source: Let's Be Famous

Let's Be Famous

It looks as if Ealing Studios were hedging their bets when making this comedy musical.They have Betty Driver,very good,from the North,Donnie Hale,OK,for the south and Jimmy O Sea,awful,for Ireland.So the film is very variable.When Driver is on screen the film gets a lift,she is a good singer.However the film comes to a total standstill.The trouble is that he thinks he is funny but he is not.The film is a spoof on commercial radio which had made inroads into the audience of the BBC who were considered rather highbrow.The songs are by Noel Gay,and whilst very catchy are not classics.Basil Radford is also featured as a chimeric station manager who is always sacking Donnie Hale for some reason or other.Not a memorable Ealing film but entertaining nonetheless.

I came across this film late one night on T.V and decided to watch it as the announcer mentioned that Betty from Coronation street was in it. This got me curious as i had never seen her in anything else, she is about 19 in this musical comedy that also stars Jimmy O'Dea who as the star of the film plays the typical stereotype Irish man who travels to London to broadcast on the BBC he thinks he is going to be singing but a mix up by a secretary leads to some confusion as the BBC only want him to be on spelling programme. Betty plays a young woman who goes behind her domineering fathers back and wins a singing competition which leads her to a contract to appear on a radio show in London. Betty can actually sing and not badly at that she is also given a romantic interest in the film. All said its not the worst i have seen even if the Ireland scenes are a bit patronizing but thats typical of the period.