I Thank You

More low-brow humour featuring Arthur Askey in women's clothing. I Thank You is clearly trying to emulate similar 'zany' American movies of the era, but tries far too hard with woefully threadbare material. Even Will Hay's regular foils Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott fail to lift the quality of the humour.

`Big-hearted Arthur Askey' was a major British star of cinema, TV, and even, much earlier, Music Hall. On the evidence of `I Thank You' (a catch-phrase pronounced Aye Theng Yew) he was a comical little man with great timing but I just couldn't get a laugh out of this movie. And its not simply a case of what made people smile more than fifty years ago not being relevant today. A couple of nights previously I had watched an even older film, `Nothing Sacred' and found it absolutely hilarious.

`I Thank You' was made & set during the Second World War. It opens & closes in the London Underground where the population went to escape the German air raids, includes a couple of novelty songs plus performances from Richard `Stinker' Murdoch who became a top radio script-writer and Kathleen Harrison who always seemed to play a maid until she had great success in the fifties in The Huggetts series of films.

It's hard to recommend `I Thank You' which is often frantic and farcical; the best I can say is that it is mercifully short at seventy-odd minutes.

Arthur Askey's name is pretty much a seal of greatness, and this movie is no exception. If you don't mind his usual corny jokes, you're in for a dream ride with this one. Rivalling Askey in the comedic department is a young, unnamed girl who may well have been the English Gracie Allen with her charming voice and illogical logic. Sadly though, her character was never named, and she does not appear in any credits list for the film.

Askey and co. need a backer for their show, and the usual brass, Lady Randall, won't comply - so they set out for her house to pretend to be the new hired help, and end up getting a lot more than they bargained for! A great movie with a laugh around every corner.

If you ever wondered what British music hall or American vaudeville was all about, this is a pretty good representation of the styles of humor and performance from those circles. The plot is so old, it creaks; jokes are corny and people break into song all the time, but everyone is so committed to what they're doing, you're completely entertained. You'll remember Arthur Askey's delivery of the line "I thank you" for a long time.

The vaudeville team of Forsythe, Seamon & Farrell get some nice showcasing here. While Charles Forsythe and Eleanor Farrell can sing and deliver a punchline, Addie Seamon plays "Peaches", a Gracie Allen ditz who can dance up a storm. You won't forget her.

Great fun for a Saturday afternoon.

I Thank You is produced by Gainsborough Pictures, it's directed by Marcel Varnel and it stars Arthur Askey and Richard "Stinker" Murdoch. Set in London during World War II Blitz period, the story sees Askey & Murdoch as a couple of variety entertainers who find themselves out of work. In desperate need of money to put on a show, the pair dress up as house servants {Murdoch a servant and Askey in drag as a cook} and bluff their way into the home of Lady Randall, an ex-music hall star known to give financial aid to performers in the arts close to her heart. However, chaos reigns.

The diminutive Askey always proved divisive in film form, massively popular as a comedian and music hall performer, his silver screen outings were a very mixed bunch. Some were manic and guilty of letting Askey swamp the movie {he was an acquired taste}, other efforts found the right blend and let other actors impact on said film.I Thank You fits thankfully into the latter category. It is helped enormously by the writing, it's co-written by the two men influential in the best of Will Hay's cinema outings in the late 30s, Val Guest & Marriott Edgar {from a story by Howard Irving Young}. With that in mind, it's no surprise to find Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt in the cast. Along with Will Hay they formed one of British cinemas greatest comedy acts, but come 1940 Hay had had enough and went solo. Gainsborough put both guys with Askey in the hope of creating a new dream team for the 40s, that was never likely to work in all honesty, but they do have their moments. Such as here, where Marriott completely owns the film as chaos loving old curmudgeon Pop Bennett.

There's some nice tunes in the piece too. Askey sings "Hello To The Sun" & "Half Of Everything Is Yours" while the closing "Waiting At The Church" sung by Lily Morris {Lady Randall} is a bona fide classic. It's a fun frolic time of a movie, whippy one liners are cloaked in farcical set pieces, all guided by the assured hands of director Varnel. One of the better offerings in Askey's canon, and essential for those who wish to view the brilliant talent of Moore Marriott. 7/10