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My Learned Friend is a British film of genre Thriller directed by Basil Dearden with Will Hay
My Learned Friend (1943)
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Add to a movie listMy Learned Friend is a 1943 British, black-and-white, comedy, farce, directed by Basil Dearden with regular collaborator Will Hay and starring Ronald Shiner as the Man in Wilson's café, Will Hay as William Fitch and Charles Victor as "Safety" Wilson. It was produced by Michael Balcon, Robert Hamer and Ealing Studios. The film's title refers to a tradition in British law: when addressing either the court or the judge, a barrister refers to the opposing counsel using the respectful term, "my learned friend". The supporting cast included Claude Hulbert, Mervyn Johns and Ernest Thesiger. It was the last film featuring Will Hay as he had an operation, however, it wasn't the last role in his career as he would star as "Doctor Muffin" in The Will Hay Programme that aired on the radio, the radio show began in 1944. The humour of the film was different from the humour of Hay's films he previously made with Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt and the film had more of a dark humour than any of Hay's other films. Hay had planned to make more films with Claude Hulbert that had a dark humour, but it was Hay's last film due to illness.
Synopsis
This comedy sees Will Hay playing a seedy lawyer, who finds himself marked for assassination by a forger whom he previously defended unsuccessfully. He teams up with an incompetent solicitor to try to prevent the deaths of others involved.Actors
Will Hay
(William Fitch)
Ronald Shiner
(Man in Wilson's Bar)
Charles Victor
('Safety' Wilson)
Claude Hulbert
(Claude Babbington)
Eddie Phillips
('Basher' Blake)
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Suggestions of similar film to My Learned Friend
There are 159 films with the same actors, 40 films with the same director, 56524 with the same cinematographic genres (including 84 with exactly the same 4 genres than My Learned Friend), to have finally 70 suggestions of similar films.If you liked My Learned Friend, you will probably like those similar films :
Dead of Night (1945)
, 1h42Directed by Basil Dearden, Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Robert Hamer
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Comedy, Anthology film, Horror
Themes Ghost films
Actors Michael Redgrave, Mervyn Johns, Renee Gadd, Frederick Valk, Roland Culver, Sally Ann Howes
Rating74%
Architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) arrives at a country house party where he reveals to the assembled guests that he has seen them all in a dream. He appears to have no prior personal knowledge of them but he is able to predict spontaneous events in the house before they unfold. The other guests attempt to test Craig's foresight, while entertaining each other with various tales of uncanny or supernatural events that they experienced or were told about. These include a racing car driver's premonition of a fatal bus crash; a light-hearted tale of two obsessed golfers, one of whom becomes haunted by the other's ghost (cut from the initial USA release); a ghostly encounter during a children's Christmas party (another tale cut from the initial USA release); a haunted antique mirror; and the story of an unbalanced ventriloquist (Michael Redgrave) who believes his amoral dummy is truly alive. The framing story is then capped by a twist ending.
The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)
, 1h20Directed by Basil Dearden, Will Hay
Origin United-kingdom
Genres War, Comedy
Themes Documentary films about war, Documentary films about historical events, Political films, Documentary films about World War II
Actors Will Hay, John Mills, Basil Sydney, Henry Hewitt, Felix Aylmer, Frank Cellier
Rating66%
When he is forced to vacate the office of his debt-ridden correspondence college, 'Professor' Will Davis (Will Hay) goes to the Ministry of International Commerce at Whitehall in order to confront his one-and-only student, PR man Bobby Jessop (John Mills). To get Davis off his back, Jessop proposes to get him a job at Whitehall. Jessop then leaves in order to fetch a Professor Davys at the railway station. The professor is a leading economist who has returned from a long stay in South America in order to advise the British government on a trade treaty with the South American nations, which could be crucial to Britain's war effort.
The Goose Steps Out (1942)
, 1h19Directed by Basil Dearden, Will Hay
Origin United-kingdom
Genres War, Comedy
Themes Political films
Actors Will Hay, Frank Pettingell, Charles Hawtrey, Charles Hawtrey, Peter Ustinov, Barry Morse
Rating64%
Set during the Second World War, The Goose Steps Out recounts the adventures of William Potts (Will Hay) after it is discovered that he is an exact double of a German spy who the British have just captured. Potts is flown into Nazi Germany to impersonate the spy and instructed to seek out and bring back details of a new German secret weapon.
The Halfway House (1944)
, 1h35Directed by Basil Dearden
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Fantastic, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Théâtre, Political films, Films based on plays
Actors Mervyn Johns, Glynis Johns, Sally Ann Howes, Françoise Rosay, Richard Bird, Tom Walls
Rating65%
David Davies, un célèbre chef d'orchestre, apprend qu'il ne lui reste que trois mois à vivre et son médecin lui propose de faire un séjour à The Halfway House, un petit hôtel situé dans une partie isolée du Pays de Galles. Parallèlement, Richard French est également en route pour l'hôtel avec sa fille, Joanna, qui à son insu ses parents discuter de leur projet de divorce. À la gare, ils rencontrent un jeune couple, Terence et Margaret, et tous les quatre marchent ensemble jusqu'à l'hôtel. Se rendent également à l'hôtel William Oakley, un profiteur de guerre, et son ami le capitaine Fortesque, qui vient de refuser de travailler comme directeur de prison parce qu'il ne veut pas contribuer à l'effort de guerre.
