The Lads of the Village

Everyone in the village has turned out, for Jimmy Learmouth and his pal Joe Peterman have been demobbed, and Jimmy has won the V.C. He has no interest in hanging around and making a speech, so his captain, H.J. Lord tells the tale, involving the captain's girl, two German spies, dispatches, and Learmouth dressing up as a Turkish magician.

It's based on a stage play co-produced by Peterman and starring, one can only presume, him and Learmouth, in a long, rambling tale about how the British officer was saved by the dumb luck of having plucky English commoners to to help out their stalwart, incompetent superiors. It's been nicely opened up -- not only in the bookends, shot outdoors, but in the battle scenes, which are nicely done. I don't doubt the sequences set in the Turkish Pasha's court, with his underdressed harem was in the original stage show, but it was undoubtedly a time when everyone was saying it was good for morale.