OLD BILL AND SON

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 108, 18 July 1941, Page 17

OLD BILL AND SON

(G.B.D.)

LD Bill and Son is not merely a comedy, in spite of what many of us might have been led to expect. It is an attempt to show the re-

action of the ordinary gor’blimey Cockney to the onslaught of war, Old Bill had lived through 1914-1918, had learned’ to defeat the Bosche and the mud and keep his sense of humour. He’d fought, as he said, "for a little place called England." And he was hurt when his son said that mo war was worth fighting, and his wife shouted "We've no right to bring up that lad just to get him blown to bits." When war did come, however, Old Bill was hurt still more. For his son joined up and his adopted daughter joined up and he was left alone, turned down. But with cheery Cockney determination he pulled a few strings and went to France with the Pioneers. I don’t know the Cockney very well. I’m not sure that he has reacted entirely in the way shown here-his humour must be tinged with bitterness in these days of blitz air raids. But whether or not the philosophy of the picture is right or wrong, it is certainly conveyed to the audience in an entertaining manner. The acting takes a little time to warm up, ag it: were, retaining a little artificiality throughout. But the humour is never marred by deliberate attempts to gloss over the less humorous aspects of life. It is the fun of the man of the London street, transported to the cobbles of a French village. It is a series of jokes cracked in the midst of mud or by people living in shabby homes ‘and wearing shabby clothes. And: it is a welcome change from the sophisticated cleverness of Mayfair and Park Avenue, because the people concerned.

ere not funny in order to show off, but in order to make life happier and more liveable. For this we must thank Bruce Bairnsfather, the creator of "Old Bill." Some picture-goers may be inclined to feel that, as the scene is partly set in France, the incidents would be poignant rather than amusing. To me at any rate, this was not the case. The French village was significant first because it was a village in the war zone, and only secondly because it was French, It could have been anywhere in Europe and the plot would have needed little alteration. The collapse of France detracted in no way from the entertainment.