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	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Fiddlers Three		\| name = Fiddlers Three

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	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Fiddlers Three		\| name = Fiddlers Three
	\| image = ~~"Fiddlers_Three"_~~(~~1944_film~~).jpg		\| image = Fiddlers Three (1944 film).jpg

	\| alt =		\| alt =
	\| caption = UK theatrical poster		\| caption = UK theatrical poster
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	==External links==		==External links==
	* {{IMDb title\|id=0036820\|title=Fiddlers Three}}		* {{IMDb title\|id=0036820\|title=Fiddlers Three}}

	~~{{Harry Watt}}~~
	~~{{Michael Balcon}}~~

	[[Category:1940s historical comedy films]]		[[Category:1940s historical comedy films]]

Kurt: 1 revision imported

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en>Ceyockey: removed Category:Pre-1950 films about time travel; added Category:1950 and before films about time travel using HotCat

2024-09-27T05:31:24Z

removed Category:Pre-1950 films about time travel; added Category:1950 and before films about time travel using HotCat

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Fiddlers Three
| image = "Fiddlers_Three"_(1944_film).jpg

| alt =
| caption = UK theatrical poster
| director = [[Harry Watt (director)|Harry Watt]]
| producer = [[Michael Balcon]]
| writer =
| screenplay = [[Angus MacPhail]], [[Diana Morgan (screenwriter)|Diana Morgan]]
| story =
| based_on = 
| narrator =
| starring = [[Tommy Trinder]], [[Sonnie Hale]], [[Frances Day]], [[Francis L. Sullivan]], [[Diana Decker]], [[Elisabeth Welch]] [[James Robertson Justice]]
| music = [[Spike Hughes]]
| cinematography = [[Wilkie Cooper]]
| editing = Eily Boland
| studio = [[Ealing Films]]
| distributor = Ealing Distribution
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1944|10||UK}}
| runtime = 88 minutes (65 minutes USA edit) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036820/|title = While Nero Fiddled (1944) - IMDb| website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''Fiddlers Three''''' is a 1944 British black-and-white musical comedy. It includes a number of musical sections, mainly focussing on replacing the word "home" with "[[Rome]]". The film was produced by [[Michael Balcon]] and directed by [[Harry Watt (director)|Harry Watt]]. The cast included [[Tommy Trinder]], [[Sonnie Hale]], [[Frances Day]], [[Francis L. Sullivan]], [[Diana Decker]] and [[Elisabeth Welch]]. Making their film debuts were [[James Robertson Justice]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movies.tvguide.com/fiddlers-three/review/114639 |title=Fiddlers Three Review |publisher=Movies.tvguide.com |access-date=2014-03-13}}</ref> and [[Kay Kendall]] near the bottom of the cast list, as the "Girl Who Asks About Her Future At Orgy".<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://skymovies.sky.com/fiddlers-three-2/review |title=Fiddlers Three - Sky Movies HD |publisher=Skymovies.sky.com |date=2002-05-23 |access-date=2014-03-13}}</ref> The film follows the adventures of two sailors and a [[Women's Royal Naval Service|Wren]] who are struck by lightning and transported back to [[Ancient Rome]], where they are accepted as [[Clairvoyance|seer]]s.

The title comes from the nursery rhyme "[[Old King Cole]]".

The film was called '''''While Nero Fiddled''''' on its USA release. It is a loose sequel to the 1940 film ''[[Sailors Three]]'' which had also starred Trinder. The film was only moderately successful at the British [[Box Office]] but proved to be a major hit in [[Australia]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reid|first1=John Howard|title=Films Famous, Fanciful, Frolicsome & Fantastic|date=2006|publisher=Lulu Press|location=Morrisville, NC|isbn=9781411689152|page=53|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjKiKtZkkpMC&pg=PA53}}</ref>

==Plot==
Tommy Taylor and "The Professor", two sailors returning from leave to [[Portsmouth]] on a [[tandem bicycle]], they sing [[Sweet Fanny Adams]] - a song which now sounds very innocent but was extremely risque at the time.

