George Formby Dorothy Hyson Bernard Lee John Warwick
Cinematography
Bryan Langley
Edited by
Ray Pitt
Music by
Louis Levy
Production company
Associated Talking Pictures
Distributed by
ABFD
Release dates
December 1940 (1940-12) (London)
14 April 1941 (1941-04-14) (UK general release)
Running time
77 minutes
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Spare a Copper is a 1940 British black-and-white musical comedy war film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring George Formby, Dorothy Hyson and Bernard Lee. It was produced by Associated Talking Pictures. It is also known as Call a Cop. The film features the songs, "I'm the Ukulele Man", "On the Beat", "I Wish I Was Back on the Farm" and "I'm Shy".[1] Beryl Reid makes her film debut in an uncredited role, while Ronald Shiner appears similarly uncredited, in the role of the Piano Mover and Tuner.[2]
Working on the film as associate producer and writer, this production was an early assignment for director Basil Dearden: "it was relatively easy to fit the Formby films into the new demands thrown up by the war: whereas George had typically had to overcome rogues and villains in his 1930s films, these were now simply replaced by spies and saboteurs".[3][page needed]
The film title is a pun, using the colloquial term "copper" meaning a policeman, with the longer phrase "spare a copper" used by beggars - meaning can you spare a penny (which I might have).
^"Spare A Copper". Georgeformby.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
^"Spare a Copper (1940)". BFI Film & TV Database. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
^Burton, Alan; O'Sullivan, Tim (2009). The Cinema of Basil Dearden and Michael Relph. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748632893.
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Night Train to Munich (1940) - Schwab Saloon Bar (1940) - Meek Man SpareaCopper (1940) - Fuller Facing the Music (1941) - Secretary The Common Touch...
such as the George Formby comedy vehicles Come On George! (1939) and SpareaCopper (1940) as well as on more serious productions such as the Second World...
Yard (1940) - Det.-Inspector Shott Convoy (1940) - Merchantman Skipper SpareaCopper (1940) - Night Watchman Old Bill and Son (1941) - Soldier (uncredited)...
at Sea (1940) – Brown The Case of the Frightened Lady (1940) – Studd SpareaCopper (1940) – Shaw Old Bill and Son (1941) – Recruiting Officer (uncredited)...
with Formby, The Case of the Frightened Lady (1940), SpareaCopper (1940) with Formby, Salvage with a Smile (1941), The Seventh Survivor (1941), Old Bill...
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(1940) – John (uncredited) Let George Do It! (1940) – Solicitous Steward SpareaCopper (1940) – Policeman (uncredited) Sailors Three (1940) – Officer Reading...
Bob[citation needed] Old Mother Riley in Society (1940)[citation needed] SpareaCopper (1940) as Policeman (uncredited)[citation needed] Old Mother Riley in...
Brinkway The Spider (1940) - Duke The Briggs Family (1940) - Jerry Tulse SpareaCopper (1940) - Dame (uncredited) Crook's Tour (1941) - Desert Bus Tour Guide...
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