Max Miller

Carole Lynne

Mark Lester

Wilfrid Hyde-White

Billy Percy

Esma Cannon

Aubrey Mallalieu

Kenneth Kove

Eleanor Hallam

Chick Elliott

Oswald Mitchell

Con West

Wallace Orton

James Wilson

Fergus McDonell

R. Holmes Paul

James Morris

Arthur Grant

Kennedy Russell

Drama

Comedy

Asking for Trouble

British National Films

United Kingdom

CinemaSerf

It is probably rather unfair to try and evaluate Max Miller's performance in this wartime effort now. His relentless delivery, straight from the British music-halls, offers us a torrent of quick-witted quips that all too often simply overwhelm the story - and leave the audience gasping for breath! There is no doubting, though, that his humour offered a breath of fresh air in this daft tale of a struggling fishmonger who runs an illegal book on the side. To keep it interesting, he decides to try and help "Jane" (Carol Lynne) to avoid an unwanted marriage by donning his best "Alan Quatermain" hat and pretending to be her big game hunter fiancée - with ominously silly results. It's just too long - even Miller can't sustain the intensity of his dialogue for 80 minutes, and the frequently pithy writing from auteur Oswald Mitchell starts to border on the preposterous a bit too quickly. Fortunately, though, it’s got a couple of welcome stabilising contributions from Wilfred Hyde-White as the rather acerbic butler to the troubled damsel's father "General Smythe" (Mark Lester) to help out and it's fun, fast and furious. Perhaps just a bit feeble nowadays?

English

Asking for Trouble

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