Miss London Ltd.

Miss London Ltd.

Directed by	Val Guest
Written by	Marriott Edgar Val Guest
Produced by	Edward Black
Cinematography	Basil Emmott
Edited by	R. E. Dearing
Music by	Bob Busby
Production company	Lime Grove Studios (credited as Gaumont British)
Distributed by	Gainsborough Pictures
Release date	14 June 1943 (1943-06-14)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Miss London Ltd. is a 1943 British, black-and-white, comedy, musical, war film, directed by Val Guest and starring Arthur Askey and Evelyn Dall.^[1] It was produced by Edward Black, Maurice Ostrer, Fred Gunn and Gainsborough Pictures. It was Guest's directorial debut.^[2]

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Plot

This musical comedy playing in wartime London, stars Arthur Askey as Arthur Boden alias Miss London, the name of the escort agency he inherited from his mother. Soon he is joined by his new American partner, Terry Arden (Evelyn Dall), as she inherited the other half of the Agency from her parents, who just arrived from abroad. The first thing she accomplishes is to clean up the office, together with her partner. Then they have to renew the files of escort-Ladies. In order to do so, each of them goes searching in different places. Arthur Boden is assigned to the railway station and finally he finds railway clerk Gail Martin (Anne Shelton) to hire.^[3] The opening sequence of the film features the latter singing "The 8.50 Choo Choo For Waterloo Choo" at Waterloo station before she is recruited by Bowman for his agency. As usual, Ronald Shiner's character of Sailor Meredith plays a decisive role.

The film features a surreal self-parodying sequence in which Boden, in order to gain entrance to a hotel, pretends to be the famous Arthur Askey, using some of his choice catchphrases. Other spoofs include Askey and Dall doing a routine as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and, with Shiner in addition, as the three Marx Brothers.

Cast

Arthur Askey as Arthur Boden
Evelyn Dall as Terry Arden
Anne Shelton as Gail Martin
Richard Hearne as Commodore Joshua Wellington
Max Bacon as Romero
Jack Train as Joe Nelson
Peter Graves as Captain Michael "Rory" O'More
Jean Kent as The Encyclopedia Girl
Ronald Shiner as Sailor Meredith
Iris Lang
Virginia Keiley
Una Shepherd
Sheila Bligh
Noni Brooke
Patricia Owens as Miss London
Hilda Campbell Russell as Cabaret Singer

Production

Guest wrote the script which was going to be directed by Marcel Verney. Guest used the reviews for his sort The Nose Has it to get the job directing the film and Ted Black agreed. Guest wrote a part for Jean Kent especially and says Arthur Crabtree was very helpful telling him about camera angles.^[2]

Reception

Guest says the film was "a big success."^[2]

Soundtrack

Evelyn Dall and Anne Shelton – "A Fine How Do You Do" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)
Evelyn Dall – "Keep Cool Calm and Collected" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)
Arthur Askey – "The Moth" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)
Arthur Askey – "I'm Only Me" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)
Anne Shelton – "You Too Can Have a Lovely Romance" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)
Anne Shelton – "The 8.50 Choo Choo" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)
Anne Shelton – "If You Could Only Cook" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)
"My Father Was a Yes Man" (Words and music by Val Guest and Manning Sherwin)

References

^ "Miss London Ltd. (1943) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Fowler, Roy (1988). "Interview with Val Guest". British Entertainment History Project.
^ "Miss London Ltd. (1943) - Movies to Watch, Classic Movies 90s". Movie This Friday. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.