Oh, Mr. Porter!
July 2000
- Derek Malcolm's century of filmMarcel Varnel: Oh, Mr Porter!
One of the biggest successes at the Paris Cinémathèque in the late 80s was a retrospective of British comedy curated by Bertrand Tavernier. Among the discoveries for the French was Will Hay, who, with his henchmen Graham Moffatt (the fat boy) and Moore Marriott (the wizened old codger), perfectly represented a certain type of bumbling British humour. One of the best of their films was Oh, Mr Porter! - and the French were pleased to find that it was directed by Paris-born Marcel Varnel. One of the great directors of British comedy in the 30s, Varnel considered Oh, Mr Porter! his best work