Stanley Holloway

Stanley Holloway

Born: October 1, 1890
Died: January 30, 1982
in Manor Park, London, England, UK
Stanley Augustus Holloway, OBE (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady. He was also renowned for his recordings of comic monologues and songs, which he performed throughout most of his 70-year career.

Born in London, in his early years Holloway pursued a career as a clerk. He made early stage appearances before infantry service in the First World War. After the war he joined a concert party, "The Co-Optimists", and his career began to flourish. At first he was chiefly employed as a singer, but his skills as an actor and reciter of comic monologues were soon recognised. Characters from his monologues such as Sam Small, invented by Holloway, and Albert Ramsbottom, created for him by Marriott Edgar, were absorbed into popular British culture. By the 1930s, he was in demand to star in music hall, pantomime and musical comedy.

In the 1940s and early 1950s, Holloway moved from the musical stage to acting in plays and films. He made well-received stage and film appearances in Shakespeare, and in a series of films for Ealing Studios. In 1956 he was cast as the irresponsible Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady, a role that he played on Broadway, in the West End and later on film, which brought him international fame. In his later years, Holloway appeared in television series in the U.S. and the UK, toured in revue, appeared in stage plays in Britain, Canada, Australia and the U.S., and continued to make films into his eighties.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Stanley Holloway, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies for Stanley Holloway...

Journey into Fear
Title: Journey into Fear
Character: Mr. Mathews
Released: August 8, 1975
Type: Movie
U.S geologist discovers something about Oil that proves VERY threatening to the Turkish and Arab business people.
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Title: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Character: Poole der Butler
Released: March 7, 1973
Type: Movie
Musical version of the story in which Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
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Up the Front
Title: Up the Front
Character: The Great Vincento
Released: January 1, 1972
Type: Movie
In Frankie Howerd's third Up... film it's World War I and he plays Lurk, an absolute cowerd, er coward. He's evading the call-up for all he's worth. But one evening he's hypnotised by a drunken hypnotist (Stanley Holloway) into being brave, but he fails to be released from it. So with his yellow streak gone Lurk is down that army office before you can say "titter ye not." Off to war he goes, mingling with sexy spies like Zsa Zsa Gabor and before long, the spellbound recruit is heading hot-foot back to Blighty with the Germans' plan of attack tattooed on his bum, and the Germans are bringing up the rear...! Full of sauce, knowing real-life references and witty remarks to camera, this is a cheeky incorrigible final instalment.
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Flight of the Doves
Title: Flight of the Doves
Character: Judge Liffy
Released: April 2, 1971
Type: Movie
While fleeing across the Irish countryside, two orphans are pursued by their villainous uncle, a master of disguises.
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The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Title: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Character: Gravedigger
Released: October 29, 1970
Type: Movie
Holmes and Dr. Watson take on the case of a beautiful woman whose husband has vanished. The investigation proves strange indeed, involving six missing midgets, villainous monks, a Scottish castle, the Loch Ness monster, and covert naval experiments.
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Run a Crooked Mile
Title: Run a Crooked Mile
Character: Caretaker
Released: November 18, 1969
Type: Movie
A man witnesses a murder in a secluded mansion. When he reports it, there's no evidence of the murder, or that anyone was there. Two years later he wakes up in a hospital room after a polo accident to find he's had amnesia, is now married, and living in Switzerland. Now remembering the incident he returns to England to try to solve the mystery.
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Target: Harry
Title: Target: Harry
Character: Jason Carlyle
Released: May 23, 1969
Type: Movie
Pilot Harry Black is hired to fly a man named Carlyle to Istanbul, where he's murdered. Now, mysterious Diane Reed and a local gangster, Rashi, are after Harry believing that he has the priceless plates Carlyle used to counterfeit money.
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Title: Thingumybob
Released: August 2, 1968
Type: TV
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Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
Title: Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
Character: Mr. Brown
Released: January 22, 1968
Type: Movie
Herman inherits a greyhound and decides to make his fortune by dog racing. After traveling from Manchester to London in the hope of entering a national invitational, Herman and his friends find work in a pop group, and Herman falls in love.
