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Ask a Policeman

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7.4/10 • 21

1939-04-291h 23m

Comedy

The mirthful adventures of Police-Sergeant Samuel Dudfoot and his two constables, Albert Brown and Jeremias Harbottle, who stage a fabricated crime-wave to save their jobs---and then find themselves involved in the real thing.

Directors
Marcel Varnel
Editors
R. E. Dearing

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Will Hay

    Will Hay

    Sergt. Dudfoot

  2. Graham Moffatt

    Graham Moffatt

    Albert

  3. Moore Marriott

    Moore Marriott

    Harbottle

  4. Glennis Lorimer

    Glennis Lorimer

    Emily

  5. Peter Gawthorne

    Peter Gawthorne

    Chief Constable

  6. Charles Oliver

    Charles Oliver

    The Squire

  7. Herbert Lomas

    Herbert Lomas

    Coastguard

  8. Patrick Aherne

    Patrick Aherne

    Motorist

  9. Cyril Chamberlain

    Cyril Chamberlain

    Radio Announcer

Reviews2

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Sep 29, 2015

10/10

When the tide runs low in the smugglers cove... Turnbotham Round has no crime, something that becomes common knowledge after a radio programme is broadcast from the village. Upon hearing this broadcast, the top brass at Scotland Yard send word that if there is no crime there, then why employ policemen to police the village? Realising that their good lives are about to come to an end, inept coppers Dudfoot (Will Hay), Brown (Graham Moffatt) and Harbottle (Moore Marriott) set about making some arrests. What they hadn't bargained for was the uncovering of a smuggling ring and the unleashing of the phantom headless horseman. Much like Will Hay's Good Morning, Boys (1937) followed a similar formula to that of one of his earlier pictures, Boys Will Be Boys (1935), so it be with Ask A Policeman in that it has close links with critics fave, Oh Mr. Porter! (1937). However, that in no way is a bad thing because Ask A Policeman is utter joy from start to finish. In fact I would go so far as to say that the writing is actually better here. With a writing team consisting of Marriott Edgar, Sidney Gilliat, Val Guest and J.O.C. Orton, it's no wonder that the gags come thick and fast and still hold up over 80 years later. Marcel Varnel once again directs Hay and his blunderingly magnificent sidekicks, Marriott and Moffatt, and each of them are on terrific form as they within a heartbeat lurch from incredulity to stupidity. They are helped by the story and its delightful supernatural set ups. These coppers have been having it easy for so long they have forgotten just what it takes to be a copper. More content with bending the rules for an easy life (note some nice satire in the writing), these guys are suddenly faced with the supernatural and actual real crime. Something they are delightfully unable to properly cope with. From trying to set up a roadside speeding arrest to an attempt at solving an ancient smugglers rhyme, Ask A Policeman, courtesy of an across the board team on fire, is to my mind one of the greatest British films of all time. So pay attention to the jokes and admire the visual comedy that goes with them, and then hopefully you too will appreciate just what genius Hay and his cohorts brought to British comedy between 1936 to 1940. 10/10

Media

  • Ask a Policeman poster
  • Ask a Policeman poster
  • Ask a Policeman poster
  • Ask a Policeman poster
  • Ask a Policeman poster
  • Ask a Policeman poster
  • Ask a Policeman poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
countrysidebumbling cops