He Snoops to Conquer
Encyclopedia
He Snoops to Conquer is a 1944 British
comedy film
directed by Marcel Varnel
and starring George Formby, Robertson Hare
, Elizabeth Allan, and Claude Bailey. An odd job man becomes mixed up in corruption in politics and town planning.
investigation around the town. Instead of doing a cross section
as ordered, he interviews the entire town's population. The results he produces shock the town's complacent leaders, who discover the people are deeply unhappy with the status quo
and wants radical changes in living conditions and other services. This is a blow to the council leader and his colleagues who all have financial interests in keeping the town as it is. Oxbold is a slum landlord who fears a Whitehall
scheme to demolish much of the existing town and rebuild it with council houses. To avert this, Oxbold and his colleagues decide to send off to London only those limited number of forms which praise the current situation. Gribble is ordered to burn the rest but, not wishing to waste paper, he puts them out for salvage
instead.
Gribble had agreed to conduct the polling in return for being paid £27 which he needed to give to a creditor
. However, facing upcoming municipal elections with a clearly unpopular the town's leader decide to invite the inventor Sir Timothy Strawberry to stand for the council to boost its popularity. Strawberry is a wealthy, reclusive, eccentric who enjoys popularity in the town because of his extensive Philanthropy
. Strawberry was the only man who did not respond to the polling because Gribble could not get past the door by the butler. Gribble is told he cannot have his money until he completes his survey and is sent off to find out of Strawberry has sound opinions, but again fails to get into the house. He then enjoys a chance meeting with Strawberry in the street, when after a mishap, they find themselves careering through the town on the road sweeper. Gribble accidentally presses a button that releases all the unfavourable polling forms through the street. To avoid the police on their tail they go and shelter in Strawberry's house, where Gribble meets Strawberry's daughter Jane who he is immediately smitten by.
Despite finally persuading Strawberry to fill out his form Gribble is sacked by his bosses when they discover that it was he who originally showed the newspapermen round the town. His problems mount when he is beset by an angry mob of townspeople who have found the abandoned forms on the street and blame Gribble for the cover up
. He is also pursued by bailiff
s for the money he owes. However, Jane comes up with the idea of Gribble running for the council on a pro-town planning platform. With the support of the newspaper he soon builds up a head of steam and looks likely to be elected. Oxbold and his colleagues plan top this by getting their hands on the forms to destroy the evidence of their dishonesty. After Gribbles' furniture is possessed by the bailiffs including the vase where he had stored the forms, he takes part in a desperate race against clock in order to recover them and produce them at a major town planning conference. Gribble fails to recover them but is saved by Strawberry who had recorded them electronically. The film ends with the crooked councillers exposed and Gribble being hailed by the people.
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Marcel Varnel
Marcel Varnel
Marcel Varnel was a film director. He was born Marcel Hyacinthe le Bozec in Paris, France.Varnel started his working life on the Paris stage but soon became a director of musical comedies. In 1925 he moved to New York working as director in several Broadway operettas, musicals and dramas for the...
and starring George Formby, Robertson Hare
Robertson Hare
John Robertson Hare was an English comedy actor, popularly known as Bunny, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is known for routinely losing his trousers on-stage, at which point he would utter his catchphrase "Oh Calamity"...
, Elizabeth Allan, and Claude Bailey. An odd job man becomes mixed up in corruption in politics and town planning.
Plot
The film is set in immediate post-war Britain. After being ordered to do a piece on town planning two newspapermen randomly pick on the small, industrial town of Tangleton. After arriving at the town hall the only man they can find working is the odd job man, George Gribble, who gives them a guided tour of the town. However, they run a negative angle on the story highlighting the fact that the wealthy leader of the council, Mr Oxbold, lives in a giant house by himself while Gribble is one of fourteen staying in a tiny slum house. When they read the article, the town's leaders order Gribble to do an public opinionPublic opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
investigation around the town. Instead of doing a cross section
Cross-sectional data
Cross-sectional data or cross section in statistics and econometrics is a type of one-dimensional data set. Cross-sectional data refers to data collected by observing many subjects at the same point of time, or without regard to differences in time...
