned into delivering important documents on behalf of the anti-Cromwell forces. Somehow he winds up in the court of King Charles II (Anthony Hulme) and finds himself wooing royal courtesan Nell Gwynne (Margaret Lockwood). Nothing is sacred in this historical burlesque, which even manages to work a little pie-throwing into the proceedings. One of the scripters is Noel Langley, who in 1939 contributed to the screenplay of The Wizard of Oz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sid Field, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
- 1947
Firmly in the fantasy groove previously plowed by such films as The Canterville Ghost and The Time of Their Lives is the 1947 British comedy The Ghosts of Berkeley Square. Robert Morley and Felix Aylmer play a pair of fatuous Colonel Blimp military types, whose efforts to shorten the war results only in getting the both of them killed. Summoned to a Heavenly court, Morley and Aylmer incur the wrath of Queen Anne. She orders them to haunt a mansion until they can prove themselves worthy of entering the Pearly Gates. For a film that practically no one has ever heard of, Ghosts of Berkeley Square is an embarrassment of riches in the casting department: among the British favorites appearing in the film are Martita Hunt, A.E. Mathews, James Hayter, Ernst Thesiger, and Wilfred Hyde-White. The film was based on the novel No Nightingales by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne Arnaud, Felix Aylmer, (more)
- 1946
London Town was painstakingly planned as a huge box-office smash--even unto hiring several Hollywood leading lights to work on the film, including producer/director/writer Wesley Ruggles, Technicolor cinematographer Ernest Hiller, costume designer Orry-Kelly and songsmiths Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. Veteran music-hall entertainer Sid Field plays a washed-up comedian who hopes to stage a comeback in a glittering new revue. Alas, Field is hired as merely an understudy and bit player. His faithful daughter Petula Clark (yes, Petula Clark) pulls a few fast ones in order to get her dad back on stage in a starring role. Making her film debut in a supporting part is Kay Kendall, who'd have to wait a decade or so for full stardom. Far from a hit, London Town was one of the most notorious flops in the history of the British cinema. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sid Field, Greta Gynt, (more)
- 1943
In this weird crime drama the murder of a ventriloquist is solved by a midget who goes undercover as a dummy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1943
Will Hay, he of the pince-nez, outraged sniff, and overall demeanor of dignified incompetence, stars in (and codirects) another of his popular British comedies. In My Learned Friend, Hay is a seedy lawyer, one of several people targeted for death by a vengeful escaped convict. As the criminal's victims pile up, Hay can't help but feel a bit insecure. When he ends up the only survivor on the list, Hay begins to really worry. A slapstick climax on the clock-face of Big Ben caps this rapid-fire comedy of murders. Released in 1943, My Learned Friend was Will Hay's final film; he died of a lingering illness in 1949. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Hay, Claude Hulbert, (more)
- 1941
When the bagpipes play, death will follow in this spooky comedy set in a dank and creepy Scottish castle during WW II. It begins when a school teacher at a London boy's academy must evacuate his charges to the castle. There they hear the legend of the deadly pipes. Sure enough their mournful call is heard and one of the boys dies. They cry again and another dies. It is in when the pipes are blown a third time that the headmaster solves the mystery: it is not a phantom killing the lads, but a German sympathizer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
In this British comedy, three sailors accidentally get on a Nazi ship. Mayhem ensues when they commandeer it for the Royal Navy. The story is also known as Three Cockeyed Sailors. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
In this WW II comedy, three British sailors get roaring drunk in a South American port, accidentally mistake a German battleship for their own and stagger aboard. Boozy mayhem ensues until the tipsy trio manages to capture the ship and its entire crew on behalf of the Royal Navy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1939
In this romantic comedy, a new marriage gets off to a rocky start when the newlyweds travel to Switzerland for a peaceful honeymoon and get in a big fight instead. The angry husband takes off in a huff. He goes skating and is mistaken for a champion hockey player on a visiting British team. His bumbling antics on the ice cause the English team to win a crucial victory. They also win the respect of his bride and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1939
