Boots! Boots!

Boots! Boots! (1934)

Musical comedy starring George Formby alongside his wife Beryl in his first ever feature film. George plays John Willie, the shoeshine boy at the upmarket Crestonian Hotel. He's a cheeky little man with no time for authority, a head full of dreams, a pocketful of songs and a heart full of love for the hotel's scullery maid (Beryl Formby). After causing more than his fair share of chaos at the hotel, he finally gets the chance to redeem himself - and show off his hidden musical talents - when he finds himself topping the bill at the hotel's Gala Cabaret Night. Songs include: 'Why Don't Women Like Me?', 'Sitting on the Ice in the Ice Rink' and 'I Could Make a Good Living at That'.

Date of release
1934-07-30
TMDB
5.5 / 10 (4)
Runtime
1h 20m
Genres
Comedy
Director
Bert Tracy

Casting

Interesting facts

Boots! Boots! is a 1934 British comedy film directed by Bert Tracy and starring George Formby, Beryl Formby, and Arthur Kingsley. It was written by Formby, Arthur Mertz and Jack Cottrill, and made by Blakeley's Productions, Ltd at the Albany Studios in London. The premiere of the film was in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.

Production

Producer John E. Blakeley had no prior experience in film production; he had seen comedian George Formby doing his stage act and approached him to star in a feature film. Blakeley's modest studio was a one-room loft space above a taxi garage. The makeshift stage was not soundproofed, so whenever the crew members wanted to film a scene, they had to signal the garage to stop its noisy work below.

The film is a patchwork of songs and jokes tied to the misadventures of bumbling John Willie, played by Formby. ("John Willie" was a character made famous by Formby's father, George Formby Sr., in music halls of the early 1900s.) Despite the crude photography and recording, and the minuscule budget of £3,000, Boots! Boots! became an enormous hit.

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