AWOL for more than half a century, but now back on parade, this cheery army comedy is a showcase for variety star Hal Monty and a young Max Bygraves. Missing in action for many years, this raucous comedy of army life, which looks back on the latter days of WWII, is a slam-bang showcase for the boisterous variety antics of comedian Hal Monty, seen here in his heyday performing rough and ready slapstick sketches aplenty. He’s accompanied by regular foil Les Ritchie, as his uptight sergeant, and comical crooner Max Bygraves, in his screen debut.
Acting
Hal Monty's rubber-limbed variety turns in his only starring vehicle.
Production
Miraculous 2023 restoration of film thought destroyed for 70+ years.
Director
Robert Jordan Hill
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The only known print was discovered in 2022 in a private collection in Australia, having survived a 1960s warehouse fire that destroyed most of the original negatives.
Hal Monty was a huge variety draw in the 1940s but film stardom eluded him; this rediscovery finally gives context to a career that existed mostly in theatre anecdotes and fading memories.
US
GB
