Oh, Mr Porter!

Marcel Varnel, UK, 1937, 81 minutes

A stuffy, influential family object to seeing one of their relatives working as a wheel tapper on the railways, and so have him made a station master. The black sheep in question is Mr Porter, an incompetent, jumped-up English ass, who hilariously bungles the running of Buggleskelly station in Ireland.

The 'plot' isn't really worth much - Mr Porter arrives at the supposedly haunted station, tries to turn the ramshackle deserted place into King's Cross and ends up involved with a gang of unscrupulous smugglers. What makes the film worth watching is the slapstick, idiotic antics of the small cast and the carefree, lighthearted humour of the film.

Will Hay (as Mr Porter) was one of Britains top box office stars of the 30's and early 40's, usually starring as a fool in a position of authority: a policeman, a teacher or a politician. Oh, Mr Porter! is one of his best remembered films, noteworthy not only for its humour, but for its innate Britishness. No other country would have made a film like this in the mid-30's; the Americans would surely have put a handsome actor and a peroxide floozie in the support cast, but here we have fun instead of romance.

Graham Moffat and Moore Marriot are the supporting actors here, teamed as they were in many films, as a fat, loafing youngster and a geriatric twit.

Review by Martin Hunt
Taken from EUFS Programme 1992-93