Boys Will Be Boys | |
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DVD cover
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Directed by | William Beaudine |
Written by | Robert Edmunds Will Hay J.B. Morton |
Starring |
Will Hay Gordon Harker Jimmy Hanley |
Music by |
Louis Levy Bretton Byrd |
Cinematography | Charles Van Enger |
Edited by | Alfred Roome |
Distributed by | Gaumont British Distributors |
Release date
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July 1935 |
Running time
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80 min |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Boys Will Be Boys is a 1935 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine which stars Will Hay, Gordon Harker and Jimmy Hanley. The film is set at Narkover School, where headmaster Doctor Alec Smart (Will Hay) becomes involved in the disappearance of a valuable necklace.
The setting is loosely based on the works of Beachcomber, where Narkover is a school specializing in gambling and extortion, and the headmaster is a "Dr. Smart-Allick".
Alec Smart, who is engaged teaching in a prison, applies for the job of headmaster at a nearby public school to replace the previous headmaster who has been convicted of writing forged cheques and has just been sent to prison. Smart appeals to the Governor to write him a good reference which he pretends to. Afterwards he writes his real recommendation which is very negative about Smart's talents. The trustee who works as the Governor's secretary, Faker Brown, "accidentally" gets the two letters mixed up and delivers the one praising Smart. On the basis of the letter, Lady Dorking, the who runs the Board of Governors appoints Smart to the job. This angers her deputy, Colonel Crableigh, who had favoured promoting his nephew, the Deputy head.
On his arrival at the school, Smart is treated to a boisterous reception by the unruly students led by the Head Boy, Cyril Brown, who is the son of Faker Brown. Narkover proves to be a breeding ground for young criminals, who prefer to spend their time playing cards rather than taking classes. After his initial attempts to stop their games, Smart himself ends up playing cards with the students. He gets off on the wrong foot with Colonel Crableigh but, in spite of Smart's obvious incompetence, Lady Dorking immediately takes a shine to him. Crableigh begins engineering a scheme to have Smart dismissed and replaced by his own nephew.