From beginnings in northern music halls, George Formby achieved big screen success in the mid 1930s, becoming for several years Britain's most popular film star. In his fims Formby played loveable but accident-prone incompetents, aspiring to various kinds of professional success - a motorcycle racer in NO LIMIT, a policeman in SPARE A COPPER, a photographer in I SEE ICE, a manafacturer in TURNED OUT NICE AGAIN and a jockey in COME ON GEORGE. Even more improbably Formby would set out to win the heart of a middle-class girlfriend, usually in the clutches of some caddish-type with a moustache, and invariably he'd succeed! Formby's films, including IT'S IN THE AIR and LET GEORGE DO IT (one of a number of films Formby made for Ealing Studios) are unpretentiously skilful in their balance between broad comedy and action, and interspersed with songs of his own composition on his trademark ukulele. Although these hugely popular songs often suggest a sly sexual content, they are performed with such a toothy grin and air of innocence that offence is kept at bay.
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