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The Sandwich Man
Title: The Sandwich Man
Character: Park Gardener
Released: July 1, 1966
Type: Movie
A man with a sandwich-board (advert) wanders around London meeting many strange characters.
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The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner
Title: The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner
Character: Himself
Released: February 21, 1966
Type: Movie
Hosted by Cyril Ritchard, with performances by Florence Henderson, Barbara Harris, Stanley Holloway, John Cullum, Patricia McBride and Edward Villella. Songs include; On A Clear Day, The Heather On The Hill, Wait Till Were Sixty-Five, Wouldnt It Be Loverly?, Camelot, Why Cant A Woman Be More Like A Man?, How Could You Believe Me?, I Remember It Well, Without You, Gigi, Im Getting Married In The Morning, Hurry, Its Lovely Up Here, Melinda, On The S.S. Bernard Cohn, What Did I have That I Dont Have?, Ive Grown Accustomed To Her Face, Its Almost Like Being In Love, Bonnie Jean, Waltz At Maxims (She Is Not Thinking Of Me), I Could Have Danced All Night, On The Street Where You Live, and Come Back To Me.
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Ten Little Indians
Title: Ten Little Indians
Character: Det. William Henry Blore
Released: July 31, 1965
Type: Movie
Ten strangers are invited as weekend guests to a remote mountain mansion. When the host doesn't show up, the guests start dying, one by one, in uniquely macabre Agatha Christie-style. It is based on Christie's best-selling novel with 100 million sales to date, making it the world's best-selling mystery ever, and one of the most-printed books of all time.
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In Harm's Way
Title: In Harm's Way
Character: Clayton Canfil
Released: April 6, 1965
Type: Movie
A naval officer reprimanded after Pearl Harbor is later promoted to rear admiral and gets a second chance to prove himself against the Japanese.
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My Fair Lady
Title: My Fair Lady
Character: Alfred P. Doolittle
Released: October 21, 1964
Type: Movie
A snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.
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The Fantasticks
Title: The Fantasticks
Character: Bellamy
Released: October 17, 1964
Type: Movie
Neighboring widowers plot to romantically unite their son and daughter by pretending to feud and forbidding the two children to associate with each other. Their scheme works and the two youngsters fall head-over-heels in love. To end their "feud" the fathers hire a bandit and his henchmen to fake an abduction and allow the son to rout the assailants. The plan works, but the two love birds discover that requited love is much less exciting than forbidden romance and they break off their relationship. Matt, the son, resolves to see the world and receives a severe buffeting, while Luisa, the daughter, has an unhappy romance with the bandit, who steals her most precious possession, her mother's necklace. Matt returns, sadder but wiser, and the two former lovers reunite.
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Title: The Danny Kaye Show
Character: Self
Released: September 25, 1963
Type: TV
The Danny Kaye Show is an American variety show hosted by Danny Kaye that aired on CBS from 1963 to 1967 on Wednesday nights. Directed by Robert Scheerer, the show premiered in black-and-white, but later switched to color broadcasts. At the time, Kaye was at the height of his popularity, having starred in a string of successful films in the 1940s and '50's, made successful personal appearances at such venues as the London Palladium, and appeared many times on television. His most recent films had been considered disappointing, but the television specials he starred in were triumphant, leading to this series. Prior to his television and film career, Kaye had made a name for himself with his own radio show, and numerous other guest appearances on other shows.
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Title: Our Man Higgins
Released: October 3, 1962
Type: TV
Our Man Higgins is an American situation comedy that aired on ABC from October 3, 1962, to May 17, 1963.
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The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe
Title: The Broadway of Lerner and Loewe
Character: Himself
Released: February 11, 1962
Type: Movie
A musical special celebrating the fruitful collaboration of Broadway lyricist/librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. Stars from the current Broadway hit "Camelot" and from past triumphs such as "My Fair Lady," and the film "Gigi" perform the romantic, sophisticated songs of Lerner and Loewe.
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The Third Sam
Title: The Third Sam
Character: Narrator
Released: January 1, 1962
Type: Movie
Driver Sam Smith is given the privilege of driving one of the new electric trains. But when a problem arises, it takes three very different Sams before the problem is solved.
