Dirty Work ** (1934, Ralph Lynn, Gordon Harker, Robertson Hare, Lilian Bond, Basil Sydney) – Classic Movie Review 11,176

Director Tom Walls’s flimsy and cobwebby 1934 British black and white crime comedy Dirty Work is a gossamer fine Ben Travers farce with a plot that you could virtually see through if you held it up to the light.

So it counts as a disappointment from this usually inspired source. But this slapstick tale about jeweller’s shop staff pretending to be criminals to round up gem snatchers is taken at an enthusiastic gallop and still boasts occasional laughs, thanks to the game performances and breathless dialogue.

Based on a play by Ben Travers, and with a screenplay by him, Dirty Work is not one of the great British farce writer Travers’s best works, and the film is held back further by a very basic, uncinematic production. Yet the delightful star trio of Ralph Lynn, Gordon Harker and Robertson Hare (with Gordon Harker replacing London’s Aldwych Theatre stage star Walls who simply directs) still shines bright in some inspired fooling, and most of the support cast (especially Cecil Parker and Margaretta Scott) is spot on too.

Also in the cast are Lilian Bond, Basil Sydney, Peter Gawthorne, Gordon James, Lewis Bradfield and Leslie Laurier.

The film was made at the Lime Grove Studios with sets designed by the art director Alfred Junge.

The cast are Ralph Lynn as Jimmy Milligan, Gordon Harker as Nettle, Robertson Hare as Clement Peck, Lilian Bond as Evie Wynne, Basil Sydney as Hugh Stafford, Margaretta Scott as Leonora Stafford, Cecil Parker as Gordon Bray, Gordon James as Toome, Peter Gawthorne as Inspector Barlow, Norma Varden as tiara customer, and Percy Walsh as customer with umbrella.

Dirty Work is directed by Tom Walls, runs 78 minutes, is made by Gaumont British Picture Corporation, is released by Gaumont British Distributors, is written by Ben Travers, based on his play, is shot in black and white by Philip Tannura, is produced by Michael Balcon, is scored by Louis Levy, and is designed by Alfred Junge.

The series of 12 stage Aldwych farces, nine written by Ben Travers, were staged more or less continuously from 1923 to 1933 at the Aldwych Theatre, London. Most of the farces, and other Travers works, were filmed during the 1930s, with many of the actors from the plays. Tom Walls directed all but two of the films.

The films of the original Aldwych farces are: Rookery Nook [One Embarrassing Night] (1930), Plunder (1931), A Night Like This (1932), Thark (1932), A Cuckoo in the Nest (1933), Turkey Time (1933), Just My Luck (1933; filmed version of Fifty-Fifty), A Cup of Kindness (1934), Dirty Work (1934), and Marry the Girl (1935).

Other filmed farces by Travers, with one or more of the Aldwych stars, are: The Chance of a Night Time (1931; based on The Dippers), Fighting Stock (1935), Foreign Affaires (1935; original screenplay), Pot Luck (1936; loosely based on A Night Like This), Second Best Bed (1938; based on a Travers story), and Banana Ridge (1941).

On stage, Rookery Nook has been regularly revived and Plunder has had several revivals.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,176

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Two assistants at a high-class jeweller’s devise a cunning plan to catch a gang of jewel thieves.