Black Sheep of Whitehall

THE BLACK SHEEP OF WHITEHALL was one of the many films starring the now largely forgotten British comedian Will Hays. As usual, he's a shady character who gets dragged into things; this time a Professor Davies - running an mail order qualifications scam - who is confused with a Professor Daveys - a top Latin American economist come to London to arbitrate on a vital trade agreement - after the latter is kidnapped by Nazi agents in the middle of the Second World War. With John Mills' straight man, they rumble the plot and - afraid the police won't believe them - decide to free the right professor by infiltrating the sanitorium where he's being hidden. It's fast-paced, music-hall comedy as the pair bumble from scrape to scrape, with the inevitable transvestism and occasional war jokes. The highlight though is the climactic chase, in which the professor is towed behind a car on a medical tricycle; it is a brilliant piece of visual comedy that makes the entire film worthwhile. An old-fashioned treat.