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On the Fiddle
Title: On the Fiddle
Character: Mr. Cooksley
Released: October 10, 1961
Type: Movie
Tricked into joining the RAF by a wily judge, wide boy Horace Pope sets his sights on the main chance, teams with slow-witted, good-hearted gypsy Pedlar Pascoe, and works up a lucrative racket in conning both his colleagues and the RAF. By means of various devious schemes Pope and Pascoe manage to avoid the front lines until they are sent to France - where they find themselves making unexpected and uncomfortably close contact with the enemy.
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No Love for Johnnie
Title: No Love for Johnnie
Character: Fred Andrews
Released: February 14, 1961
Type: Movie
Johnnie Byrne is a member of the British Parliament. In his 40s, he's feeling frustrated with his life and his personal as well as professional problems tower up over him. His desires to win the next election are endangered by his constant looking for love and he is faced with the choice of giving up a career in politics or giving up the woman he loves.
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Hello London
Title: Hello London
Character: himself
Released: November 5, 1960
Type: Movie
Hello London is a 1958 documentary film starring Sonja Henie and Michael Wilding.
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An Arabian Night
Title: An Arabian Night
Released: June 9, 1960
Type: Movie
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The Mikado (Bell Telephone Hour)
Title: The Mikado (Bell Telephone Hour)
Character: Pooh-Bah
Released: April 29, 1960
Type: Movie
Groucho Marx fulfills his lifelong dream to sing Ko-Ko in The Mikado. Broadcast as part of The Bell Telephone Hour.
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Alive and Kicking
Title: Alive and Kicking
Character: MacDonagh
Released: July 13, 1959
Type: Movie
Three elderly residents of a nursing home, fed up with their monotonous existence, engineer an escape from their drab surroundings and head for an impromptu holiday on an Irish island.
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No Trees in the Street
Title: No Trees in the Street
Character: Kipper
Released: March 3, 1959
Type: Movie
Based on the play by Ted Willis, the film is set in the years just before World War II, when England hadn't completely dug itself out of the worldwide depression. Melvyn Hayes is featured as an aimless teenager, who tries to escape his squalid surroundings by entering a life of crime. He falls in with local hoodlum Herbert Lom, who holds the rest of the slum citizens in the grip of fear including Hayes' own family. No Trees in the Street chronicles Hayes' sordid progress from nickel-and-dime thefts to murder.
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Title: DuPont Show of the Month
Character: Self
Released: September 29, 1957
Type: TV
DuPont Show of the Month is an acclaimed 90-minute television anthology series that aired monthly on CBS from 1957 to 1961. The DuPont Company also sponsored a weekly half-hour anthology drama series hosted by June Allyson, The DuPont Show with June Allyson. During the Golden Age of Television, DuPont Show of the Month was one of numerous anthology series telecast between 1949 and 1962. Superficially, it resembled Playhouse 90 and other anthologies, but DuPont Show of the Month focused less on contemporary dramas and more on adaptations of literary classics, including Oliver Twist, The Prince and the Pauper, Billy Budd, The Prisoner of Zenda, A Tale of Two Cities and The Count of Monte Cristo.
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Lancashire Coast
Title: Lancashire Coast
Released: August 1, 1957
Type: Movie
The holiday attractions of the Lancashire coast, including a beauty contest in Morecambe, Southport flower show and Blackpool Fun Fair.
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Title: Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Character: Self
Released: July 29, 1957
Type: TV
Tonight Starring Jack Paar is an American talk show hosted by Jack Paar under The Tonight Show franchise from 1957 to 1962. It originally aired during late-night. During most of its run it was broadcast from Studio 6B inside the RCA Building. The same studio would also host early episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Its theme song was an instrumental version of "Everything's Coming Up Roses", and the closing theme was "So Until I See You" by Al Lerner.
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Title: Tony Awards
Character: Self - Performer
Released: April 1, 1956
Type: TV
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre.
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Jumping for Joy
Title: Jumping for Joy
Character: Captain Jack Montague
Released: January 1, 1956
Type: Movie
At the racetrack, cleaner, Willy Joy is tricked into buying Lindy Lou, a useless greyhound, who's not too healthy either. While getting the dog back in shape, Willy crosses paths with a gang of crooks who's specialty is fixing the races with doped dogs.
