OLD MOTHER REILLY

What If I described a 1939 Britain film whose lead character is a socialist woman of the people fighting against slum landlords and big business that is looking to destroy community and a gathering point for the working classes. Her political journey takes her from the soapbox to the lofty heights of Parliament as cabinet minister for strange affairs.

This is a film about a woman seeking social equity for the poor, downtrodden and unemployed during the early days of World War One.

I am, of course, talking about Old Mother Reilly MP(1939) Dir Oswald Mitchell.

Old Mother Reilly was a huge star in Britain during the 30s and 40s and starred in 16 films that entertained and kept up the morale of the British public and post war into the early 50s

In the tradition of music hall, she was played by Arthur Lucan (1885-1954)  with his wife appearing often as his daughter Kitty. Like contemporaries such as Will Hay and Arthur Askey Lucan had a loyal following and each new film was well received by movie goers if not critics.

Old Mother Riley found herself in a number of situations such as searching for Jungle treasure, facing off against Vampires and Ghosts, gate crashing high society, enlisting in the army, turning detective, joining the circus and becoming a headmistress. All of the escapades were delivered with a sense of innocence and great fun.

 

Mother Riley MP is perhaps the Citizen Kane of Old Mother Reilly films in that it uniquely delivers a strong social message and this allows the usual cast to have some content to sink their teeth into.

The obvious reference point for contemporary audiences is Mrs Brown's Boys but this is an unfair comparison. The later lacks charm and thinks its smarter than it is, Old Mother Reilly's appeal is the sense of connectivity, the underdog triumphing against the odds. Whilst it's fair to say that this franchise lacks some technical quality, the Old Mother Reilly Cinematic Universe is well worth a visit for some good old fashioned fun.