Director Roy William Neill, best known for his work on Universal's Sherlock Holmes series of the 1940s, occasionally made side trips to England during the 1930s. Neill's Anything to Declare? stars Claude Hulbert as an eccentric inventor named Claude Fishlock. Our hero has just developed a new device that will prove useful in construction of military tanks. When the device is stolen by foreign spies, Hulbert is forced to smuggle himself into an unnamed European country in order to retrieve his invention. If you think the name "Claude Fishlock" is funny, you'll roll on the floor when you hear some of the other character monikers in Anything to Declare?: Pete Nutter, Captain Torrent, Sgt. Major Hornett, and so on and so forth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
In this British farce, a soldier invents a tank supercharger that he is most eager to try. When the Germans hear about the invention, they send out spies to steal it. The soldier and his partner are both klutzes and almost bumble the plans into the spies' waiting hands, but Fate intervenes and they are saved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
In this crime drama, a clever detective and his trusty assistant look into the case of a woman accused of stealing. The woman is the investigator's own niece, a dancer, who is also being pursued by a fugitive from Devil's Island who seeks the diamond that he hid within the heel of her shoe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
In this comedy, a meek, mild-mannered movie lover travels to Boulogne and ends up entangled in a great adventure that begins when he is mugged by a gang of British robbers. He then must return home aboard an onion boat. Later he and his gal try to catch the gang. They then discover that they are jewel thieves and end up trapped in a house with the gang's loot. Fortunately, the cops come and save them in the nick of time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
American leading lady Marian Marsh plays the title character in the British Girl Thief. Actually, the biggest thing young Juliet (Marsh) steals is the heart of Bill (Anthony Bushell), the best friend of her fiance Allan (Claude Hulbert). It is subsequently a considerable source of discomfort when Bill is asked to serve as best man for Allan and Juliet's wedding. Everything turns out OK when it's revealed that Allan is himself still carrying a torch for an ex-sweetheart. This charming but utterly forgettable frivolity was originally released in England as Love at Second Sight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marian Marsh, Anthony Bushell, (more)
- 1938
In this British comedy, a wealthy young man desperately wants to impress his girl friend's powerful father and so convinces the gentleman to invest in a promising new product, "Socko." The only problem is that there is no product, only a catchy name. The young man's problem is solved when he encounters a flower vendor who has a surefire cure for hangovers. He uses this formula for his new product and success ensues until the flower woman's avaricious daughter tries to get her claws into him. Unfortunately for her, he is not at all interested and avoids her in favor of his true love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this comedy, a bettor places his money on a long-shot that soon becomes a better prospect. Later his best friend finds out that the bettor's philandering wife has been giving hot tips to her lover. The best friend's love ends up winning big, thanks to said tips. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this British comedy, a cricket widow decides to get even on her sports mad husband by taking his milquetoast best friend, running off to Paris, and pretending to be passionately in love. The ploy works. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this comedy, a private detective earns his license via a correspondence course and then sets off to pursue a ring of jewel thieves lead by the villainous "Vulture." He ends up following them to Chinatown, where the gumshoe masquerades as a Chinese and ends up bringing the crooks to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this comedy, an American chorine travels to France with a low-budget revue and nearly ends up stranded there. Fortunately, a handsome Frenchman proposes to her. Believing that he is wealthy, she accepts. Unfortunately, he deceived her and now the bride must live in a ramshackle hovel with his three children on his little farm. She is terribly disappointed, but rather than quit, she tries to make the best of things. This is difficult as a schoolteacher is terribly jealous and torments the dancer at every turn. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Claude Hulbert, (more)
- 1936
In this comedy, a philandering playboy tires of the fast lane and decides to marry his current girl friend. At the reception, his best friend begins regaling the girl with stories of her new husband's romantic exploits. The bride becomes terribly upset, causing her groom to whisk her out and begin their honeymoon. Things don't get any calmer as they run in to a number of strange characters. The best friend's wife, who recently left him, is among them. Meanwhile, the poor bride has difficulty deciding whether or not she should stay married to the playboy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
