"Memoirs.... My Memoirs" - The Ealing Comedies Quiz

Answer: Crime

The studios at Ealing were first established as early as 1902, predating both Hollywood and the British studios at Elstree and Pinewood. Beginning with 'Hue and Cry' in 1947, and ending with 'Davy' in 1957, the Ealing Comedies, as a series, consist of a total of seventeen wonderful films, many of which feature master criminals... Actually, most of these criminal characters are far from being master criminals! Of the six films in the series that feature crime, petty crime is addressed in 'Whisky Galore!' and 'A Run For Your Money' both of which were released in 1949; those that feature more serious crime are 'Hue and Cry' which is considered to be the very first of the Ealing Comedies and which was released in 1947. 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' was released in 1949 and is possibly the only film ever made in which mass murder is treated as a laughing matter. 'The Lavender Hill Mob' was released in 1951 and 'The Ladykillers' appeared during 1955.

Other films in the series address subjects such as national and local politics, personal relationships and espionage; one element that they all exhibit however is an unmistakably British sense of humour.

Although the early to mid-1950s saw the production of some of the Ealing studios most popular films, 'The Lavender Hill Mob', 'The Man in the White Suit' and 'The Ladykillers' they were already beginning to struggle financially and by 1959 the studios had closed.

Answer: S.S. Politician

On the 3rd of January 1941, the S.S. Politician departed Liverpool bound for Jamaica. Its cargo included a quarter of a million bottles of Whisky and the modern equivalent of several million pounds in hard cash! The vessel ran aground on the Hebridean island of Eriskay and this very funny film recounts the attempts by the islanders to salvage as much of the vessels cargo as they could before it sank, in spite of the efforts of the authorities to prevent them from doing so.

The film was actually shot on the island of Barra during the summer of 1948 and went seriously over budget due to delays incurred through the atrocious weather that summer. Bottles of whisky from the wreck are occasionally washed up on the beaches in the surrounding area today.

The locals must have been unaware of the huge amount of cash on board as most of it was later recovered... But not all of it!

Answer: Pimlico

'Pimlico' is a small district of London lying within the City of Westminster. After a group of children, playing on a bombsite in post-war London, accidentally detonate an unexploded German bomb, a hidden cellar containing treasure and old documents is discovered deep underground. Documents recovered from the cellar prove that Pimlico is, in fact, a long forgotten possession of Burgundy.

After giving consideration to this information, the residents of Pimlico decide to declare independence from the United Kingdom and this film follows events as the UK government try to regain control by enforcing a blockade. Actor Stanley Holloway, who played the lead character Arthur Pemberton, was an Ealing Comedy regular who also starred in the productions 'The Titfield Thunderbolt' and 'The Lavender Hill Mob'.

It is accepted that this film makes reference to the Berlin Blockade which was in force whilst 'Passport to Pimlico' was in production.

Answer: Hue and Cry

'Hue and Cry' is the film that is considered to be the very first of the classic Ealing Comedies. The story follows the exploits of a young boy and his friends, the Blood and Thunder Boys, who are convinced that a master criminal is planning his next great heist through the pages of a comic called 'The Trump'.

After reporting their facts to the police, who are wholly unconvinced, the gang set about entrapping the criminals and exposing their plans. 'Hue and Cry' also made fantastic use of the outside locations in post-war London with a number of its scenes being filmed on actual bombsites.

Answer: The Eiffel Tower

Starring Alec Guinness and Sidney Holloway, and supported by Sid James and Alfie Bass, the humorous tale of 'The Lavender Hill Mob' tells of mild mannered and honest bullion transfer agent, Holland, who devises a plan to steal gold bullion from his employers.

After befriending Pendlebury, played by Stanley Holloway; a man who earns his living manufacturing cheap tourist souvenirs, Holland remarks that it would be possible using Pendlebury's metal smelting equipment to melt stolen gold into small souvenir models of the Eiffel Tower and smuggle the gold across the channel to France. Things become more difficult for Holland and Pendlebury after they avail themselves of the expertise of professional criminals, played by Sidney James and Alfie Bass.

