Get Cracking

{{Short description|1943 film by Marcel Varnel}} {{italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}} {{Use British English|date=March 2016}} thumb|right|Poster for ''Get Cracking'' '''''Get Cracking''''' is a 1943 British comedy war film, directed by Marcel Varnel starring George Formby, with Dinah Sheridan and Ronald Shiner.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090116185944/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/218499 BFI.org]</ref> It was produced by Marcel 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 (Formby) has an adversary in a fellow Home Guard, Everett Manley (Shiner). 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.

The film includes three songs from Formby: 'Under the Blasted Oak', 'Home Guard Blues' and 'Get Cracking'.

==Production== The film was released on 17 May 1943 and runs for 96 minutes in black and white. It was written by L. du Garde Peach, Michael Vaughan and John L. Arthur, while the songs were written by George Formby with Fred Godfrey, Fred E. Cliffe and Eddie Latta.

==Cast list== * 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 * Harry Fowler (Uncredited) * E. V. H. Emmett as Narrator

==Box office== The film earned £139,043 to distributors in the UK.<ref>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</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20201128105130/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b71e2b1e7 ''Get Cracking''] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}} * {{IMDb title|0035934}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Get Cracking}} Category:1943 films Category:1940s war comedy films Category:British black-and-white films Category:British war comedy films Category:1943 English-language films Category:Films directed by Marcel Varnel Category:Films produced by Marcel Varnel Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:British World War II propaganda films Category:1943 comedy films Category:English-language war comedy films