It Happened in Leicester Square

It Happened in Leicester Square is a 1949 British film, written and directed by Geoffrey Benstead. The film stars Harry Tate Jr and Slim Allen as two men from Yorkshire who visit a billiard hall and music hall in London.[1]

It Happened in Leicester Square
Directed byGeoffrey J. Benstead
Written byGeoffrey J. Benstead
Produced byNorman Sharp
StarringHarry Tate Jr.
Slim Allen
Arthur Stott
Distributed byGeoffrey J. Benstead Productions
Release date
  • 1949 (1949)
Running time
53 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom

The original version was 53 minutes long and was given a "U" Certificate, indicating that it was suitable for children, on 22 March 1949.[2] The film was a commercial failure, and a re-edited version, some five minutes shorter, was released in 1951 as Hello London.[3]

The film featured appearances from a number of snooker and English billiards players: Joe Davis, Sidney Smith, Thelma Carpenter, Joyce Gardner, Con Stanbury, Herbert Holt and Jackie Rea.[1] David Quinlan described the film as a "Mercifully brief programme-filler."[4] It was dismissed as "a dull procession of variety acts" by Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane in their book The British 'B' Film.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "It Happened in Leicester Square (1949)". bfi.org.uk. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  2. ^ "It Happened in Leicester Square (1949)". bbfc.co.uk. British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b Steve Chibnall; Brian McFarlane (7 October 2017). The British 'B' Film. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-84457-574-9. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  4. ^ Quinlan, David (1984). British sound films : the studio years 1928-1959. London: B. T. Batsford. p. 221.