The Foreman Went to France

Tommy Trinder - Tommy
Clifford Evans - Ted Carrick
Constance Cummings - Girl
Gordon Jackson - Jock
Robert Morley - Mayor
Francois Sully - Skipper
Mervyn Johns - Official
Thora Hird - Barmaid

The Foreman Went to France, which was based on the real experiences of one Melbourne Johns, who managed to retrieve some vital machinery from under the noses of the advancing Germans. Clifford Evans played the foreman, renamed Ted Carrick for the film, who surmounts the obstacles of red tape to reach France, and then faces dive-bombers, refugee-clogged roads, spies disguised as British soldiers and the ever-advancing enemy. He falls in with a pair of tommies separated from their unit, one played by the comedian Tommy Trinder, the other by the Scottish actor Gordon Jackson, who was suggested for the part by the playwright James Bridie. Their adventures are shared by an American girl (Constance Cummings). The French sea captain who eventually brings the group back to Britain was identified in the credits as Francois Sully, although he is easily recognised as the corpulent British character actor, Francis L. Sullivan, an example of Ealing's occasional whimsicality.

The film portrayed a small group of people from different walks of life beset by great odds, but winning through together, and it was the most satisfying Ealing war film to date, establishing what was to be a formula for many serious films and several of the post-war comedies. Frend's approach, following a narrative storyline that was written by J. B. Priestley, and scripted by John Dighton, Angus MacPhail and Leslie Arliss, was steady and careful. The only palpable directorial flaw was the casting of Trinder, who was allowed to play in a much broader vein than the others, and undoubtedly many people were lured into the cinema expecting an entertainment in the 'You Lucky People!' vein.
Extract© George Perry: Forever Ealing.