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An Alligator Named Daisy
Title: An Alligator Named Daisy
Character: The General
Released: December 13, 1955
Type: Movie
Returning from a cricket match in Ireland, Peter Weston gains a pet alligator from another passenger who abandons it with him. He is horrified and while his first instinct is to get rid of it he develops a relationship with a young Irishwoman who appears to be entwined with the reptile. He soon discovers that Daisy is tame and seems to be the way to Moira's heart.
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Fast and Loose
Title: Fast and Loose
Character: Major George Crabb
Released: February 12, 1954
Type: Movie
An unmarried couple are forced to adopt a series of pretexts when they stay at a country inn together with only one spare room.
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Meet Mr. Lucifer
Title: Meet Mr. Lucifer
Character: Sam Hollingsworth / Mr Lucifer
Released: November 30, 1953
Type: Movie
A TV set given as a retirement present is sold on to different households causing misery each time.
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A Day to Remember
Title: A Day to Remember
Character: Charley Porter
Released: November 10, 1953
Type: Movie
Based on The Hand and the Flower, a novel by Jerrard Tickell, A Day to Remember stars Stanley Holloway as Charley Porter, captain of London darts team. When the team travels to the French town of Boulogne for the annual darts tournament, a good time is had by all--and more besides. Jim Carver one of the team's members, is reunited with a little French girl he'd befriended during the war, who has now developed into a beautiful young woman. And Fred Collins makes a poignant journey to the hotel where he'd honeymooned with his late wife. The film works best as a low-key comedy-drama; it is least successful when it ventures into O. Henry territory and strains for "surprise" story twists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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The Beggar's Opera
Title: The Beggar's Opera
Character: Mr. Lockit
Released: August 24, 1953
Type: Movie
Adaptation of John Gay's 18th century opera, featuring Laurence Olivier as MacHeath and Hugh Griffith as the Beggar.
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The Titfield Thunderbolt
Title: The Titfield Thunderbolt
Character: Walter Valentine
Released: March 4, 1953
Type: Movie
When British Railways announce the closure of the Titfield to Mallingford branch line a group of local residents make a bid to run it themselves, backed by a monied member of the community who is attracted by the complete lack of licensing hours on trains. Unfortunately the local bus company starts to use methods that can hardly be seen as fair competition.
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Meet Me Tonight
Title: Meet Me Tonight
Character: Henry Gow
Released: September 9, 1952
Type: Movie
Meet Me Tonight was the American title for the British-filmed Tonight at 8:30, adapted from the Noel Coward stage production of the same name.
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The Happy Family
Title: The Happy Family
Character: Henry Lord
Released: March 30, 1952
Type: Movie
When the Government decide to build a Festival of Britain exhibition site, everything goes to plan, all except the fact that the main road and the pedestrian subway into the site, are blocked by a little corner shop, which is owned and run by a Mr. Lord and his family. When the Lords refuse to be bought off, and decline the compensation offered by the authorities. the police and the bailiffs try to evict them, only to come under fire from the family, who have barricaded themselves inside the shop.
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The Magic Box
Title: The Magic Box
Character: Broker's Man
Released: January 1, 1952
Type: Movie
Now old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once very different. As young and handsome William Green he changed his name to include his first wife's so that it sounded more impressive for the photographic portrait work he was so good at. But he was also an inventor and his search for a way to project moving pictures became an obsession that ultimately changed the life of all those he loved.
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Title: Hallmark Hall of Fame
Character: Bellomy
Released: December 24, 1951
Type: TV
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones. The series has received eighty Emmy Awards, twenty-four Christopher Awards, eleven Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and four Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is the last remaining television program such that the title includes the name of the sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule.
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Lady Godiva Rides Again
Title: Lady Godiva Rides Again
Character: Thomas Clark
Released: October 25, 1951
Type: Movie
Marjory Clark wins a competition in her Midland town and finds herself in a Festival of Britain procession as Lady Godiva - though not in the buff. This leads by way of a suspect beauty competition to the show-business world of London. But it could be a slippery slope for simple home-town Marge.
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The Lavender Hill Mob
Title: The Lavender Hill Mob
Character: Albert Pendlebury
Released: June 28, 1951
Type: Movie
A meek bank clerk who oversees the shipments of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbor to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country.
