Asking for Trouble (1942)

It is probably rather unfair to try and evaluate Max Miller's performance in this wartime effort now. His relentless delivery, straight from the British music-halls, offers us a torrent of quick witted quips that all to often simply overwhelm the story - and leave the audience gasping for breath! There is no doubting, though, that his humour offered a breath of fresh air in this daft story of a struggling fishmonger who runs an illegal book on the side. To keep it interesting, he decides to try and help Carol Lynne ("Jane") to avoid an unwanted marriage by donning his best "Alan Quatermain" hat and pretending to be her big game hunter fiancée - with ominously silly results. It's just too long - even Miller can't sustain the intensity of his dialogue for 80 minutes, and the frequently pithy writing from auteur Oswald Mitchell starts to border on the preposterous a bit too quickly. Fortunately, iIt's got a couple of welcome stabilising contributions from Wilfred Hyde-White as the rather acerbic butler to the troubled damsel's father "General Smythe" (Mark Lester) to help out too. It's fun, fast and furious... just a bit feeble nowadays.