He Snoops to Conquer
He Snoops to Conquer | |
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Directed by | Marcel Varnel |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Roy Fogwell |
Edited by | Max Brenner |
Music by | |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 103 mins |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
He Snoops to Conquer is a 1944 British
Plot
After being ordered to do a piece on
Gribble had agreed to conduct the polling in return for being paid £27.10s (decimal equivalent: £27.50), which he needed to give to a loan shark. However, facing upcoming municipal elections with a clearly unpopular[clarification needed] the town's leader decides to invite the inventor Sir Timothy Strawbridge to stand for the council to boost its popularity. Strawbridge is a wealthy, reclusive, eccentric who enjoys popularity in the town because of his extensive Philanthropy. Strawbridge was the only man who did not respond to the polling because Gribble could not get past the door by the butler. Gribble is told he cannot have his money until he completes his survey and is sent off to find out of Strawbridge has sound opinions, but again fails to get into the house. He then enjoys a chance meeting with Strawbridge in the street, when after a mishap, they find themselves careering through the town on the road sweeper. Gribble accidentally presses a button that releases all the unfavourable polling forms through the street. To avoid the police on their tail they go and shelter in Strawbridge’s house, where Gribble meets Strawbridge’s daughter Jane who he is immediately smitten by.
Despite finally persuading Strawbridge to fill out his form Gribble is sacked by his bosses when they discover that it was he who originally showed the newspapermen round the town. His problems mount when he is beset by an angry mob of townspeople who have found the abandoned forms on the street and blame Gribble for the
Cast
- George Formby as George Gribble
- Robertson Hare as Sir Timothy Strawbridge
- Elizabeth Allan as Jane Strawbridge
- Claude Bailey as Councillor Oxbold
- James Harcourt as Councillor Hopkins
- Aubrey Mallalieu as Councillor Stubbins
- Gordon McLeod as Angus McGluee
- Vincent Holman as Butler
- Katie Johnson as Ma, George's Landlady
Reception and analysis
- TV Guide concluded the film is a "not very good outing for Formby".[2]
- Halliwell's Film Guide called it a "spotty star comedy with insufficient zest for its great length."[3]
- In Masculinities in British Cinema, Andrew Spicer wrote that George Formby "personified a cheery, comic 'little man', who, despite his bumbling stupidity, has gumption and the will-to-win; in Let George Do It! he even punches Hitler on the nose. But although Formby provided what Mass-Observation thought was vital for public morale in the 'dark days' of the war, comic relief, his popularity declined rapidly at the end of the war. Neither He Snoops to Conquer (1944) or George in Civvy Street (1946), which attempted to align Formby with social change and reconstruction was successful".[4]
References
- ^ "BFI Database entry". Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
- ^ "He Snoops to Conquer Review". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
- ^ "He Snoops to Conquer".
- ^ "Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education - Faculties, Departments and Schools | UWE Bristol" (PDF).