Ask A Policeman

As promised, here is the first of a series of excerpts from the films of Will Hay, easily the greatest comedian of British film's Golden Age. We've already written at length about Hay and his stooges Moffatt and Marriott, so I won't elaborate here other than to give you a brief setup for the clip below. Ask A Policeman, directed by Marcel Varnel, was released August 28th, 1939 and was the fifth feature to team Hay, Moffatt, and Marriott. The story takes place in the tiny coastal village of Turnbotham Round which has just drawn media attention to itself for its record of seemingly having no crime whatsoever. The truth is that the village is positively crime-ridden, but its police force is so lazy and corrupt that they haven't been bothered to make an arrest in ten years. Unfortunately for Sergeant Dudfoot and Constables Albert and Harbottle, the town now appears to be so peaceful that their own jobs have been declared redundant and are set for the chop. Their only hope to save their careers (and all the inherent perks) is to drum up some crime and fast! In the following clip, Dudfoot, Albert, and Harbottle have set up a speed trap and make a typical botch of it. My apologies for the dark print.