Saloon Bar *** (1940, Gordon Harker, Elizabeth Allan, Mervyn Johns) – Classic Movie Review 12,956

‘Something More Than Just a Thriller!’

Director Walter Forde’s delightfully humorous 1940 Ealing Studios British comedy thriller film Saloon Bar is based on the 1939 play by Frank Harvey, and stars Gordon Harker in his stage role, Elizabeth Allan, and Mervyn Johns.

Frank Harvey’s London stage hit – in which a cockney bookie plays amateur detective in his local saloon to solve a girl’s killing and clear an innocent man of a crime of robbery and murder before his execution – transfers happily to film, thanks mainly to Gordon Harker’s exuberant performance and Walter Forde’s zesty handling.

Saloon Bar may be a bit static, set bound and talky, but the very nice cast and the right director ensure plenty of comical atmosphere and cheerful entertainment value, and it provides a lot of highly agreeable pleasure.

Roddy McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) appears as a kid. He was born in London but his family moved to the US in 1940 after the outbreak of World War Two and he became a naturalised US citizen on 9 December 1949.

One evening just before Christmas, the usual suspects in the saloon bar of the London Cap and Bells pub are discussing the imminent execution of barmaid’s boyfriend Eddie Graves (Alec Clunes) for robbery and murder. After a pound note from the robbery is found in the till, they believe of the man is innocent and bookie Joe Harris (Gordon Harker) leads the quest to reveal the true killer.

The nice cast are Gordon Harker as Joe Harris, Elizabeth Allan as Queenie, Mervyn Johns as Wickers, Joyce Barbour as Sally, Anna Konstam as Ivy, Cyril Raymond as Harry Small, Judy Campbell as Doris, Al Millen as Fred, Norman Pierce as Bill Hoskins, Alec Clunes as Eddie Graves, Mavis Villiers as Joan, Felix Aylmer as Mayor, O B Clarence as Sir Archibald, Aubrey Dexter as Major, Helena Pickard as Mrs Small, Manning Whiley as evangelist, Laurence Kitchin as Peter, Roddy Hughes as doctor, Gordon James as Jim, Annie Esmond as Mrs. Truscott, Eliot Makeham as meek man, Roddy McDowall as boy, Julie Suedo as Eleanor, and Torin Thatcher as Mr Garrod.

Saloon Bar is directed by Walter Forde, runs 76 minutes, is made by Ealing Studios, is released by Associated British Film Distributors (UK), is written by Angus MacPhail and John Dighton, is based on the play by Frank Harvey, is shot in black and white by Ronald Neame, is produced by Michael Balcon and Culley Forde, is scored by Ernest Irving, and is designed by Wilfred Shingleton.

Release date: November 2, 1940 (UK).

It is one of the four films on the DVD set The Ealing Studios Rarities Collection – Volume 10, along with The Divided Heart, His Excellency and Let’s Be Famous.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,956

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