Gasbags
Encyclopedia
Gasbags is a 1941
British
comedy
film
directed by Walter Forde and Marcel Varnel and starring The Crazy Gang
.
and the gang is carried to Nazi
Germany
. They are captured but break out of prison, impersonate Adolf Hitler
and return to England
in a stolen secret weapon.
The film was a morale-booster at a period of the war
when Britain looked in real danger of defeat.
1941 in film
The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Walter Forde and Marcel Varnel and starring The Crazy Gang
The Crazy Gang
The Crazy Gang were a group of British entertainers, formed in the early 1930s. In the mature form the group's six men were Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen, Jimmy Nervo, Teddy Knox, Charlie Naughton and Jimmy Gold...
.
Plot summary
The film brims with British comedy talent of the period. The Crazy Gang’s mobile fish and chip shop is accidentally tied to a barrage balloonBarrage balloon
A barrage balloon is a large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against low-level aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult. Some versions carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up...
and the gang is carried to Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. They are captured but break out of prison, impersonate Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and return to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in a stolen secret weapon.
The film was a morale-booster at a period of the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when Britain looked in real danger of defeat.
Cast
- Bud FlanaganBud FlanaganBud Flanagan was a popular English music hall and vaudeville entertainer from the 1930s until the 1960s. Flanagan was famous as a wartime entertainer and his achievements were recognised when he was awarded the O.B.E. in 1960.- Family background :Flaganan was born Chaim Reuben Weintrop in...
as Bud - Chesney AllenChesney AllenChesney Allen was a popular English entertainer of the Second World War period. He is best remembered as part of the double act with Bud Flanagan, Flanagan and Allen.-Life and career:...
as Ches - Jimmy Nervo as Cecil
- Teddy Knox as Knoxy
- Charlie NaughtonCharlie NaughtonCharles John "Charlie" Naughton was a Scottish comedian.He was a member of The Crazy Gang, and part of a double act with fellow Glaswegian Jimmy Gold...
as Charlie - Jimmy GoldJimmy GoldJimmy Gold was a comedian and part of the music hall act of Naughton and Gold. Later they became part of The Crazy Gang....
as Goldy - Moore MarriottMoore MarriottMoore Marriott was a British character actor most notable for a series of films he made with Will Hay in the 1930s.-Career:...
as Jerry Jenkins - Wally PatchWally PatchWally Patch was a British character actor, who had supporting roles in many films. He was born Walter Sidney Vinnicombe in Willesden, London on 26 September 1888...
as Sergeant-Major - Peter GawthornePeter GawthornePeter Gawthorne was an Irish actor, probably best known for his roles in Will Hay films. Gawthorne was one of Britain's most called-upon bit part actors during the 1940s and 50s....
as Commanding Officer - Frederick ValkFrederick ValkFrederick Valk was a German-born Jewish stage and screen actor of Czech descent who fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1930s to escape Nazi persecution, and subsequently became a naturalised British citizen...
as Sturmfuehrer - Eric Clavering as Scharffuehrer
- Anthony EustrelAnthony EustrelAnthony Eustrel was a British actor. His ashes are inurned at Chapel of the Pines Crematory.-Selected filmography:* Under the Red Robe * Second Bureau * The Wife of General Ling * Gasbags...
as Gestapo Officer - Carl JaffeCarl JaffeCarl Jaffe was a German Jewish actor. Jaffe trained on the stage in his native Hamburg, Kassel and Wiesbaden before moving to Berlin, where his career took off....
as Gestapo Chief - Manning WhileyManning Whiley-Selected filmography:* Pack Up Your Troubles * The Ghost of St. Michael's * Pimpernel' Smith * The Dummy Talks * Bell-Bottom George * The Seventh Veil * Tehran...
as Colonel - Torin ThatcherTorin ThatcherTorin Thatcher was an English actor born in Bombay, British India, India), to English parents. He was an imposing, powerfully built figure noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains....
as SS Man - Irene HandlIrene Handl-Life:Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the daughter of an Austrian banker father and French mother. She took to acting at the relatively advanced age of 36, and studied at the acting school run by the sister of Dame Sybil Thorndike...
as Wife
Soundtrack
- Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen - "Yesterday's Dreams" (Written by Michael CarrMichael CarrMichael Carr or Mike Carr may refer to:*Michael Carr , British politician, MP for Ribble Valley 1991-92*Michael Carr , British politician, MP for Bootle in 1990...
and Dorothy DayDorothy DayDorothy Day was an American journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert; she advocated the Catholic economic theory of Distributism. She was also considered to be an anarchist, and did not hesitate to use the term...
)