https://www.thegoonshow.co.uk/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=172.78.136.142The Goon Show Depository - User contributions [en]2026-05-14T03:28:40ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.38.2https://www.thegoonshow.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=The_Galloping_Major_(film)&diff=33607The Galloping Major (film)2022-11-23T00:11:53Z<p>172.78.136.142: /* Release */</p>
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<div>{{short description|1951 film by Henry Cornelius}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}<br />
{{Infobox film<br />
| name = The Galloping Major<br />
| image = The Galloping Major FilmPoster.jpeg<br />
| image_size =<br />
| caption = <br />
| director = [[Henry Cornelius]]<br />
| writer = [[Monja Danischewsky]]<br>Henry Cornelius<br>[[Basil Radford]]<br />
| producer = Monja Danischewsky<br />
| starring = Basil Radford<br>[[Jimmy Hanley]]<br> [[Janette Scott]]<br>[[A. E. Matthews]]<br>[[Rene Ray]]<br />
| narrator = <br />
| cinematography = [[Stanley Pavey]]<br />
| editing = [[Geoffrey Foot (film editor)|Geoffrey Foot]]<br />
| music = [[Georges Auric]]<br />
| studio = [[Romulus Films]]<br />
| distributor = [[Independent Film Distributors]]<br />
| released = 5 May 1951 <ref name="Art & Hue">{{cite web|url=https://artandhue.com/janette-scott/|title=Janette Scott |work=Art & Hue |date=2021 |access-date=5 May 2021}}</ref><br />
| runtime = 82 minutes<br />
| country = United Kingdom<br />
| language = English<br />
| budget = <br />
| gross = £153,770 (UK)<ref>Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'', Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p495</ref> <br />
}}<br />
'''''The Galloping Major''''' is a 1951 [[Cinema of the United Kingdom|British]] [[comedy film|comedy]] [[sports film]], starring [[Basil Radford]], [[Jimmy Hanley]] and [[Janette Scott]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6aac9e87|title=The Galloping Major (1951)}}</ref> It also featured [[Sid James]], [[Charles Hawtrey (actor born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]] and [[Joyce Grenfell]] in supporting roles. It was directed by [[Henry Cornelius]] and made at the [[Riverside Studios]] in [[Hammersmith]]. The film's sets were designed by [[Norman Arnold]].<br />
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The title is taken from the song "[[The Galloping Major (song)|The Galloping Major]]", and the plot was centred on gambling at the [[horse racing]] track. People in a [[London]] suburb form a [[syndicate]] to buy a [[race horse]] to run in the [[Grand National]].<br />
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==Production==<br />
The film was made as an [[independent film|independent]] production, backed by the [[Woolf Brothers]]. It proved profitable at the box office,<ref>Harper & Porter p.147</ref> but producer [[Monja Danischewsky]] quit independent production afterwards to return to work at [[Ealing Studios]]. It has been noted as being similar in style to the [[Ealing comedies]] of the same era.<ref>Murphy p.123</ref><br />
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It features appearances by several figures well known at the time, including the jockey [[Charlie Smirke]] and the radio commentators [[Raymond Glendenning]] and [[Bruce Belfrage]].<br />
<br />
==Main cast==<br />
* [[Basil Radford]] as Major Arthur Hill<br />
* [[Jimmy Hanley]] as Bill Collins<br />
* [[Janette Scott]] as Susan Hill<br />
* [[A. E. Matthews]] as Sir Robert Medleigh<br />
* [[Rene Ray]] as Pam Riley<br />
* [[Hugh Griffith]] as Harold Temple<br />
* [[Joyce Grenfell]] as Maggie<br />
* [[Charles Victor]] as Sam Fisher<br />
* [[Sydney Tafler]] as Mr. Leon<br />
* [[Charles Lamb (actor)|Charles Lamb]] as Ernie Smart, Horse Owner<br />
* [[Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]] as Lew Rimmel<br />
* [[Alfie Bass]] as Newspaper seller<br />
* [[Sid James]] as Bottomley<br />
* [[Kenneth More]] as Rosedale Film Studio Director<br />
* [[Stuart Latham]] as Rosedale Film Studio Assistant <br />
* [[Leslie Phillips]] as Reporter<br />
* [[Michael Ward (actor)|Michael Ward]] as Racegoer<br />
* [[Edie Martin]] as Lady at Meeting <br />
* [[Sam Kydd]] as Newspaper Vendor<br />
* [[Thora Hird]] as Tea Stall woman<br />
* [[Ellen Pollock]] as Horsey Lady<br />
* [[Duncan Lamont]] as Trainer<br />
* [[Harold Goodwin (English actor)]] as Street Stall Owner (uncredited)<br />
* [[Michael Ward (actor)]] as Man with Binoculars at Racetrack (uncredited)<br />
* [[Arthur Mullard]] as Rosedale Film Studio Employee (uncredited)<br />
* 'The Galloping Major' (the Horse, 'Bobbie') as Himself<br />
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==Release==<br />
The film premiered at the Plaza cinema in London on 5 May 1951.<ref name="Art & Hue" /><br />
It has also been released on DVD.<br />
<br />
==Location==<br />
* "Lambs Green" in the film is actually Belsize Village, (nb. [[Belsize Park]] and [[Belsize (ward)]]), London NW3. The cafe in the film was a greengrocer's shop in 2012, but the whole area is easily recognisable.<br />
* The race track was filmed at [[Alexandra Palace]], which can be seen briefly in the background.<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
* Harper, Sue & Porter, Vincent. ''British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference''. Oxford University Press, 2007.<br />
* Murphy, Robert. ''Directors in British and Irish Cinema: A Reference Companion''. British Film Institute, 2006.<br />
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==External links==<br />
*{{IMDb title|id=0043574|title=The Galloping Major}}<br />
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{{Henry Cornelius}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Galloping Major, The}}<br />
[[Category:1951 films]]<br />
[[Category:British sports comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:Films directed by Henry Cornelius]]<br />
[[Category:1950s sports comedy films]]<br />
[[Category:Films shot in London]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in London]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in Liverpool]]<br />
[[Category:British horse racing films]]<br />
[[Category:Films shot at Riverside Studios]]<br />
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]<br />
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]<br />
[[Category:1950s British films]]<br />
<br />
<br />
{{1950s-UK-comedy-film-stub}}<br />
{{sport-film-stub}}</div>172.78.136.142