It's Not Cricket (1949 film)
Encyclopedia
It's Not Cricket is a 1949 British
comedy film
directed by Alfred Roome
and starring Basil Radford
, Naunton Wayne
, Susan Shaw
and Maurice Denham
. It was one of the final films made by Gainsborough Pictures
before the studio was merged into the Rank Organisation
.
is actually wanted war criminal Otto Fisch. He vanishes on arrival in England and the two officers are punished by early demobilisation. Uncertain what to do in civvy street, they decide to utilise the 'skills' they learned in the army and set up a private detective agency, 'Bright and Early'. They engage a secretary, Primrose Brown, but she's not very busy as they have as yet no clients.
Primroses's boyfriend/fiancee invites them all to a weekend country house party for a cricket
match. But what they don't know is that the cricket ball they buy in London actually contains a valuable stolen diamond
that Fisch has purloined. It has been hidden in the hollow ball by his friend and protector Mr Felix, who runs a sporting goods shop.
As the match gets under way, Fisch and Felix watch from the cover of the trees and manage to infiltrate the game, stealing the ball. A free-for-all chase ensues; Bright and Early manage to recover the ball and the diamond. They now become celebrities and don't lack for eager clients. Fisch is finally seen working for the detective agency, the two detectives still apparently unaware of his identity.
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 Alfred Roome
Alfred Roome
Alfred Roome was a British cinematographer, film editor and occasional director. Born in London, on 22 December 1908 he first worked in the film industry as a film editor on the 1932 British comedy film Thark...
and starring Basil Radford
Basil Radford
Basil Radford was an English character actor who featured in many British films of the 1930s and 1940s. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his first stage appearance in July 1924...
, Naunton Wayne
Naunton Wayne
Naunton Wayne , was a British character actor, born in Llanwonno, South Wales. He was educated at Clifton College....
, Susan Shaw
Susan Shaw
Susan Shaw was an English actress.Shaw began her film career in 1946 when she was signed to a contract by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation...
and Maurice Denham
Maurice Denham
Maurice Denham OBE was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 television programmes and films throughout his long career.-Life and career:...
. It was one of the final films made by Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London. Gainsborough Studios were active between 1924 and 1951. Built as a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway it...
before the studio was merged into the Rank Organisation
Rank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment company formed during 1937 and absorbed in 1996 by The Rank Group Plc. It was the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities....
.
Plot
Major Bright and Capain Early are intelligence officers in the British army of occupation in post-WW2 Germany. They are sent home on leave, but fail to notice that their new batmanBatman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
is actually wanted war criminal Otto Fisch. He vanishes on arrival in England and the two officers are punished by early demobilisation. Uncertain what to do in civvy street, they decide to utilise the 'skills' they learned in the army and set up a private detective agency, 'Bright and Early'. They engage a secretary, Primrose Brown, but she's not very busy as they have as yet no clients.
Primroses's boyfriend/fiancee invites them all to a weekend country house party for a cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
match. But what they don't know is that the cricket ball they buy in London actually contains a valuable stolen diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
that Fisch has purloined. It has been hidden in the hollow ball by his friend and protector Mr Felix, who runs a sporting goods shop.
As the match gets under way, Fisch and Felix watch from the cover of the trees and manage to infiltrate the game, stealing the ball. A free-for-all chase ensues; Bright and Early manage to recover the ball and the diamond. They now become celebrities and don't lack for eager clients. Fisch is finally seen working for the detective agency, the two detectives still apparently unaware of his identity.
Cast
- Basil RadfordBasil RadfordBasil Radford was an English character actor who featured in many British films of the 1930s and 1940s. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his first stage appearance in July 1924...
- Major Bright - Naunton WayneNaunton WayneNaunton Wayne , was a British character actor, born in Llanwonno, South Wales. He was educated at Clifton College....
- Captain Early - Susan ShawSusan ShawSusan Shaw was an English actress.Shaw began her film career in 1946 when she was signed to a contract by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation...
- Primrose Brown - Maurice DenhamMaurice DenhamMaurice Denham OBE was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 television programmes and films throughout his long career.-Life and career:...
- Otto Fisch - Nigel Buchanan - Gerald Lawson
- Alan WheatleyAlan WheatleyAlan Wheatley was a radio announcer who turned to stage and screen acting in the 1930s and was much seen in British films, being a television actor during the black and white era....
- Felix - Jane Carr - Virginia Briscoe
- Patrick WaddingtonPatrick WaddingtonPatrick Waddington was an English actor, educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. Born and died in York, England.-Filmography:*Department S: Who Plays the Dummy? - NATO General...
- Valentine Christmas - Edward LexyEdward Lexy-Filmography:* Under Secret Orders * Mademoiselle Docteur * Farewell Again * Knight Without Armour * Action for Slander * Smash and Grab * The Green Cockatoo...
- Brigadier Falcon - Leslie DwyerLeslie DwyerLeslie Dwyer was an English character actor of film and television. He was born in Catford, the son of the popular music hall comedian Johnny Dwyer and acted from the age of ten and appeared in his first film in 1921...
- Batman - Frederick PiperFrederick PiperFrederick Piper was an English actor who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Never a leading player, Piper was usually cast in minor, sometimes uncredited, parts although he also appeared in some more substantial supporting roles...
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- Blonde woman - Mary Hinton - Lady Lawson
- Margaret WithersMargaret Withers-Selected filmography:* Car of Dreams 1935)* Don't Take It to Heart * Great Day * The Upturned Glass * Blanche Fury * Esther Waters * That Dangerous Age * It's Not Cricket...
- Mrs Falcon - Brian OultonBrian OultonBrian Oulton was an English character actor.Born in Liverpool, he made his acting debut in 1939 as a lead actor...
- Simon Herbage - John BoxerJohn Boxer (British actor)John Boxer was a British film and television actor.Boxer's television appearances included Emergency – Ward 10, Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint, Randall and Hopkirk , The Onedin Line and The Life and Times of David Lloyd George.-Selected filmography:* There Ain't No Justice * Convoy *...
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- Barman