They rescue Lydia, a [[Women's Royal Naval Service|Wren]], who had been [[hitch-hiking]] on the road and was assaulted by an over-amorous driver. They get a puncture as they reach [[Stonehenge]]. The professor tells them of an old legend that those caught at Stonehenge at midnight on [[midsummer]]'s night are transported back in time. Moments later the area is struck by lightning. Nearby a group of Roman soldiers have suddenly appeared whom they initially mistake for members of [[ENSA]]. However, they swiftly prove to be genuine Romans who arrest them and threaten instant death unless they can prove they are [[Druids]].

Among the musical numbers in the picture, Tommy Trinder gives a stupendous performance as "Senorita Alvarez" from [[Brazil]] (impersonating [[Carmen Miranda]]). Caesar creates him a Dame of the Roman Empire for his performance.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Tommy Trinder]] as Tommy Taylor
* [[Frances Day]] as [[Poppaea]]
* [[Sonnie Hale]] as 'The Professor'
* [[Francis L. Sullivan]] as [[Nero]]
* [[Elisabeth Welch]] as Thora
* [[Mary Clare]] as Volumnia
* [[Diana Decker]] as Lydia
* [[Ernest Milton (actor)|Ernest Milton]] as Titus
* [[James Robertson Justice]] as Centurion of the 8th Legion
* [[Russell Thorndike]] as High Priest
* [[Frederick Piper]] as Auctioneer
* [[Alec Mango]] as Secretary
* [[Danny Green (actor)|Danny Green]] as [[Lictor]]
* Frank Tickle as Master of Ceremonies
* [[Kay Kendall]] as slave girl who asks about her future at orgy
* Robert Wyndham as Lion-Keeper
{{div col end}}

==Critical reception==
*[[Sky Movies]] said, "the stars look as though they're having fun, which was just the tonic for wartime audiences, though it all looks less than sparkling now."<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
*George Perry wrote in ''Forever Ealing'', "the film is not of great consequence. The script ... Was thick with laboured gags likening aspects of Roman times to wartime Britain."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/Fiddlers-Three_1944 |title=Fiddlers Three 1944 | Britmovie | Home of British Films |publisher=Britmovie |access-date=2014-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222164912/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/films/Fiddlers-Three_1944 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*Graeme Clark wrote in ''The Spinning Image'', "played with a mixture of cheeky charm and a sly wink from the cast, and notable for its casting of black singer and actress [[Elisabeth Welch]] in a refeshingly non-stereotypical role for its day, if you catch the references then you should have fun with ''Fiddlers Three''. Yes, it's nonsense, but it's nonsense well done."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=2912 |title=Fiddlers Three Review (1944) |publisher=Thespinningimage.co.uk |access-date=2014-03-13}}</ref>
*''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' called the film a "cheeky wartime British comedy with odd imaginative touch (associate producer [[Robert Hamer]] reshot a good deal of it)."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/film/fiddlers-three |title=Fiddlers Three | review, synopsis, book tickets, showtimes, movie release date | Time Out London |publisher=Timeout.com |access-date=2014-03-13}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* Reid, John. ''Films Famous, Fanciful, Frolicsome and Fantastic''. Lulu, 2006.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0036820|title=Fiddlers Three}}

{{Harry Watt}}
{{Michael Balcon}}

[[Category:1940s historical comedy films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Ealing Studios films]]
[[Category:1944 films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Harry Watt]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1940s]]
[[Category:Depictions of Nero on film]]
[[Category:1950 and before films about time travel]]
[[Category:Films produced by Michael Balcon]]
[[Category:Films set in England]]
[[Category:Films set in ancient Rome]]
[[Category:British historical comedy films]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:1940s British films]]

Fiddlers Three (1944 film) - Revision history

Kurt at 00:57, 4 October 2024

Kurt at 13:00, 1 October 2024

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Ceyockey: removed Category:Pre-1950 films about time travel; added Category:1950 and before films about time travel using HotCat