Sally in Our Alley

I'd always assumed this was run of the mill vehicle for a popular broadcasting star of the day, though I'd heard Maurice Elvey speak about it and it's star with enthusiasm.

Seeing it decades after his death is a strange experience because it is startlingly good. Production values are so so. The make-up shows and Norman Arnold's decors are clearly constructions but it is the most plausible and involving depiction of working class life the sound film would produce in Britain for years and, of it's day, only the more elegant DANCE PRETTY LADY compares as an achievement.

They really do invent an involving character for Fields, left alone after WW1 but still able to take an interest in (later radio star) Florence Desmond, as a movie struck girl beaten and twisted by her hard life. The scene of Desmond, dared into smashing Gracie's few pitiful possessions, is startling in such a film and lets you know what you're watching is not production line entertainment.

This is followed by the two more set piece scenes - Gracie doing her "Fred Fanacapan" song for the Toffs, which contains a wealth of comment of British society, jammed into it's story and comedy functions, and the final theme song which she performs in character, as the personal story winds down in front of her.

Gracie Fields became such a star on the strength of SALLY IN HER ALLEY that Maurice Elvey could only afford her for one more film, the less imposing LOVE LIFE AND LAUGHTER. Neither would continue into further important film careers and Elvey's already substantial achievement was neglected by commentators, leaving him to die in poverty. This film is a reproach to them as it is a surprise for determined vintage film viewers.