The export of the souvenirs goes according to plan but an error in translation and the arrival of a party of schoolgirls leads Holland and Pendlebury back to England and back into clutches of the police.

Answer: Louisa Wilberforce

Made during 1955, 'The Ladykillers' is the fourteenth of the Ealing comedies and is still considered to be one of the best British films ever made. This classic stars Alec Guinness, Herbert Lom, Cecil Parker, Peter Sellers and Danny Green as members of a gang of criminals who are planning their next robbery. Using the pretence of being a group of musicians the gang leader, Alec Guinness, lodges in the house of Mrs Wilberforce, a harmless looking old lady with a vivid imagination and who is well known at the local police station for crying wolf; leading them to humouring her but not taking her at all seriously. Unfortunately for the gang, Mrs Wilberforce, played by Katie Johnson, is not as harmless or as gullible as she looks and after she stumbles across their plans the gang decide that they must kill her; a task that turns out to be somewhat more difficult than the gang assumed that it would be.

As the gang members double cross each other in their attempts to avoid killing Mrs Wilberforce they turn inwards and against each other with darkly hilarious results.

Answer: A steam locomotive

The Titfield Thunderbolt was made in 1953 and starred Stanley Holloway, George Relph, John Gregson and Gabrielle Brune. The film recounts the exploits of a group of villagers who make a bid to run their railway branch line between the villages of Titfield and Mallingford after British Railways decides to close it down. Unfortunately the villager's plans, bankrolled by a wealthy member of the local community who has his own agenda, conflict with those of the local bus company who stand to make huge profits once the branch line has been closed.

The actual locomotive used in filming the 'Titfield Thunderbolt' was a museum piece called the Lion that was operated by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. This locomotive was already well over one hundred years old and more than capable of getting up a head of steam.

The damage to the tender that was sustained when the locomotive was derailed in the film is still in evidence today.

Answer: D'Ascoyne family

Narrated by the central character, Louis Mazzini from his prison cell, 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' was director Robert Hamer's only Ealing comedy and the commercial pinnacle of his entire career. After his mother, a member of the D'Ascoyne family ran away with a common opera singer, both she and her son Louis (Mazzini) were rejected by this somewhat aristocratic but snobbish family.

As an adult, Louis hatches a plan to have his revenge against them all by killing every member of the D'Ascoyne family, one by one, and claiming what he considers to be his birthright, the D'Ascoyne dukedom. 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' was made in 1949 and is widely considered to be the darkest of the Ealing comedies.

Answer: Magnet

After being accused of stealing the magnet, which he had exchanged for an invisible watch, Johnny Brent runs away, ashamed of what he has done and tries to rid himself of it. The magnet is later auctioned to raise funds for equipment at a local hospital and young Brent returns home. Overhearing a conversation between the nanny of the boy from which he obtained the magnet and her friend, he believes that he is responsible for the death, through a broken heart, of his victim; he is grossly mistaken as they were discussing the death of a pet budgerigar! Running away to Liverpool after hiding in a van, he befriends a group of local boys who believe that he is hiding from the police; it is after saving the life of one of them, after an accident, that Johnny finally redeems himself and finds inner peace. Unfortunately for the Ealing Studios, 'The Magnet' did not prove as popular as a number of their earlier offerings and it has been criticised as being merely an attempt to cash in the success of 'Hue and Cry'.

Answer: Inventor

This film was the second Ealing comedy directed by Alexander McKendrick and was the follow-up to the surprisingly successful 'Whisky Galore!' Sidney Stratton, chemist and inventor, has developed an indestructible, stain and dirt repellent material. At first he is fêted by his employer, but before long the reality of his invention sinks in when it is realised that his invention threatens the entire fabric industry both at home and across the world. Unfortunately for Sidney, his new material is not all that it seems...

He should have signed his contract and taken his windfall while he could!