Time Flies (1944 film)
Times 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 |
| Produced by | Edward Black |
| Screenplay by | J.O.C. Orton Ted Kavanagh Howard Irving Young |
| Starring | Tommy Handley Evelyn Dall George Moon |
| Music by | Bretton Byrd |
| Cinematography | Basil Emmott |
| Edited by | R.E. Dearing |
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.
An over-lavish production in terms of costumes, many of which are immaculate, the film largely makes use of the Gainsborough wardrobe to get to films out of one set of Elizabethan clothes.
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]