Born in Stockton-on-Tees, William Thomson Hay initially toured with the Fred Karno troupe. After 25 years in music hall and radio, and at the age of forty-six Hay finally made his feature film debut in 1934 with Those Were the Days. Finding his metier portraying inept, somewhat rapscallion schoolmasters who know far less than their pupils, the films collected here, all taken from Hay’s most prolific period, ably demonstrate his capacity for scoundrels, but also reveal more of his extensive repertoire of characters. An enjoyable satire about a BBC-type corporation, Radio Parade of 1935 casts Hay against type as a suave if remote Director-General who comes to cherish his staff in the face of adversity. The perennially popular The Ghost of St. Michael’s is one of Hay’s signature roles with the comedian appearing as William Lamb, a pedagogue called out of retirement to join the staff of a school that has been evacuated to a remote and apparently haunted Scottish castle. The final film in the set, The Black Sheep of Whitehall is from Hay’s fertile Ealing period. Co-directed with Basil Dearden, the film, a riveting comic yarn involving Nazi activity features Hay in no less than six guises. Frequently working in collaboration with performers Moore Marriott, Graham Moffatt and Claude Hulbert, Hay went on to make 19 films in total. Making a significant contribution to the British comedy oeuvre, Hay’s films remain enduring British comedy masterpieces.
This collection, along with Comic Icons: The Alastair Sim Collection, marks Part Four of the Optimum Comic Icons series which has also celebrated Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, Leslie Phillips, Sidney James and Tony Hancock.
Radio Parade Of 1935 (1934)
An enjoyable satire that pokes fun at corporations such as the BBC, Radio Parade of 1935 features Will Hay in uncharacteristically suave mode as William Garland, the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Group, a remote figure who has never seen his own studios.
Contending with an ambitious young manager with plans to popularise the medium and has designs on Garland’s daughter (Helen Chandler), the film also features a villainous theatrical agent (Alfred Drayton) who bans his stars from appearing on a prestigious NBG show.
The Ghost Of St Michael’s (1941)
Hugely popular on its release, The Ghost of St. Michael’s features Hay in one of his signature roles as William Lamb, a pedagogue called out of retirement because of the war to join the staff of a school that has been evacuated to a remote Scottish castle.
According to legend the castle is haunted and whoever should hear the sound of ghostly bagpipes will surely meet a grisly end. With members of the school’s staff dropping like flies, Lamb is called upon to solve the gruesome mystery.
Black Sheep Of Whitehall (1942)
The Black Sheep of Whitehall features Hay as William Davis, the head of a correspondence college who becomes embroiled with the Nazis as they try to prevent the signing of a trade agreement.
On learning that a Nazi agent has breached security and is posing as the economics expert responsible for lining out the international agreement, the good professor tries to find the real expert, who has been kidnapped and hidden. Directed by Basil Dearden and also starring Sir John Mills and Thora Hird.