Boys Will Be Boys (1935 film)

Boys Will Be Boys
Gaumont British Distributors
Release date	July 1935 (1935-07)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Boys Will Be Boys is a 1935 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine which stars Will Hay, Gordon Harker and Jimmy Hanley. The film is set at Narkover School, where headmaster Doctor Alec Smart (Will Hay) becomes involved in the disappearance of a valuable necklace.

The setting is loosely based on the works of

, where Narkover is a school specializing in gambling and extortion, and the headmaster is a "Dr. Smart-Allick".

Plot

Alec Smart, who is engaged teaching in a prison, applies for the job of headmaster at a nearby

and has just been sent to prison. Smart appeals to the Governor to write him a good reference which he pretends to. Afterwards he writes his real recommendation which is very negative about Smart's talents.

The

.

On his arrival at the school, Smart is treated to a boisterous reception by the unruly students led by the

, Cyril Brown, who is the son of Faker Brown. Narkover proves to be a breeding ground for young criminals, who prefer to spend their time playing cards rather than taking classes. After his initial attempts to stop their games, Smart himself ends up playing cards with the students. He gets off on the wrong foot with Colonel Crableigh but, in spite of Smart's obvious incompetence, Lady Dorking immediately takes a shine to him. Crableigh begins engineering a scheme to have Smart dismissed and replaced by his own nephew.

Soon after his arrival Smart is approached by Faker Brown, just released from prison, who blackmails him into giving a job as a

and the current students, with Smart persuaded to captain the school team.

On Founder's Day, Lady Dorking wears her best jewels. In the Headmaster's study, she is shown some conjuring tricks by Smart. Crableigh places Dorking's necklace in Smart's pocket in an attempt to incriminate him and have him dismissed. However, the necklace is then stolen by Faker who hides it in a decanter. After trying, and failing, to persuade him to give it back Smart takes it and hides it in a Jewellery Box due to be presented to Lady Dorking at the dinner..

Shortly before the presentation, the diamonds are again taken by the Head Boy Cyril Brown who picks the lock. He hides the necklace in a rugby ball, but before he can make off with it, the ball is taken by the referee in the match. Confusion then ensues as during the match, Faker and Cyril Brown try to recover the ball and make off with it while Smart tries to prevent them. Eventually Smart kicks the ball towards some police spectators and unmasks the villains in spite of Crableigh's attempts to have Smart arrested for the theft.

Cast

A young Clive Dunn also made an appearance, aged 15.

Production and reception

His first production for Gainsborough Pictures, the film was a breakthrough role for Will Hay and helped establish him as a film star throughout the British Empire. The role of the bumbling schoolmaster, which he had first developed in his 1920s music hall act, would be reprised in another two of Hay's films, Good Morning, Boys and The Ghost of St. Michael's.

Writing for The Spectator, Graham Greene characterized the film as "very amusing", describing Hay's portrayal of Dr. Smart as "competent" and praising Dampier's portrayal of Second Master Finch as the film's "finest performance".^[1] The Radio Times Guide to Films gave Boys Will Be Boys three stars out of five, observing that the film contains "the blend of bluster and dishonesty that makes [Hay's] films irresistible".^[2]

Influence

This was Hay's first screen outing for his well-established "schoolmaster"

Based on this film, an Australian radio show was made called Fourth Form at St Percys, which quickly changed its title to Yes, what! The show features a teacher (Percy Pym) who sounded like Will Hay trying to teach a bunch of unruly children, the worst of who are Greenbottle (who sounded like Moore Marriott) and Bottomley. They never quite manage to get through a lesson through endless interruptions which easily lead the teacher astray which leads to punishments (hitting with a stick) being handed out. The shows were about 12 minutes long and normally began with chimes and; "Good morning boys! Good morning sir" The series lasted from 1935 till 1937 and cost A$10 an episode to make. Over seventy years later, it is still on a number of radio stations in Australia and is currently available on CD with one of the stars talking about the show.

References

Bibliography

• St. Pierre, Paul Matthew. Music Hall Mimesis in British Film, 1895-1960: On the Halls on the Screen. Associated University Press, 2010.

External links

• Boys Will Be Boys at
  IMDb
• Boys Will Be Boys - digitised sheet music held by Heritage Collections, State Library of Queensland, Australia.