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The Gang's All Here (1939 film)

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The Gang's All Here
Spanish poster
Directed byThornton Freeland
Written byRalph Spence
Produced by
StarringJack Buchanan
CinematographyClaude Friese-Greene
Edited byEdward B. Jarvis
Music byHarry Acres (uncredited)
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • 4 March 1939 (1939-03-04) (London UK)
Running time
71 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£75,317[1]

The Gang's All Here is a 1939 British black-and-white comedy-mystery, directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Jack Buchanan and Googie Withers. It was produced by Associated British Picture Corporation and released in the U.S. in 1943 as The Amazing Mr. Forrest.[2]

It is the sequel to Smash and Grab (1937), with Buchanan and Withers reprising their roles.

Plot

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John Forrest is a top investigator for the Stamford Insurance Company. Retiring from the firm, he intends to devote the rest of his life to writing detective fiction, but his plan is foiled when his former employers are robbed of $1,000,000 in jewels belonging to foreign potentate Prince Homouska. With the help of his befuddled butler Treadwell, Forrest follows the trail of clues to American gangster boss Chadwick, capturing his quarry with a variety of slapstick subterfuges.

Cast

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Critical reception

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Kine Weekly wrote: "Really bright gags flow swiftly, punctuation being aptly provided by unexpected thrills. ... Class is further represented by the smartness of the dialogue and the elegance and smoothness of the technical presentation."[3]

Variety said: "The story and its method of telling have in it innumerable surefire farcical ingredients, is played by a carefully selected cast and is competently produced."[4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as “average” and wrote: “Farce-thriller marks Buchanan’s second fling as Forrest.[5]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Lively comedy-melodrama."[6]

TV Guide wrote: "supposed comedy about the breakup of a group of jewel thieves falls flat. But no amount of dreary material can conceal the undeniable comic genius of Horton".[7]

Allmovie noted: "The Gang's All Here remains one of Jack Buchanan's best-loved vehicles."[8]

References

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  1. ^ Chapman, Llewella. "'The highest salary ever paid to a human being': Creating a Database of Film Costs from the Bank of England". Journal of British cinema and television, 2022-10. Vol. 19, no. 4. Edinburgh University Press. p. 470-494 at 480.
  2. ^ "The Gang's All Here". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  3. ^ "The Huggetts Abroad". Kine Weekly. 265 (1664): 28. 9 December 1954.
  4. ^ "Little Red Monkey". Variety. 143 (1): 18. 15 March 1939.
  5. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 73. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
  6. ^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 390. ISBN 0-586-08894-6.
  7. ^ "The Amazing Mr. Forrest". TVGuide.com.
  8. ^ Hal Erickson. "The Gang's All Here (1939) - Thornton Freeland - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
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