{"id":18500,"date":"2025-11-04T21:31:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/?p=18500"},"modified":"2025-11-04T22:10:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T22:10:25","slug":"my-top-10-george-formby-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/2025\/11\/04\/my-top-10-george-formby-movies\/","title":{"rendered":"My top 10 George Formby movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having now seen all the George Formby movies, I’d say these are my “top 10”, in order of excellence and cohesiveness. I was seeing all but one of them for the first time, since I don’t think they were shown on TV when I was growing up, and it appears it took a long while for them to be released to retail on DVD. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Let George Do It!<\/em> (1940)<\/p>\n

The most cohesive film. A wartime spy story, fast-paced and also very funny.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> He Snoops to Conquer<\/em> (1945)<\/p>\n

The war is over and reconstruction is in the air in a little northern town. Excellent story of a little local man against a corrupt town council, with the aid of a very eccentric local inventor.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Come On George!<\/em> (1939)<\/p>\n

A horse-racing stables story, made all the more charming because of George’s knack with horses. He had spent his middle-childhood and early teens as a child jockey in Ireland. Somewhat spoiled by the juvenile supporting actor, but not much — all George’s films were perfectly cast, but not in this one case.<\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> Keep Your Seats, Please<\/em> (1936)<\/p>\n

Grandma leaves her money to George in a very unconventional way, to avoid it going to grasping relatives. A bit episodic, due to the nature of the plot, but a fine entertainment.<\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> Get Cracking<\/em> (1943)<\/p>\n

It’s basically Dad’s Army<\/em> with George and a home-made tank, and this time George has excellent juvenile support. It helps to know the historical context: Princess Elizabeth (later Queen) was then doing war service working as a vehicle mechanic. <\/p>\n

6.<\/strong> George in Civvy Street<\/em> (1946)<\/p>\n

George returns from war to find the pub he’s inherited run down and in need of reviving. A bit too ‘slick’ and stage-y, and you can tell it was made partly with an American audience in mind. <\/p>\n

7.<\/strong> I Didn’t Do It<\/em> (1945)<\/p>\n

A little bit more of a serious drama, but with plenty of superb supporting comedy-drama actors. A boarding-house murder-mystery, well filmed.<\/p>\n

8.<\/strong> It’s in the Air<\/em> (1938)<\/p>\n

George in the Royal Air Force. Often a bit too manic and fast-paced, as was the way in the late 1930s, but good entertainment.<\/p>\n

9.<\/strong> Feather Your Nest<\/em> (1937)<\/p>\n

Young love on the hire-purchase, hindered at every step by a gorgon of a mother-in-law. Centers on the classic song “Leaning on a Lamp-post”.<\/p>\n

10.<\/strong> No Limit<\/em> (1935)<\/p>\n

His big breakthrough, as a TT racer on the Isle of Man. Often said to be his best, and since my grandfather was a TT racer it has personal appeal for me. But on third viewing it really doesn’t hold up well, compared to the others. Which is why it’s number 10 on my list.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of others after that. Possibly also add Spare a Copper<\/em> (1940), with George mis-cast as a policeman (usually he was physically attacking them) and the film obviously a quota-quickie aimed at the export income from an American audience. But you may think it worth it simply for the hilarious line “Listen Matilta, a weasel!”<\/em> during a madcap chase scene.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having now seen all the George Formby movies, I’d say these are my “top 10”, in order of excellence and cohesiveness. I was seeing all but one of them for the first time, since I don’t think they were shown on TV when I was growing up, and it appears it took a long while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18500"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18512,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18500\/revisions\/18512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurn.link\/spyders\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}