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One Wild Oat
Title: One Wild Oat
Character: Alfred Gilbey
Released: May 16, 1951
Type: Movie
A lawyer's plan to break up his daughter's budding romance backfires when the boyfriend's father becomes involved.
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Midnight Episode
Title: Midnight Episode
Released: December 31, 1950
Type: Movie
A panhandler who opens car doors for people in London's theatre district finds himself involved in a deadly mystery when a corpse with a cash-stuffed wallet falls out of a vehicle and he helps himself to some of the money.
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Passport to Pimlico
Title: Passport to Pimlico
Character: Arthur Pemberton
Released: October 26, 1949
Type: Movie
When an unexploded WWII bomb is accidentally detonated in Pimlico, it reveals a treasure trove and documents proving that the region is in fact part of Burgundy, France and thus foreign territory. The British government attempts to regain control by setting up border controls and cutting off services to the area.
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The Perfect Woman
Title: The Perfect Woman
Character: Ramshead
Released: May 23, 1949
Type: Movie
In need of cash, Roger Cavendish and his valet take a job escorting the perfect woman for a night on the town. She is in fact the robotic creation of Professor Belman, but it turns out rather to be the Professor's niece Penelope doing a pretty good imitation of the perfect Olga who winds up with them in the bridal suite at the Hotel Splendide.
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Hamlet
Title: Hamlet
Character: Gravedigger
Released: December 10, 1948
Type: Movie
Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.
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Another Shore
Title: Another Shore
Character: Alastair McNeil
Released: November 24, 1948
Type: Movie
A young Irishman comes up with an unusual plan to get the money to emigrate to Tahiti. One of the Ealing comedies.
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Noose
Title: Noose
Character: Inspector Rendall
Released: September 28, 1948
Type: Movie
Set in post Second World War Britain, Noose is the story of black market racketeers who face attempts to bring them to justice by an American fashion journalist, her ex-army fiancée and a gang of honest toughs from a local gym. When a corpse turns up at black market front The Blue Moon Club, Yank reporter Carole Landis starts snooping, much to gang boss Joseph Calleia’s annoyance. And soon there’s a hit man on the way...
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The Winslow Boy
Title: The Winslow Boy
Character: Comico
Released: September 24, 1948
Type: Movie
In pre-WW1 England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.
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Title: The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Self
Released: June 20, 1948
Type: TV
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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One Night with You
Title: One Night with You
Character: Tramp
Released: April 25, 1948
Type: Movie
Two strangers meet when they both miss their trains, and end up spending a penniless day and night together. An English version of 'It Happened One Night'.
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Snowbound
Title: Snowbound
Character: Joe Wesson
Released: March 23, 1948
Type: Movie
Good and bad characters are stuck in a ski chalet near buried Nazi gold in the Alps.
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The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Title: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Character: Vincent Crummles
Released: March 12, 1947
Type: Movie
A fatherless boy tries to make his fortune despite interference from his rich uncle.
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Meet Me at Dawn
Title: Meet Me at Dawn
Character: Emile Pollet
Released: February 17, 1947
Type: Movie
A young man makes his living in Paris in 1900 by fighting duels on behalf of other parties. He is hired to injure a leading politician and starts to get involved with a girl he uses to provoke the challenge. One newspaper, hostile to the politician, headlines the story of the impending duel asking who this Madame X is. Problem is, she is in fact the daughter of the paper's proprietor if only he knew it.
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The Ballad of the Battered Bicycle
Title: The Ballad of the Battered Bicycle
Character: Narrator
Released: January 2, 1947
Type: Movie
Henry demonstrates his two-wheel tomfoolery, but there's no happy ending for this bike.
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Carnival
Title: Carnival
Character: Charlie Raeburn
Released: December 2, 1946
Type: Movie
A melodrama about a 19th-century ballet dancer who makes an unfortunate career move by marrying a taciturn Cornish farmer. She soon longs for the bright lights of the big city and for the arms of her artist lover. Unfortunately, her husband is all too aware of this.
