Will Hay Collection

A collection of classic films starring British comic actor, Will Hay. In 'Ask A Policeman' (1939), the police force of crime-free Turnbotham Round consists of Sergeant Dudfoot (Hay) and officers Harbottle (Moore Marriott) and Albert (Graham Moffatt). When the commissioner suggests that they are no longer neccessary, they set about engineering a crime wave in the village, so that they can be seen to be solving it.

Their attempts fail, until they stumble upon a genuine case of smuggling. In 'Boys Will be Boys' (1935), prison teacher Dr Smart-Alec (Hay) steps up the career ladder to become headmaster of Narkover public school, but his innate stupidity soon begins to create havoc. Will Hay dons a mortarboard on screen for the first time, in the bumbling headmaster role that was to become his trademark.

In 'Oh, Mr Porter!', bungling (1937), station master William Porter (Hay) is appointed to the run down station of Buggleskelly in Ireland by the resentful Superintendent. When he charters an early morning train for a sinister one-eyed man, his staff, Harbottle (Marriott) and Albert (Moffatt) are suspicious. They investigate, and discover that arms smugglers are using a deserted railway tunnel as a base.

In 'Convict 99' (1939), disgraced teacher Benjamin Twist (Hay) finds himself put in charge of a prison for hardened criminals when he is mistaken for a tough prison governor. When he celebrates by getting drunk, Twist ends up behinds bars himself. In 'Old Bones Of The River' (1938), when Professor Benjamin Tibbets (Hay) travels to Africa up river to open schools for the natives, he experiences several setbacks.

His new pupils are less than receptive, and when the commander of the local base goes down with malaria he takes on his duties as well. Aided by the crew of the boat on which he arrived (Marriott and Moffatt), he sets about collecting taxes from the locals, with hilarious results. In 'Where There's a Will' (1936), alcoholic lawyer Benjamin Stubbins (Hay) is deep in debt.

He finds himself being used by a gang of crooks to pull off a bank robbery, but manages to foil their scheme. In 'Good Morning Boys' (1937), the headmaster of St Michael's school Dr Benjamin Twist (Hay) finds himself in hot water after a government inspection. He is asked to resign unless he can prove that his educational methods work, and so when he comes into possession of the French paper, he does not need much coaxing before showing it to his students.

The boys pass with honours, but a congratulatory trip to Paris goes awry when they and Twist inadvertently help to steal the Mona Lisa. In 'Hey! Hey! USA' (1938), Dr Benjamin Twist (Hay) is invited to act as tutor to the son of a millionaire in the United States of America, after posing as a famous professor. Twist discovers that two gangs of villains are out to kidnap his precocious young pupil, Bernie Schultz.

Finally, in 'Windbag the Sailor' (1936), Ben Cutlet (Hay) is a bogus old sea dog who finds himself tricked into taking command of an unseaworthy vessel. Its owners intend to sink the ship and cash in the insurance. When Cutlet's crew mutiny, he is forced to escape with cabin boy Albert (Moffatt) and the aged Harbottle (Marriott).