Save a Little Sunshine (1938) - film review

Having pocketed a generous reward for recovering a lost valuable fossil, Dave Smalley is persuaded to invest his windfall in the guest house where he is staying.  He soon grows tired of being a general dogsbody and takes over the management of the guest house.  Supported by one of his more sympathetic guests, he embarks on a series of renovations to turn it into an upmarket hotel.  His landlady and business partner is unimpressed and sets out to thwart Dave’s plans by buying the lease of the hotel...

Save a Little Sunshine is a chirpy little comedy whose main attraction is the pairing of two of Britain’s comedy legends, Tommy Trinder and Max Wall.  Sadly, whilst this amazing duo provide most of the laughs, they are not the focus of the film.  That honour goes to Dave Willis, a small time comic actor who is totally forgotten today and whose attempts to raise a laugh look like a cowardly dentist pulling teeth from a tiger.  Looking like a poor man’s Charlie Chaplin, Willis’s grimaces and pratfalls soon become tiresome, and there is not much cheer to be found in the rest of the film’s lacklustre cast.  Even Trinder is barely recognisable as the grumpy straight man to Wall’s elastic clown.  The musical numbers are even more excruciating than the comedy, although Patricia Kirkwood’s starlet presence somehow makes them bearable.  The only reason for watching this film today is to appreciate the magical chemistry between Tommy Trinder and Max Wall, two of the funniest men to step onto a soundstage.

© Derek Adamson 2011

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