Get Cracking

Get Cracking
Get Cracking
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Marcel Varnel
Screenplay by	Edward Dryhurst
Produced by	Marcel Varnel
Starring	E.V.H. Emmett; George Formby; Edward Rigby
Cinematography	Stephen Dade
Edited by	Max Brenner
Music by	Harry Bidgood
Production; company	Columbia (British) Productions
Release date	3 May 1943;
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Get Cracking is a 1943 British comedy war film, directed by Marcel Varnel and starring George Formby, with Dinah Sheridan and Ronald Shiner. It was written by Edward Dryhurst, L. Du Garde Peach, Michael Vaughan and John L. Arthur. It was produced by Varnel and Ben Henry for Columbia (British) Productions, a subsidiary of the American studio.

The film opens like a World War Two documentary with a narrator explaining the action, before becoming a more traditional Formby vehicle.

Synopsis

Mechanic and Home Guard lance corporal George Singleton has an adversary in a fellow Home Guard, Everett Manley. When the rival Home Guard units of Major Wallop and Minor Wallop are sent on battle manoeuvres, George launches his own unique style of commando raid against neighbouring Major Wallop to steal a Vickers machine gun. The raid fails and Singleton loses his lance corporal stripe, so he and a little evacuee girl named Irene decide to build their very own tank. The venture is such a success that George is made a sergeant.

Cast

George Formby as George Singleton
Dinah Sheridan as Mary Pemberton
Edward Rigby as Sam Elliott
Frank Pettingell as Alf Pemberton
Ronald Shiner as Everett Manley
Wally Patch as Sergeant Joe Preston
Mike Johnson as Josh
Irene Handl as Maggie Turner
Vera Frances as Irene
Frank Atkinson as Station Master
Ben Williams as Home Guard member
Harry Fowler (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
E. V. H. Emmett as narrator

Songs

The film includes three songs: "Under the Blasted Oak" (Formby, Frederick E. Cliffe), "Home Guard Blues" (Cliffe, Fred Godfrey, Formby) and "Get Cracking" (Eddie Latta, Formby).

Release

The film was released on 17 May 1943.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Box office

The film earned £139,043 to distributors in the UK.

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Thanks to a reasonable script, this is a better comedy than George Formby has ever made before. It has many good lines, a number of clever and amusing situations and a certain air of crazy possibility."

Kine Weekly wrote: "Clean, refreshing, typically English comedy ... The story, which, incidentally, gives George Formby his best role for some considerable time, is kept cracking; the supporting characterisation is excellent; the sentiment, both romantic and patriotic, is unaffected; the dialogue natural, and the climax, satire and slapstick at their best."

References

↑ "Get Cracking". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
↑ "BFI | Film & TV Database | Much Too Shy (1942)". BFI. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
↑ James Chapman ‘The Billings verdict’: Kine Weekly and the British Box Office, 1936–62' Journal of British Cinema and Television, Volume 20 Issue 2, Page 200-238, p 211
↑ "Get Cracking". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 10 (109): 38. 1 January 1943. ProQuest 1305820239.
↑ "Get Cracking". Kine Weekly. 313 (1875): 30. 25 March 1943. ProQuest 2687793125.

External links

Get Cracking at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}
Get Cracking at IMDb

[BFIsearch-1] "Get Cracking". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 July 2026.

[2] "BFI | Film & TV Database | Much Too Shy (1942)". BFI. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2026.

[3] James Chapman ‘The Billings verdict’: Kine Weekly and the British Box Office, 1936–62' Journal of British Cinema and Television, Volume 20 Issue 2, Page 200-238, p 211

[4] "Get Cracking". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 10 (109): 38. 1 January 1943. ProQuest 1305820239.

[5] "Get Cracking". Kine Weekly. 313 (1875): 30. 25 March 1943. ProQuest 2687793125.