as ordered, he interviews the entire town's population. The results he produces shock the town's complacent leaders, who discover the people are deeply unhappy with the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
and wants radical changes in living conditions and other services. This is a blow to the council leader and his colleagues who all have financial interests in keeping the town as it is. Oxbold is a slum landlord who fears a Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
scheme to demolish much of the existing town and rebuild it with council houses. To avert this, Oxbold and his colleagues decide to send off to London only those limited number of forms which praise the current situation. Gribble is ordered to burn the rest but, not wishing to waste paper, he puts them out for salvage
Waste sorting
Waste sorting is the process by which waste is separated into different elements. Waste sorting can occur manually at the household and collected through curbside collection schemes, or automatically separated in materials recovery facilities or mechanical biological treatment systems.Waste can...
instead.
Gribble had agreed to conduct the polling in return for being paid £27 which he needed to give to a creditor
Creditor
A creditor is a party that has a claim to the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption that the second party will return an equivalent property or...
. However, facing upcoming municipal elections with a clearly unpopular the town's leader decide to invite the inventor Sir Timothy Strawberry to stand for the council to boost its popularity. Strawberry is a wealthy, reclusive, eccentric who enjoys popularity in the town because of his extensive Philanthropy
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
. Strawberry was the only man who did not respond to the polling because Gribble could not get past the door by the butler. Gribble is told he cannot have his money until he completes his survey and is sent off to find out of Strawberry has sound opinions, but again fails to get into the house. He then enjoys a chance meeting with Strawberry in the street, when after a mishap, they find themselves careering through the town on the road sweeper. Gribble accidentally presses a button that releases all the unfavourable polling forms through the street. To avoid the police on their tail they go and shelter in Strawberry's house, where Gribble meets Strawberry's daughter Jane who he is immediately smitten by.
Despite finally persuading Strawberry to fill out his form Gribble is sacked by his bosses when they discover that it was he who originally showed the newspapermen round the town. His problems mount when he is beset by an angry mob of townspeople who have found the abandoned forms on the street and blame Gribble for the cover up
Cover Up
Cover Up is an American action/adventure television series that aired for one season on CBS from September 22, 1984 to April 6, 1985. Created by Glen A. Larson, the series stars Jennifer O'Neill, Jon-Erik Hexum, Antony Hamilton, and Richard Anderson....
. He is also pursued by bailiff
Bailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
s for the money he owes. However, Jane comes up with the idea of Gribble running for the council on a pro-town planning platform. With the support of the newspaper he soon builds up a head of steam and looks likely to be elected. Oxbold and his colleagues plan top this by getting their hands on the forms to destroy the evidence of their dishonesty. After Gribbles' furniture is possessed by the bailiffs including the vase where he had stored the forms, he takes part in a desperate race against clock in order to recover them and produce them at a major town planning conference. Gribble fails to recover them but is saved by Strawberry who had recorded them electronically. The film ends with the crooked councillers exposed and Gribble being hailed by the people.
Cast
- George Formby - George Gribble
- Robertson HareRobertson HareJohn Robertson Hare was an English comedy actor, popularly known as Bunny, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is known for routinely losing his trousers on-stage, at which point he would utter his catchphrase "Oh Calamity"...
- Sir Timothy Strawbridge - Elizabeth Allan - Jane Strawbridge
- Claude Bailey - Councillor Oxbold
- James HarcourtJames HarcourtJames Harcourt was a British character actor. He was born on 20 April 1873 in Headingley, Yorkshire.He started work as a cabinet maker, and drifted into amateur dramatics...
- Councillor Hopkins - Aubrey MallalieuAubrey MallalieuAubrey Mallalieu was an English actor with a prolific career in supporting roles in films in the 1930s and 1940s....
- Councillor Stubbins - Gordon McLeodGordon McLeod (actor)Gordon McLeod was an English actor, born Charles Gordon McLeod.His film appearances include Chance of a Lifetime and The Silent Passenger, but he is best known for his recurring appearance as the character Claud Eustace Teal in films such as The Saint Meets the Tiger.-Selected filmography:* A...
- Angus McGluee - Vincent Holman - Butler
- Katie JohnsonKatie JohnsonKatie Johnson , born Bessie Kate Johnson, was an English actress who appeared on stage from 1894 and on screen from the 1930s to the 1950s...
- Ma, George's Landlady