Old Mother Riley (film)

Old Mother Riley is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Arthur Lucan in the lead, with Kitty McShane, Barbara Everest, Patrick Ludlow and Hubert Leslie. Mother Riley and her daughter stop the plans of some disinherited relatives to overturn the terms of a will.^[1]

Old Mother Riley
Front of house re-release (1942) still
Directed by	Oswald Mitchell
Written by	John Argyle Con West
Produced by	Norman Hope-Bell
Starring	Arthur Lucan Kitty McShane Barbara Everest Patrick Ludlow
Cinematography	Jack Parker
Edited by	Challis Sanderson
Music by	Horace Sheldon
Production company	Butcher's Film Service
Distributed by	Butcher's Film Service
Release date	August 1937 (1937-08) (UK) }
Running time	75 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

This is the first in a series of films made between 1937–1952, featuring Arthur Lucan's elderly drag character, and her daughter Kitty. After small roles in the Irish Kathleen Mavourneen (also 1937), Lucan and McShane were approached to star in their own film, Old Mother Riley. The film was cheaply made (it cost £2,000, taking six weeks to shoot) and based on their music hall sketch ‘The Matchseller’. Old Mother Riley was a box office success and Old Mother Riley in Paris soon followed.^[2]

Plot

In his will, a wealthy match magnate leaves his fortune to his family, the only condition being that they must take in the first person they see selling matches. Very soon they are blessed with the presence of a loud Irish washerwoman, Old Mother Riley. Chaos ensues, as her presence in the household, and that of her daughter, Kitty, proves unwelcome.^[3]

Cast

• Arthur Lucan as Mrs Riley
• Kitty McShane as Kitty Riley
• Barbara Everest as Mrs Briggs
• Patrick Ludlow as Edwin Briggs
• Hubert Leslie as Captain Lawson
• Edith Sharpe as Matilda Lawson
• Syd Crossley as Butler
• Edgar Driver as Bill Jones
• Dorothy Vernon as Aggie Sparks
• [Balliol & Tiller] (Dance Duo- As themselves)

Critical reception

TV Guide commented that "far from being impressive cinema, the "Old Mother Riley" series provided for some innocuous and occasionally hysterical entertainment."^[3]