Gert and Daisy's Weekend

1942 British film by Maclean Rogers

Maclean Rogers
Reg Taylor

Written by

Kathleen Butler
H. F. Maltby
Maclean Rogers

Produced byE. S. LaurieStarring

Elsie Waters
Doris Waters
Iris Vandeleur

CinematographyStephen DadeEdited byCharles KnottMusic byPercival Mackey

Production
companies

Welwyn Studios
Butcher Empire

Distributed byButcher's Film Service

Release date

16 February 1942 (1942-02-16)

Running time

79 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

Gert and Daisy's Weekend is a 1942 British comedy film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Elsie Waters, Doris Waters and Iris Vandeleur.^[1]

It was shot at Welwyn Studios with sets designed by the art director William Hemsley. It was followed by a sequel Gert and Daisy Clean Up (1942).

Cast

Elsie Waters as Gert
Doris Waters as Daisy
Iris Vandeleur as Ma Butler
Elizabeth Hunt as Maisie Butler
John Slater as Jack Densham
Wally Patch as Charlie Peters
Annie Esmond as Lady Plumtree
Aubrey Mallalieu as Barnes
O. B. Clarence as vicar
Noel Dainton as Detective Inspector
Arthur Denton as village policeman
Vi Kaley as old lady whose son is to be evacuated
David Keir as magistrates clerk
Jack May as old man dancing on Tube station
Gerald Moore as Tommy
Johnnie Schofield as Policeman at Town Hall
Leonard Sharp as small boy's father
Jack Vyvyan as village policeman
Ben Williams as sam the fishmonger

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The story is naturally outrageous and simply serves as an extravagant setting in which the well-known comediennes Elsie and Doris Waters can perform. This they do excellently and bring to the screen all the verve of their music-hall and radio turns. The supporting players are very much inferior in ability to the stars. On the other hand, the authenticity of real English backgrounds and manners is refreshing after seeing so many Hollywood imaginative attempts to show England to the English."^[2]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Elsie and Doris Waters had been radio stars for some 15 years before they made this rare sortie in front of the movie camera. Starring as the cockney tittle-tattles Gert and Daisy, they escort some East End evacuees to a country house, where the kids end up as chief suspects in a jewel robbery. The sisters usually wrote their own material and took great pains to be original. Consequently, they look distinctly unhappy with the rehashed gags on offer here."^[3]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Pretty wild comedy goes at a fair old pace; material is broad but the stars play it with gusto."^[4]

References

^ "Gert and Daisy's Weekend". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
^ "Gert and Daisy's Weekend". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 8 (85): 130. 1 January 1941 – via ProQuest.
^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 359. ISBN 9780992936440.
^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 212. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.