Radio Parade of 1935
Encyclopedia
Radio Parade of 1935 released in the USA as Radio Follies, is a British
comedy film
directed by Arthur B. Woods
and starring Will Hay
, Clifford Mollison
and Helen Chandler
.
) who promotes the ambitious Head of Complaints to Programmer Director (Clifford Mollison
) in an attempt to stem the number of complaints he is receiving owing to the station's overly intellectual programming. In 1930's British slang, the acronym "NBG" stood for "no bloody good". The character played by Hay is clearly intended to be a satirical parody of Lord Reith
, and the NBG the BBC
.
. The film is extant.
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 Arthur B. Woods
Arthur B. Woods
Arthur Bickerstaffe Woods was an English film director with 27 credits between 1933 and 1940. Woods' films were mainly quota quickies but were diverse in style, from light comedy and musicals to dark crime thrillers. His most acclaimed film is 1938's They Drive by Night...
and starring Will Hay
Will Hay
William Thomson "Will" Hay was an English comedian, actor, film director and amateur astronomer.-Early life:He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, in north east England, to William R...
, Clifford Mollison
Clifford Mollison
Clifford Lely Mollison was a British film and television actor. He was married to the actress Avril Wheatley. His younger brother was the actor Henry Mollison.-Selected filmography:* The Lucky Number...
and Helen Chandler
Helen Chandler
Helen Chandler was an American film and theater actress.-Career:Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Chandler began her acting career in New York at the age of nine and was on Broadway two years later in 1917...
.
Plot
The film tells the story of the sophisticated Director General of the National Broadcasting Group (Will HayWill Hay
William Thomson "Will" Hay was an English comedian, actor, film director and amateur astronomer.-Early life:He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, in north east England, to William R...
) who promotes the ambitious Head of Complaints to Programmer Director (Clifford Mollison
Clifford Mollison
Clifford Lely Mollison was a British film and television actor. He was married to the actress Avril Wheatley. His younger brother was the actor Henry Mollison.-Selected filmography:* The Lucky Number...
) in an attempt to stem the number of complaints he is receiving owing to the station's overly intellectual programming. In 1930's British slang, the acronym "NBG" stood for "no bloody good". The character played by Hay is clearly intended to be a satirical parody of Lord Reith
John Reith, 1st Baron Reith
John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith, KT, GCVO, GBE, CB, TD, PC was a Scottish broadcasting executive who established the tradition of independent public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom...
, and the NBG the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
Production background and preservation status
Two sequences in the film were filmed in DufaycolorDufaycolor
Dufaycolor is an early French and British additive color photographic film process for motion pictures and stills photography. It was based on a four-color screen photographic process invented in 1908 by Frenchman Louis Dufay...
. The film is extant.
Cast
- Will HayWill HayWilliam Thomson "Will" Hay was an English comedian, actor, film director and amateur astronomer.-Early life:He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, in north east England, to William R...
as DG.William Garland - Helen ChandlerHelen ChandlerHelen Chandler was an American film and theater actress.-Career:Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Chandler began her acting career in New York at the age of nine and was on Broadway two years later in 1917...
as Joan Garland - Clifford MollisonClifford MollisonClifford Lely Mollison was a British film and television actor. He was married to the actress Avril Wheatley. His younger brother was the actor Henry Mollison.-Selected filmography:* The Lucky Number...
as Jimmy Clare - Davy BurnabyDavy BurnabyDavy Burnaby was a British actor who appeared in more than thirty films between 1929 and 1948. He was born in Buckland, Hertfordshire and made his screen debut in the 1929 film The Devil's Maze. He died in 1949....
as Sir Frederick Fotheringhay - Lily MorrisLily MorrisLily Morris , born Lilles Mary Crosby, was an English music hall performer, who specialized in comedic singing....
& Nellie WallaceNellie WallaceNellie Wallace was a British music hall star. She was born in Glasgow in 1870 as Eleanor Jane Wallace and first performed on the stage as a clog dancer at the age of 12...
as Charladies - Western Brothers as Announcers
- Alfred DraytonAlfred DraytonAlfred Drayton was a British film actor.Drayton worked in a brewery when he was 18 but having a good deal of amateur dramatics experience decided to go on stage. His first appearance on stage was The Beloved Vagabond at Cardiff in 1908 and his London debut was at the Haymarket Theatre the...
as Carl Graham - George Harris as Pageboy
- Gerry Fitzgerald & Arthur YoungArthur Young (actor)Arthur Young was an English actor, notable for roles including Gladstone in the 1951 The Lady with the Lamp....
as Window Cleaners - Claude DampierClaude DampierClaude Dampier was a British film actor. He was born in Clapham as Claud Conolly Cowan.-Filmography:* Hullo Marmaduke * The Adventures of Algy * Mr...
as Piano Tuner - Robert NainbyRobert Nainby-Selected filmography:* Dandy Dick * Royal Cavalcade * Death on the Set * No Monkey Business * When Knights Were Bold * Public Nuisance No. 1 * Land Without Music...
as Col.Featherstone Haugh Haugh - Hugh E.Wright as Algernon Bird
- Jimmy GoddenJimmy GoddenJimmy Godden was a British film actor.He was educated at Christ's Hospital and was in the Civil Service before becoming a concert pianist...
as Vere de V. de Vere - Basil Foster as Capt.Esne St J. Entwistle
- Ivor McLaren as Eric Lyttle-Lyttle