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Wanted for Murder
Title: Wanted for Murder
Character: Sergeant Sullivan
Released: June 17, 1946
Type: Movie
The son of a notorious hangman is gradually becoming insane and he finds himself unable to resist the urge to strangle women to death.
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Caesar and Cleopatra
Title: Caesar and Cleopatra
Character: Belzanor
Released: December 11, 1945
Type: Movie
The aging Caesar finds himself intrigued by the young Egyptian queen. Adapted by George Bernard Shaw from his own play.
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Brief Encounter
Title: Brief Encounter
Character: Albert Godby
Released: November 24, 1945
Type: Movie
Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.
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The Way to the Stars
Title: The Way to the Stars
Character: Mr. Palmer
Released: June 16, 1945
Type: Movie
Life on a British bomber base, and the surrounding towns, from the opening days of the Battle of Britain, to the arrival of the Americans, who join in the bomber offensive. The film centres around Pilot Officer Peter Penrose, fresh out of a training unit, who joins the squadron, and quickly discovers about life during war time. He falls for Iris, a young girl who lives at the local hotel, but he becomes disillusioned about marriage, when the squadron commander dies in a raid, and leaves his wife, the hotel manageress, with a young son to bring up. As the war progresses, Penross comes to terms that he has survived, while others have been killed.
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Champagne Charlie
Title: Champagne Charlie
Character: The Great Vance
Released: August 25, 1944
Type: Movie
A man from the countryside becomes London’s newest music hall sensation, and competes with a rival music hall performer for the audience’s attention.
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The Way Ahead
Title: The Way Ahead
Character: Pvt. Ted Brewer
Released: June 9, 1944
Type: Movie
A mismatched collection of conscripted civilians find training tough under Lieutenant Jim Perry and Sergeant Ned Fletcher when they are called up to replace an infantry battalion that had suffered casualties at Dunkirk.
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This Happy Breed
Title: This Happy Breed
Character: Bob Mitchell
Released: May 28, 1944
Type: Movie
In 1919, Frank Gibbons returns home from army duty and moves into a middle-class row house, bringing with him wife Ethel, carping mother-in-law Mrs. Flint, sister-in-law Sylvia and three children. Years pass, with the daily routine of family infighting and reconciliation occasionally broken by a strike or a festival.
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Salute John Citizen
Title: Salute John Citizen
Released: September 28, 1942
Type: Movie
A typical working family have to cope with living through the Blitz, adapting to its privations, and eventually making the ultimate sacrifice for king & country.
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Major Barbara
Title: Major Barbara
Character: Policeman
Released: May 14, 1941
Type: Movie
Idealistic young Barbara is the daughter of rich weapons manufacturer Andrew Undershaft. She rebels against her estranged father by joining the Salvation Army. Wooed by professor-turned-preacher Adolphus Cusins, Barbara eventually grows disillusioned with her causes and begins to see things from her father's perspective.
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Albert's Savings
Title: Albert's Savings
Character: Himself
Released: August 31, 1940
Type: Movie
A homily on the duty to save, in the guise of one of the "Albert" rhyming monologues, recited by Stanley Holloway.
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Co-operette
Title: Co-operette
Released: January 1, 1938
Type: Movie
Debroy Somers and his Band, comedian Hal Walters and the delightful dance troupe ‘The Six Co-Operettes’ all feature in this full-colour promotional film for the Co-Operative Wholesale Society. Watch with wonder as one sprightly young vegetable tears strips off the other in the bewildering but brilliant ‘carrot and onion dance’. Comedian Stanley Holloway was famous for his comic monologues but for reasons unknown, he never gets started here. The BFI’s copy of this extremely rare film cuts away just as it looks like he’s going begin his routine.
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Gunner Sam
Title: Gunner Sam
Character: Narrator / Sam Small (voice)
Released: August 1, 1937
Type: Movie
Based on a comic monologue performed by Stanley Holloway on radio and records.
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Cotton Queen
Title: Cotton Queen
Character: Sam Owen
Released: June 1, 1937
Type: Movie
The daughter of a mill-owner is sent undercover to the mill of a rival, where she gets mixed up in romantic antics.
