Time Flies (1944 film)
Time Flies is a 1944 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Tommy Handley, Evelyn Dall, Felix Aylmer and Moore Marriott.[1] The screenplay concerns two music hall performers, an inventor and a con-man who travel back to Elizabethan times using a time machine.[2]
| Time Flies | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Opening title | |
| Directed by | Walter Forde |
| Screenplay by | J.O.C. Orton Ted Kavanagh Howard Irving Young |
| Produced by | Edward Black |
| Starring | Tommy Handley Evelyn Dall George Moon |
| Cinematography | Basil Emmott |
| Edited by | R. E. Dearing |
| Music by | Bretton Byrd |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Plot
A professor invents a time sphere which takes a group of 1940s entertainers to Elizabethan London, where they encounter Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh and introduce them to jazz culture.
They also meet Captain John Smith and a very heavy-drinking Pocahontas. The main female character meets William Shakespeare and feeds him some of his own lines, which he eagerly writes down.
A costume-production, (many of which are immaculate), which makes extensive use of the Gainsborough wardrobe.
Cast
- Tommy Handley – Tommy
- Evelyn Dall – Susie Barton
- George Moon – Bill Barton
- Felix Aylmer – The Professor
- Moore Marriott – A Soothsayer
- Graham Moffatt – His Nephew
- John Salew – William Shakespeare
- Leslie Bradley – Captain Walter Raleigh
- Olga Lindo – Queen Elizabeth
- Roy Emerton – Captain John Smith
- Iris Lang – Princess Pocahontas
- Stéphane Grappelli – A Troubadour
Critical reception
Sky Cinema gave the film two out of five stars, its review stating: "Despite the subject and the cast, the treatment lacks vivacity".[3] TV Guide rated it similarly: "A well-tuned script takes full advantages of the possibilities for comedy, but radio star Handley is a bit of a disappointment, looking sourly out of place on the screen";[4] The Radio Times rated it three out of five stars, concluding: "Some of the jokes have travelled less well and it falls flat in places, but it's a thoroughly entertaining romp".[5]