Davy – 1957 | 83 mins | Comedy | Colour

Plot Synopsis

The last Ealing comedy of all, Davy, for once directed by Michael Relph and produced by Basil Dearden rather than the more usual reversed arrangement, is even sadder than Barnacle Bill. Harry Secombe, in his first film, plays a member of a family variety act who wants to be a singer and has to face the dilemma of pursuing a musical career and leaving the family act to collapse, or giving up his ambitions for the sake of the others. It is the latter course of action which he follows, the old safe values preventing a clean break into new and exciting territory – further evidence of Ealing’s cosiness. Stylistically the film is an awkward combination of broad farce, Secombe having made his name as one of the denizens of the celebrated Goon Show, and awkward, turgid scenes of moral conflict.

Extract© George Perry: Forever Ealing.