It's That Man Again (film)

It's That Man Again is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Tommy Handley, Greta Gynt and Jack Train.[2] It was based on Handley's radio show It's That Man Again. In the film, the mayor of a small town lends his assistance to some drama students.

It's That Man Again
Opening title card
Directed byWalter Forde
Produced byEdward Black
Screenplay byHoward Irving Young
& Ted Kavanagh
Based onthe BBC radio series by Ted Kavanagh
StarringTommy Handley
Greta Gynt
Jack Train
Music byHans May (original music)
Louis Levy (musical direction)
CinematographyBasil Emmott
Edited byR.E. Dearing
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • 10 February 1943 (1943-02-10)
[1]
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The disreputable mayor (Tommy Handley) of small town Foaming-at-the-Mouth gambles the civic accounts and wins a bombed out local theatre. He steals the rights to a new play which he stages in an attempt to save the financial situation. However, local drama students he has cheated turn up and try to ruin the show.

Cast

Critical reception

TV Guide wrote: "This wartime comedy has some genuinely funny moments but never rises to the fevered pitch that would really give it the needed craziness. The story is taken from a delightfully loopy British radio show, but the translation to screen just doesn't work".[3] Radio Times has called it "disappointing," commenting on Tommy Handley, "the Liverpool-born comic's fast-talking style felt forced when shackled to the demands of a storyline, and his weaknesses as a physical comedian restricted the type of business he was able to carry off. Thus, while casting him as the devious mayor of Foaming-at-the-Mouth seemed sound enough, the events that follow his acquisition of a bombed-out London theatre feel like so much padding."[4] The Spinning Image was more positive, "if you approached it as a British predecessor to the Hollywood cult comedy Hellzapoppin' then you would have some idea of what to expect, with Handley demonstrating his dazzling ability with wordplay, reeling off the puns at a dizzying rate...Anarchic was the word to apply here, with the show they manage to get off the ground for the finale surprisingly hilarious in its throwing in everything but the kitchen sink style of laughs; before that it was patchily amusing, but engaging enough. As a record of a comedy phenomenon – twenty-two million listeners, as the titles proclaim – this was invaluable."[5]

References
  1. "Non-Stop Revue". The Times. 10 February 1943. p. 6.
  2. "It's That Man Again (1943)". Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
  3. "It's That Man Again".
  4. "It's That Man Again - Film from RadioTimes".
  5. "It's That Man Again Review (1943)".
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