CHAMPAGNE CHARLIE (1944)

From wartime Ealng Studios, a spirited bio-pic of mid-19th century Music Hall entertainer George Leybourne (aka Champagne Charlie) distinctly different than similar fare out of Hollywood would have been: more reality grounded, less glamorized/less structurally neat.  Starting by happenstance thru ‘pub’ sing-a-longs, Leybourne quickly rises to Music Hall stardom and rivalry with well-established star Stanley Holloway at a competitor’s theatre.  Then pivoting to political battle for its second half when the legitimate stage tries to legally shut down Music Hall entirely and send the artists back to the pubs.  A third plotline with Leybourne pining for the boss’s daughter goes for nought when she takes up with a Duke’s colorless son.  So, by default, the modest drama lets the action fall right where it should, on the likeable acts; simple, catchy, ultimately forgettable sing-songy tunes, and most of all, some exceptionally well-caught backstage atmosphere.  (Look for the exposed gas-lit pilot lights encircling the stage frame.  Downright scary!  And no asbestos curtain.)  Ambience the special gift from director Alberto Cavalcanti keeping up pace and movement, brilliantly caught by camera team Wilkie Cooper & Douglas Slocombe working with an infinite gray-scale and stunningly coordinated planes of action for one masterful composition after another.  Rapturous; and with just enough dramatic support.  Great fun, particularly in the early going.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  Want to see what Dick Van Dyke was aiming for with his infamous Cockney act in MARY POPPINS/’64?  As Leybourne, unexportable British fave Tommy Trinder, a real Marmite of a talent, shows exactly what the idea was.  These two might be cousins, same build, same height, same no-more-than-pleasant singing voice.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  Be sure to get the full 1' 42" British cut; a Stateside release clipped about thirty minutes of stage acts from the running time.  The dopes.