The Bells Go Down (1943)
, 1h30Directed by Basil Dearden
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War
Themes Transport films, Aviation films, Political films, Disaster films
Actors James Mason, Tommy Trinder, Philip Friend, Mervyn Johns, William Hartnell, Finlay Currie
Rating66%
On 3 September 1939, at the start of World War II, several East End Londoners join the London County Council Auxiliary Fire Service. Tommy Turk (Trinder) is a light-hearted gambler who avoids work, living with his mother (Varley) who runs a local fish and chips shop. Tommy has bought a greyhound pup he names "Short Head" and hopes to race. Bob Matthews (Friend) is a newcomer to the East End who just lost his job and has to postpone his wedding to Nan Harper (Hiatt) as a result. Tommy and Bob meet in The Hopvine, a pub run by Ma and Pa Robbins (Muriel George and Pierce), whose son Ted (Mason) is a fireman with the London Fire Brigade. Ted's girl Susie has just joined the brigade as a dispatcher, but Ma Robbins' cannot hide her thinly disguised disapproval of Susie's love of dance halls. The Army won't accept new enlistments, so Tommy persuades Bob to join the AFS with him. Sam, a small-time thief of Guinness, inadvertently joins the service trying to avoid the clutches of Eastchapel Police Constable O'Brien (Richard George), who dogs him with the persistence of Javert. The three are assigned immediately to the "Q" sub-station of the East End's District 21, set up in a school to train under Ted.
The Rainbow Jacket (1954)
, 1h39Directed by Basil Dearden
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama
Themes Films about animals, Sports films, Films about horses, Horse sports in film
Actors Robert Morley, Kay Walsh, Edward Underdown, Bill Owen, Honor Blackman, Charles Victor
Rating63%
A champion jockey, having forfeited his own career by taking a bribe, takes a young rider under his wing.
The Captive Heart (1946)
, 1h44Directed by Basil Dearden
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War
Themes Prison films, Political films
Actors Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Mervyn Johns, Frederick Leister, Jack Warner, Gordon Jackson
Rating69%
In the summer of 1940, Captain Karel Hasek (Michael Redgrave) of the Czech army escapes from Dachau concentration camp and assumes the identity of a dead British officer, Captain Geoffrey Mitchell. When he is caught, he joins thousands of British prisoners of war, captured during the Fall of France, on a march to a prison camp.
The League of Gentlemen (1960)
, 1h56Directed by Basil Dearden
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Heist films
Actors Jack Hawkins, Nigel Patrick, Roger Livesey, Bryan Forbes, Richard Attenborough, Kieron Moore
Rating71%
A manhole opens at night in an empty street and out climbs Lieutenant-Colonel Norman Hyde (Jack Hawkins) in a dinner suit. He gets into a Rolls-Royce and drives home. There, he prepares seven envelopes, each containing an American crime paperback called The Golden Fleece, ten £5-notes cut in half (i.e. £50 in total with the other halves) and an unsigned invitation from “Co-operative Removals Limited” to lunch at the Cafe Royal.
The Assassination Bureau (1969)
, 1h50Directed by Basil Dearden
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Spy films
Actors Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Curd Jürgens, Clive Revill, Vernon Dobtcheff
Rating63%
In London, during the early 1900s, aspiring journalist and women's rights campaigner Sonia Winter (Diana Rigg) uncovers an organisation that specialises in killing for money, the Assassination Bureau, Limited. To bring about its destruction, she commissions the assassination of the bureau's own chairman, Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed).
The Blue Lamp (1950)
, 1h24Directed by Basil Dearden, Alexander Mackendrick
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Action, Noir, Crime, Romance
Actors Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Dirk Bogarde, Robert Flemyng, Jack Warner, Bernard Lee
Rating67%
The action mostly takes place in the Paddington area of London, and is set in July 1949, a few years after the end of the Second World War. PC George Dixon (Warner) a long-serving traditional "copper" who is due to retire shortly, takes a new recruit, Andy Mitchell (Hanley), under his aegis, introducing him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic Ealing "ordinary" hero, but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of Tom Riley (Bogarde). Called to the scene of a robbery at a local cinema, Dixon finds himself face-to-face with Riley, a desperate youth armed with a revolver. Dixon initially tries to talk Riley into surrendering the weapon, but Riley panics and fires. Dixon is taken to hospital, but dies some hours later. The ending is another Ealing quirk, with ordinary, decent society banding together with professional criminals and dog-track identities to track down and catch the murderer, who tries to hide in the crowd at White City greyhound track in West London. To Andy Mitchell falls the honour of arresting Riley.