Where’s That Fire? *** (1939, Will Hay, Moore Marriott, Graham Moffatt) – Classic Movie Review 7980

Director Marcel Varnel’s 1939 British comedy Where’s That Fire? Stars Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt, who fire on all cylinders in Hay’s slightly patchy but generally very funny final fling for Gainsborough Pictures studios. It is the last Will Hay film starring Marriott and Moffatt, though Hay made another half dozen films, though the style of humour changed.

Hay plays Captain Benjamin Viking, whose inept local fire fighters, Jeremiah ‘Jerry’ Harbottle (Marriott) and Albert Brown (Moffat), stop bad guys pinching Britain’s Crown Jewels from the Tower of London with the help of a fire extinguisher.

Also in the cast are Peter Gawthorne as the fire chief, Eric Clavering as Hank Sullivan, Hugh McDermott as Jim Baker, Charles Hawtrey as Woodley, and Dave O’Toole as the postman.

Where’s That Fire? is directed by Marcel Varnel, runs 73 minutes, is made by Gainsborough Pictures and 20th Century Fox Productions, is released by Twentieth Century Fox Film Company, is written by Marriott Edgar, Val Guest and J O C Orton, based on a story by Maurice Braddell, is shot in black and white by Arthur Crabtree and Derek Williams, is produced by Edward Black, is scored by Louis Levy and is designed by Alex Vetchinsky.

It was believed to be a lost film for many years after it disappeared following legal disputes between producers Gainsborough Pictures and 20th Century Fox. However, it was rediscovered by the BBC in 1975. Though not officially been released on VHS or DVD, it is in the public domain and is available in several versions.

The external shots of the fire station were filmed at the former Angel and Crown pub overlooking the village pond, at the junction of Milespit Hill and High Street, Mill Hill, London NW7.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7980

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com