Hey! Hey! USA

Hey! Hey! USA
Hey! Hey! USA
Directed by	Marcel Varnel
Written by	J. O. C. Orton
Produced by	Michael Balcon
Starring	Will Hay; Edgar Kennedy; Edmon Ryan; David Burns
Cinematography	Arthur Crabtree
Edited by	R. E. Dearing
Music by	Charles Williams
Distributed by	Gainsborough Pictures
Release date	October 1938;
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Hey! Hey! USA is a 1938 British comedy film starring comedian Will Hay, Edgar Kennedy and Eddie Ryan.^[1] Hay appears as Benjamin Twist, a porter who accidentally finds himself on a ship bound for the United States. The film features an early appearance by child actor Roddy McDowall, before he went to live in America.^[2]

Plot outline

Benjamin Twist, a teacher working during school holidays as a ship's porter ends up on a ship bound for America and impersonating a professor, Phineas Tavistock. Along with American gangster and stowaway Bugs Leary (Edgar Kennedy), Twist finds himself entangled in a plot to kidnap the son of a millionaire whom 'Professor' Tavistock is teaching. Things are further complicated by the fact that two sets of gangsters are attempting to get their hands on the ransom money, which Twist is given to hand over.

Cast

Will Hay as Benjamin Twist/Professor Phineas Tavistock
Edgar Kennedy as Bugs Leary
David Burns as Tony Ricardo
Eddie Ryan as Ace Marco
Fred Duprez as Cyrus Schultz
Paddy Reynolds as Mrs Schultz
Tommy Bupp as Bertie Schultz
Arthur Goullet as Glove Johnson
Gibb McLaughlin as Steward
Eddie Pola
as Broadcast Announcer
Roddy McDowall as Boy
Peter Gawthorne as Ship's Captain
Charlie Hall as Leary's Pal
Charles Oliver as Curly
Danny Green as McGuire, the Chicago cop
John Salew (Uncredited)
Hugh McDermott (Uncredited)

Critical reception

Sky Movies wrote, "incomparable Will Hay reprises his splendidly shifty Dr Benjamin Twist character (the incompetent headmaster of St Michael's) in this breezy British comedy set in a quaintly observed America full of gun-toting gangsters. Comic stalwart Edgar Kennedy provides slow-burning support under the direction of Marcel Varnel, the dapper Frenchman who made most of Hay's biggest successes. " ^[2]

Bibliography

Slide, Anthony. 'Banned in the USA': British Films in the United States and their Censorship, 1933-1960. I.B. Tauris & Co, 1998.

External links

Hey! Hey! USA at
IMDb

References

^ "Hey! Hey! U.S.A.! | Bfi | Bfi". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Hey! Hey! USA - Sky Movies HD". Skymovies.sky.com. 23 May 2002. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.

This article related to a British comedy film of the 1930s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Hey! Hey! U.S.A.! | Bfi | Bfi". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2014.

[autogenerated2002-2] "Hey! Hey! USA - Sky Movies HD". Skymovies.sky.com. 23 May 2002. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.

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