The Galloping Major (film)

The Galloping Major is a 1951 British comedy sports film, starring Basil Radford, Jimmy Hanley and Janette Scott. It also featured Sid James, Charles Hawtrey and Joyce Grenfell in supporting roles. It was directed by Henry Cornelius and made at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. The film's sets were designed by Norman Arnold.

The title is taken from the song "The Galloping Major", and the plot was centred on gambling at the horse racing track. People in a London suburb form a syndicate to buy a race horse to run in the Grand National.

Production
The film was made as an independent production, backed by the Woolf Brothers. It proved profitable at the box office, but producer Monja Danischewsky quit independent production afterwards to return to work at Ealing Studios. It has been noted as being similar in style to the Ealing comedies of the same era.

It features appearances by several figures well known at the time, including the jockey Charlie Smirke and the radio commentators Raymond Glendenning and Bruce Belfrage.

Main cast

 * Basil Radford as Major Arthur Hill
 * Jimmy Hanley as Bill Collins
 * Janette Scott as Susan Hill
 * A. E. Matthews as Sir Robert Medleigh
 * Rene Ray as Pam Riley
 * Hugh Griffith as Harold Temple
 * Joyce Grenfell as Maggie
 * Charles Victor as Sam Fisher
 * Sydney Tafler as Mr. Leon
 * Charles Lamb as Ernie Smart, Horse Owner
 * Charles Hawtrey as Lew Rimmel
 * Alfie Bass as Newspaper seller
 * Sid James as Bottomley
 * Kenneth More as Rosedale Film Studio Director
 * Stuart Latham as Rosedale Film Studio Assistant
 * Leslie Phillips as Reporter
 * Michael Ward as Racegoer
 * Edie Martin as Lady at Meeting
 * Sam Kydd as Newspaper Vendor
 * Thora Hird as Tea Stall woman
 * Ellen Pollock as Horsey Lady
 * Duncan Lamont as Trainer
 * Harold Goodwin (English actor) as Street Stall Owner (uncredited)
 * Michael Ward (actor) as man with Binoculars at Racetrack (uncredited)
 * Arthur Mullard as Rosedale Film Studio Employee (uncredited)
 * 'The Galloping Major' (the Horse, 'Bobbie') as himself

Release
The film premiered at the Plaza cinema in London on 5 May 1951. It has also been released on DVD.

Cornelius later cast Kenneth More in Genevieve and Next to No Time.

Location

 * "Lambs Green" in the film is actually Belsize Village, (nb. Belsize Park and Belsize (ward)), London NW3. The cafe in the film was a greengrocer's shop in 2012, but the whole area is easily recognisable.
 * The race track was filmed at Alexandra Palace, which can be seen briefly in the background.