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The Vicar of Bray
Title: The Vicar of Bray
Character: The Vicar of Bray
Released: May 9, 1937
Type: Movie
The Vicar of Bray is a satirical description of an individual fundamentally changing his principles to remain in ecclesiastical office as external requirements change around him. The religious upheavals in England from 1533 to 1559 and from 1633 to 1715 made it almost impossible for any individual to comply with the successive religious requirements of the state.
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Three Ha'pence a Foot
Title: Three Ha'pence a Foot
Character: Narrator / Sam Small / Noah (voice)
Released: March 1, 1937
Type: Movie
Animation based on a Stanley Holloway/G. Marriott Edgar monologue. A northern wood salesman refuses to drop his prices for Noah, despite the flood that occurs around him.
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The Lion and Albert
Title: The Lion and Albert
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: February 1, 1937
Type: Movie
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Sam's Medal
Title: Sam's Medal
Released: January 1, 1936
Type: Movie
Pvt. Sam Small is awarded a medal after Waterloo for saving his Sgt. Major's life. The truth emerges that he was actually saving a jar of rum. Asked would he have done it without the rum, Sam says "Like Hell!". He loses his medal.
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Beat the Retreat
Title: Beat the Retreat
Character: Narrator / Sam Small / Napoleon Bonaparte (voice)
Released: January 1, 1936
Type: Movie
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Halt, Who Goes There?
Title: Halt, Who Goes There?
Character: Narrator / Sam Small (voice)
Released: January 1, 1936
Type: Movie
Halt, Who Goes There?
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Play Up the Band
Title: Play Up the Band
Character: Sam Small
Released: November 1, 1935
Type: Movie
A brass band goes to London to take part in a competition.
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D’Ye Ken John Peel?
Title: D’Ye Ken John Peel?
Character: Sam Small
Released: July 22, 1935
Type: Movie
Major John Peel returns to England, following Napoleon's Waterloo defeat, and renews his acquaintance with Lucy Merrall, but she tells him she is engaged to be married. He later learns that, Cravens, the man she is to marry already has a wife. He also learns that Craven cleaned out Lucy's father in a crooked gambling game, and Lucy is paying the price to hold the family home together.
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Squibs
Title: Squibs
Character: Constable Charley Lee
Released: June 11, 1935
Type: Movie
Squibs, a cockney flowerseller with a father overwhelmed by gambling debts wins through with the help of assorted friends and a romantically inclined policeman.
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In Town Tonight
Title: In Town Tonight
Character: Himself
Released: January 1, 1935
Type: Movie
A British musical film directed by Herbert Smith.
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Drummed Out
Title: Drummed Out
Character: Narrator / Sam Small / Colonel / Colonel's Daughter (voice)
Released: January 1, 1935
Type: Movie
One of the greatest personalities of modern times. The life of a statesman who has helped to make the new map of Europe.
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Sam and His Musket
Title: Sam and His Musket
Character: Narrator / Sam Small (voice)
Released: January 1, 1935
Type: Movie
Based on a comic monologue performed by Stanley Holloway on radio and records.
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Road House
Title: Road House
Character: Donovan
Released: November 29, 1934
Type: Movie
Road House is a 1934 British comedy crime film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Violet Loraine, Gordon Harker and Aileen Marson.
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Sing As We Go
Title: Sing As We Go
Character: Policeman
Released: September 13, 1934
Type: Movie
When the textile mill closes, putting her out of work, Gracie finds herself experiencing all of the amusements of Blackpool.
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Lily of Killarney
Title: Lily of Killarney
Character: Father O'Flynn
Released: January 5, 1934
Type: Movie
Set in Ireland, a poor knight's rival frames him for murder in this musical based on 'Colleen Bawn'.
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The Girl from Maxim's
Title: The Girl from Maxim's
Character: Dr Mongincourt
Released: August 22, 1933
Type: Movie
A Doctor tries to pass off a singer as his wife in Paris in 1904.
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Sleeping Car
Title: Sleeping Car
Character: Francois
Released: June 6, 1933
Type: Movie
A French sleeping-car attending with an eye for the ladies hooks up with a wealthy widow and they get married. What he doesn't know is that she married him because she wants to stay in France. Complications ensue.
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The Co-Optimists
Title: The Co-Optimists
Released: December 27, 1929
Type: Movie
A British concert musical film directed by Edwin Greenwood