Meet Mr. Lucifer
Encyclopedia
Meet Mr. Lucifer is a black and white British
comedy
satire
film released in 1953 starring Stanley Holloway
. Filmed at Ealing Studios
, London
, The film is based on the play
Beggar My Neighbour by Arnold Ridley
(who also played the eccentric Private Godfrey in the BBC
television comedy series Dad's Army
.)
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
film released in 1953 starring Stanley Holloway
Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady...
. Filmed at Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, The film is based on the play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
Beggar My Neighbour by Arnold Ridley
Arnold Ridley
Major William Arnold Ridley, OBE was an English playwright and actor, first notable as the author of the play The Ghost Train and later in life for portraying the elderly Private Charles Godfrey in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army .-Early life:Ridley was born in Walcot, Bath, England where...
(who also played the eccentric Private Godfrey in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television comedy series Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
.)
Plot
When Mr Pedelty (Joseph Tomelty) leaves his firm, he is given a television set as a retirement present. At first he enjoys all the attention from his neighbours, but soon the attraction wears off, and he sells it on to a young married couple (Jack Watling and Peggy Cummins) living in the flat above him. They soon encounter the same problems, and again the set is passed on to several different characters all with the same results.Cast
- Stanley HollowayStanley HollowayStanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady...
as Sam Hollingsworth / Mr. Lucifer - Peggy CumminsPeggy CumminsPeggy Cummins is a retired Irish actress. Cummins is best known for her performance in Joseph H. Lewis' Gun Crazy , playing a trigger happy femme fatale who robs banks with her lover .-Early life:...
as Kitty Norton - Jack WatlingJack WatlingJack Watling was a British actor.-Early life:Watling trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts as a child and made his stage debut in Where the Rainbow Ends at the Holborn Empire in 1936...
as Jim Norton - Barbara MurrayBarbara MurrayBarbara Ann Murray is an English actress. She was married to the actor John Justin and had three daughters, but they divorced in 1964....
as Patricia Pedelty - Joseph TomeltyJoseph TomeltyJoseph Tomelty was a Northern Irish character actor and playwright. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage, starring in Sam Thompson's 1960 play Over the Bridge.-Early life:...
as Mr. Pedelty - Kay KendallKay KendallKay Kendall was an English actress.Kendall began her film career in the 1946 musical London Town. Though the film was a financial failure, Kendall continued to work regularly until her appearance in the comedy Genevieve brought her widespread recognition...
as Lonely Hearts Singer - Gordon JacksonGordon Jackson (actor)Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE was a Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals....
as Hector McPhee - Charles VictorCharles VictorCharles Victor was a British actor who appeared in a number of films and television between 1938 and 1965.-Selected filmography:* Return of the Frog * Hell's Cargo * Contraband...
as Mr. Elder - Humphrey Lestocq as Arthur
- Jean CadellJean CadellJean Cadell was a Scottish character actress.Born in Edinburgh, she performed in the cinema and on the stage. One of her best known cinema roles was in the Ealing Studios comedy Whisky Galore! . She once performed opposite W.C. Fields in Hollywood, cast as Mrs...
as Mrs. Macdonald - Raymond HuntleyRaymond HuntleyRaymond Huntley was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s through to the 1970s...
as Mr. Patterson - Ernest ThesigerErnest ThesigerErnest Frederic Graham Thesiger CBE was an English stage and film actor. He is best known for his performance as Dr...
as Mr. Macdonald - Frank PettingellFrank PettingellFrank Pettingell was an English actor.Pettingell was born in Liverpool, and educated at Manchester University...
as Mr. Roberts - Olive SloaneOlive SloaneOlive Sloane was an English actress whose film career spanned over 40 years from the silent era through to her death...
as Mrs. Stannard - Gilbert HardingGilbert HardingGilbert Charles Harding was a British journalist and radio and television personality. His many careers included schoolmaster, journalist, policeman, disc-jockey, interviewer and television presenter...
as Himself - Philip HarbenPhilip HarbenPhilip Hubert Kendal Jerrold Harben was an English cook, recognised as the first TV celebrity chef.His mother, Mary Jerrold, was an actress famous as the murderous Martha Brewster in the first stage presentation of Arsenic and Old Lace as well as many screen roles. His father, Hubert Harben, was a...
as Himself - McDonald HobleyMcDonald HobleyMcDonald Hobley, born Dennys Jack Valentine McDonald-Hobley, was one of the first BBC Television continuity announcers, appearing from 1946 to 1956.-Childhood and early career:...
as Himself - David Miller as Himself
- Olga Gwynne as Principal Boy
- Joan SimsJoan SimsJoan Sims was an English actress best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, and latterly for playing Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By.-Early life:...
as Fairy Queen - Ian CarmichaelIan CarmichaelIan Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
as Man Friday - Irene HandlIrene Handl-Life:Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the daughter of an Austrian banker father and French mother. She took to acting at the relatively advanced age of 36, and studied at the acting school run by the sister of Dame Sybil Thorndike...
as Lady with Dog - Gladys HensonGladys HensonGladys Henson was a British actress whose career lasted from 1932 to 1976 and included roles on stage, radio, films and television series...
as Lady in Bus - Roddy Hughes as Billings
- Eliot MakehamEliot MakehamEliot Makeham , sometimes credited as Eliott Makeham or Elliot Makeham, was an English film and television actor.-Early life and education:He was born Harold Elliott Makeham in 1882, in London, England....
as Edwards - Bill FraserBill Fraser-External links:* *...
as Band Leader - Dandy NicholsDandy Nichols-References:* Dandy Nichols at screenonline.* Dandy Nichols at The Museum of Broadcast Communications.-External links:...
as Mrs. Clarke