Jack's the Boy

Jack's the Boy is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, Francis Lister and Peter Gawthorne.[1] It became well known for its song "The Flies Crawled Up the Window", sung by Hulbert, which was released as a record and proved a major hit.[2][3] The film was released in the U.S. as Night and Day.[4]

Jack's the Boy
Opening title card
Directed byWalter Forde
Produced byMichael Balcon
Written byW. P. Lipscomb
Sidney Gilliat
Based ona story by Jack Hulbert
Douglas Furber
StarringJack Hulbert
Cicely Courtneidge
Peter Gawthorne
Music byVivian Ellis
Jack Beaver
Lyrics:
Douglas Furber
Musical director:
Louis Levy
CinematographyLeslie Rowson
Edited byIan Dalrymple
John Goldman
Production
company
Distributed byGaumont British
Release date
June 1932
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Policeman Jack (Jack Hulbert) attempts to track down a gang responsible for a smash and grab raid, thereby proving his worth to his disapproving father (Peter Gawthorne), a Scotland Yard detective.

Cast

Reception

The film was voted the fourth best British movie of 1932.[5]

British Pictures wrote, "As entertainment, it's curious. Hulbert and Courtneidge clown about nicely but it's hard to see how this film was one of the biggest hits of its year (big enough to be the punchline of a comic song in the following year's The Good Companions). Opportunities for them to "do their stuff" are poked into the narrative in the oddest places. They search a thief's flat and spontaneously break into a silly dance. It would be charming if it wasn't so bloody irritating. Perhaps the most interesting bits of the film now are the sequences filmed on location both on the streets of London and in Madame Tussauds (though you have to doubt the effectiveness of any film chase sequence in which you get more interested in the passing billboards than the action). All in all, it's a film which has dated badly and which doesn't show off the stars to their best advantage";[6] while TV Guide wrote that though the "Dialog drags a bit, as though it's being read for the stage. Hulbert saves his performance with a lot of likable charm";[4] and Allmovie called it a "breezy quota quickie," concluding that "Matching Jack Hulbert laugh for laugh is his wife and longtime stage partner Cicely Courteneidge";[7] and Screenonline noted that "Jack's the Boy is acknowledged as one of the team's best films."[8]

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References
  1. "Jack's the Boy (1932)". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
  2. Mundy, John (15 July 2007). "The British Musical Film". Manchester University Press – via Google Books.
  3. "JACK'S THE BOY".
  4. "Night And Day". TVGuide.com.
  5. ""SUNSHINE SUSIE"". The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950). Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 19 August 1933. p. 19 Edition: HOME EDITION. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  6. Absalom, David. "ARCHIVE J - Ja: British Films of the 30s, 1940s and 1950s". www.britishpictures.com.
  7. "Jack's The Boy (1932) - Walter Forde - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  8. "BFI Screenonline: Jack's the Boy (1932)". www.screenonline.org.uk.


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