Hey! Hey! USA is a 1938 British comedy film starring comedian Will Hay, Edgar Kennedy and Eddie Ryan.[1] Hay appears as Benjamin Twist, a porter who accidentally finds himself on a ship bound for the United States. The film features an early appearance by child actor Roddy McDowall, before he went to live in America.[2]
| Hey! Hey! USA | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Marcel Varnel |
| Written by | J. O. C. Orton |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Starring | Will Hay Edgar Kennedy Edmon Ryan David Burns |
| Cinematography | Arthur Crabtree |
| Edited by | R. E. Dearing |
| Music by | Charles Williams |
| Distributed by | Gainsborough Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Plot outline
editBenjamin Twist, a teacher working during school holidays as a ship's porter ends up on a ship bound for America and impersonating a professor, Phineas Tavistock. Along with American gangster and stowaway Bugs Leary (Edgar Kennedy), Twist finds himself entangled in a plot to kidnap the son of a millionaire whom 'Professor' Tavistock is teaching. Things are further complicated by the fact that two sets of gangsters are attempting to get their hands on the ransom money, which Twist is given to hand over.
Cast
edit- Will Hay as Benjamin Twist/Professor Phineas Tavistock
- Edgar Kennedy as Bugs Leary
- David Burns as Tony Ricardo
- Eddie Ryan as Ace Marco
- Fred Duprez as Cyrus Schultz
- Paddy Reynolds as Mrs Schultz
- Tommy Bupp as Bertie Schultz
- Arthur Goullet as Glove Johnson
- Gibb McLaughlin as Steward
- Eddie Pola as Broadcast Announcer
- Roddy McDowall as Boy
- Peter Gawthorne as Ship's Captain
- Charlie Hall as Leary's Pal
- Charles Oliver as Curly
- Danny Green as McGuire, the Chicago cop
- John Salew (Uncredited)
- Hugh McDermott (Uncredited)
Critical reception
editSky Movies wrote, "incomparable Will Hay reprises his splendidly shifty Dr Benjamin Twist character (the incompetent headmaster of St Michael's) in this breezy British comedy set in a quaintly observed America full of gun-toting gangsters. Comic stalwart Edgar Kennedy provides slow-burning support under the direction of Marcel Varnel, the dapper Frenchman who made most of Hay's biggest successes. " [2]
Bibliography
edit- Slide, Anthony. 'Banned in the USA': British Films in the United States and their Censorship, 1933-1960. I.B. Tauris & Co, 1998.
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ "Hey! Hey! U.S.A.! | Bfi | Bfi". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
- ^ a b "Hey! Hey! USA - Sky Movies HD". Skymovies.sky.com. 23 May 2002. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
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