Keep Your Seats, Please
Keep Your Seats, Please is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring George Formby, Florence Desmond and Alastair Sim. It marked the film debut of the child star Binkie Stuart. The film was made by Associated Talking Pictures.[1]
| Keep Your Seats, Please | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Monty Banks |
| Produced by | Basil Dean |
| Written by | Ilya Ilf (novel) Yevgeny Petrov (novel) Anthony Kimmins Thomas J. Geraghty Ian Hay |
| Starring | George Formby Florence Desmond Alastair Sim Gus McNaughton Binkie Stuart |
| Music by | Ernest Irving |
| Cinematography | John W. Boyle |
| Edited by | Jack Kitchin |
Production company | Associated Talking Pictures |
| Distributed by | ABFD |
Release date | 1 August 1936 |
Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The film follows a farcical plot based on the 1928 Russian satirical novel The Twelve Chairs by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov. The film features Formby's signature tune, "When I'm Cleaning Windows".
Plot
George Withers learns he is supposed to inherit some valuable jewels from his aunt, and enlists the aid of his dubious lawyer to ensure he gets them. It transpires the stones are hidden in the lining of one of six antique chairs, and his aunt has left instructions for her nephew to purchase the chairs at auction. But unfortunately they are sold separately, as he arrives too late to bid.[2][3]
Cast
- George Formby as George Withers
- Florence Desmond as Florrie
- Gus McNaughton as Max
- Alastair Sim as A. S. Drayton
- Harry Tate as Auctioneer
- Enid Stamp-Taylor as Madame Louise
- Hal Gordon as Sailor
- Tom Payne as Man from Child Welfare
- Beatrix Fielden-Kaye as Woman from Child Welfare
- Clifford Heatherley as Doctor Wilberforce
- Binkie Stuart as Binkie
- May Whitty as Aunt Georgina Withers
- Harvey Braban as Detective Jones
- Ethel Coleridge as Spinster
- Syd Crossley as Bus Conductor
- Maud Gill as Fanny Tidmarsh
- Jimmy Godden as X-Ray Doctor
- Mike Johnson as Mr. O'Flaherty
- Margaret Moffatt as Mrs. O'Flaherty
- Frank Perfitt as Bus Inspector
Critical references
Sky Movies wrote, "Formby's on form - especially singing 'Keep Your Seats, Please' and 'When I'm Cleaning Windows' - Florence Desmond's a much stronger leading lady that George usually had, and Alastair Sim made one of his first major impacts in films as the unscrupulous lawyer who also has his beady eye on the hidden fortune".[4]
References
- Wood p. 91
- "Keep Your Seats, Please! | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- "Keep Your Seats Please (1936) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- "Keep Your Seats, Please - Sky Movies HD". Skymovies.sky.com. 23 May 2002. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
Bibliography
- Low, Rachael. Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
- Perry, George. Forever Ealing. Pavilion Books, 1994.
- Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927-1939. British Film Institute, 1986.