No Limit

This film was made in 1935 when Formby was at the height of his fame in the British music halls. This was Formby's third film and also one of his most fondly remembered. He plays George Shuttleworth (speed demon), Who has a dream of riding his motorbike in the Isle Of Man TT races. It is a wonderful 80 minutes of nostalgic fun as George gets into many scrapes on the way and manages to fit in a few songs while plucking his Ukelele. It is also a timely reminder of a Britain which (sadly) no longer exists. So sit back and reminisce but most of all enjoy.

This was the first of the films that George made for ATP,later to become known as Ealing Studios.It is here that the template is laid for all the other films to follow.The gawky girl shy lad,triumphing over other more likely lads to win the girl and in this case the TT race.In this film he is directed by the Italian born,Monty Banks,who will marry Gracie Fields and supported by the experienced actress Florence Desmond.It is difficult to realise that George and Gracie managed to keep Ealing Studios afloat,whilst the head of production,indulged in "prestige pictures" which nearly drove the studios into liquidation and resulted in his being sacked,which led to the appointment of Michael Balcon and greater things.If you are interested in Britain in the 30s,or are a Formby fan then this is for you,otherwise forget it.Given the fact that his wife,Beryl was on the set,it is understandable that he is never kissed on the mouth by his leading lady!

There's a few things going for this film if your into nostalgia. Firstly George is a likable Lancashire comedian setting out on the big screen in an absolutely predictable script.

It's worth a watch if you've ever been to the Isle of Man (TT races or not) purely from a historical point of view. Health & safety would just die at the crowds locality to the bikes! There are a few good laughs but 75 years on it all looks very, very familiar. The Riding the TT Races song on the train journey is an eccentric bit of comedic genius and the Shuttleworth Snap is a dream bike (there's a full replica at The Bay Inn, Port Erin, Isle of Man - fab pub).

The greatest movie of all time this isn't. I don't think it ever tried to be. It's a vehicle of George "oooh, mother!" Formby and his ukelele, in an era when Vaudeville was coughing up blood and there was a pool of talent going idle (assuming you consider the ukelele a talent!). It's lots of fun, and entirely predictable - underdog battles the odds, has a few scrapes, but gets the girl (and other things) in the end, baddies roundly thrashed, and all to the strains of the obligatory musical numbers that permeate the movie. I grew up on the Isle of Man and used to marshal on the TT course - there wasn't a year went by that at least one rider didn't have his machine painted in the Shuttleworth Snap checkerboard pattern, such is the legacy of this movie in the road-racing fraternity. Filmed almost entirely on location, it cuts in archive race footage (amazing to see what's changed and what hasn't) and it's sublimely ridiculous. If you're a road-racer, or know people who are, this is a must. For everyone else, it's a maybe. Bizarrely, in the scene at the beginning of the big race, there is a swastika flag flying from the grandstand. It's customary to fly the flags of all of the countries that the competitors are from, and I guess in 1936 there were German riders - still, it's a little strange to see it there, looks out of place.

No Limit was George's first big league film, his 4th overall. The boss of ATP Basil Dean had wanted to find a Northern entertainer to rival Gracie Fields; when his scouts announced the finding of George Formby for him he said "But he's dead", thinking of George's famous Dad who had died in 1922. But nevertheless, Formby Jr. probably inevitably became a star, the biggest in Britain between 1938-1945 – he came along at just the right time when the public wanted simple good hearted escapism. The only purpose simple good hearted escapism serves today for film-makers is to give themselves and the public something to sneer at.

Gormless little man George Shuttleworth wants to take part in and win the annual motorcycle TT Races on t'Isle of Man, gets there penniless but with Florence Desmond rooting for him, and an assortment of baddies led by nasty Jack Hobbs out to stop him by foul means. Songs: Riding In The TT Races (in the crowded railway coach), Riding Around On A Rainbow (the lively hit of the film by Flo – to Beryl's disgust - on the IOM ferry), In A Little Wigan Garden (an advance warning for serious people: black-faced on the beach at Douglas), I'm Walking Your Way (as a romantic duet in the "moonlight"). Favourite bits: the studio shots of George's back yard at Slagdyke; the location shots of the course and backgrounds on the Isle of Man; grandfather Edward Rigby's superbly indignant performance; the TT race scenes and climax (due to the heat and number of re-takes George actually did collapse at the finish). The local stunt riders apparently went on strike successfully for a short while after they found out that director Monte Banks was paying the donkey and his owner (who had smaller bit parts) more than them!

A landmark film with the Formby Formula virtually in place, it wouldn't really be changed now for the next 10 years.