irobert v. kenny

THE MAN WHO WASOLD MOTHER RILEY

The Lives and Films of Arthur Lucan

and Kitty McShane

Robert V. KennyForeword by Anthony Slide

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The Man Who Was Old Mother Riley The Lives and Films of Arthur Lucan and Kitty McShaneBy Robert V. Kenny© 2014, BearManor Media All Rights Reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopying or recording, except for the inclusion in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the USA by:BearManor MediaP O Box 71426Albany, Georgia 31708www.bearmanormedia.com

ISBN: 978-1-59393-771-3Printed in the United States of AmericaBook design by Robbie Adkins, www.adkinsconsult.com

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Table of ContentsForeword by Anthony Slide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

PART ONEThe Life and Times of Arthur Lucan and Kitty McShane

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31. Arthur Towle; Early Days and The Musical Cliftons 1885-1910 . . . . . . . . . 292. Arthur Lucan and Catherine McShane 1910-1913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553. McShane and Lucan or Lucan and McShane? 1913-1924. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 794. The Lucans and the Latonas 1925-1926 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035. Lew Lake to the Rescue 1926-1931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1196. New Directions and a Royal Command 1931-1938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1457. Riley Goes to War, on Stage, Screen, Radio, and Gramophone 1939-1945 . .1718. A Hollow Victory 1945-1951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2119. “Unhappiness and Strife” 1952-1954. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24710. Funeral Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

PART TWO The Films of Lucan and McShane; some critical reflections

11. “Tiddlywinked by a Gasman.” Arthur Lucan and the Comedy of Language. . .29912. “What Creature is this?” The Creation of Old Mother Riley . . . . . . . . . . 30913. Maternal Melodrama; from the Old Brown Hen to the Lone Ranger. . . 33514. “I can take it!” Old Mother Riley wins the War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35115. “A Bit of Scrag End.” Images of Food in the Riley Films . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36916. Unruly Women, Dangerous Dowagers and Old Mother Riley . . . . . . .379

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vrobert v. kenny

Photo 1: Arthur Towle, Studio portrait c. 1904-5. Mrs. Joan Towle

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In loving memory of my mother, Margaret Tiquin Kenny (1923-2002), and my grandmother,

Mary Tiquin Coyle (1893-1977), who adored Old Mother Riley, and introduced me to her at the Scala cinema,

Stony Stratford, in 1953.

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Acknowledgments and ThanksIn the course of my research I have had the good fortune to get

to know members of Arthur Lucan’s family; Arthur’s granddaugh-ter Marylyn Webster (Towle); Joan Towle, widow of Arthur’s son Donald; Arthur’s nephew and great-niece, Arthur and Sally Ladds. They have kindly given me access to hitherto unknown documents or facts, and I thank them all for their support and encouragement. I was also privileged to get to know Slim Ingram, Arthur’s trusted friend and last company-manager. Sadly, Slim passed away on 15 June 2013, before this study was completed, but for over two years, frequently on the telephone, and at his home in Blackpool in 2012, Slim helped me to correct many common errors, and gave me impor-tant new facts, some of which he had withheld from publication for over sixty years. It was a privilege to have known Slim, and I owe him and his daughter Emma a very special debt of gratitude. I also owe warm thanks to Steve King, co-author of the first full-length biography of Lucan and McShane. Many years ago, Steve was for-tunate to able to gather first-hand material from many people who had worked with the Lucans, and he has generously given me access to his research. Anthony Slide read an early draft of several chapters, and his wise blend of kind words and stern advice gave me the cour-age to persevere.

Professional photographer Mike Brown restored and edited the photographs. I am also grateful to the following organizations; The British Library, Leicester University Library, BBC Written Archives Caversham, The Cinema Museum, The British Film Institute, Fremantle Media, The Imperial War Museum, Skerries Historical Society, Evergreen Magazine, The Stage, The Guardian, the Hull Daily Mail, The Boston Standard and The Call Boy. BBC copyright material reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.

Many other people have given me help, encouragement and advice, all equally valuable in its way. There is no pecking order in the following list because all deserve an equal share of thanks; in my old-fashioned way, I have put the ladies first:

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Angela Allen, Maureen Lipman, Emma Ingram, Mary Todd, Mrs. Urvashi Chudasama, Miriam Kite, Maree Baker, Gillian Swift, Sandra Skuse; Joy Rust, Bernadette and the Kennys at St. Rita’s.

Michael Pointon, Steve King, Mike Brown, Jeffrey Richards, Steven Fielding, Edward Thomas, Brad Ashton, Lance Pettitt, Richard Anthony Baker, Karl Williams, Chris D’Grey, Roy Stockdill, John Fisher, Vivyan Ellacott, Nigel Ellacott, Roy Hudd, Roger Lewis, Patrick Prior, Ronald Grant, Martin Humphries, Alex Gleason, Roy Rust, Bob Marriot, Michael Dynan, Geoff Bowden, David McGillivray, Tony Parkinson, David Simpson, Theo Morgan, Mike Covell, Will Ramsey, Stephen Stray, Des Kerins, Stephen Poppitt, Lynton Black, Matthew Lloyd, Philip and David Williams, John Larkin, David E. Wilt, and Matt Grindley.

My thanks are due to the authors and publishers who have assured me that my use of quotations complies with academic ‘fair usage.’ All quotations are fully and gratefully attributed, both in the text and in the notes. If your name should be here and it is not, I hope and pray that you will forgive my disorganization and help me to put matters right as soon as possible.

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Foreword“National Treasure” is a phrase that has become overly popular in

modern Britain, very similar to that over-worked word, “iconic,” used to describe everyone from an aging, overweight ex-politician with no discernible talent except to spout oft-times offensive right-wing comments to aging matriarchal actresses with the talent to survive, as with Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. The term does not appear to be used too much in retrospect and that is unfortunate because I can think of no individual in British entertainment, British popular cul-ture or British folklore more deserving of the title than Old Mother Riley and her creator, Arthur Lucan.

Of course, in reality there are no female impersonators of whom I am aware with the soubriquet of “national treasure.” Not even gay men, with the possible exception of Sir Ian McKellen, have won such acclaim. But is that even an issue, in that Arthur Lucan as Old Mother Riley is hardly a female impersonator in the modern sense, and, as his marriage to Kitty McShane, his nemesis and over-seer, should prove, poor Arthur Lucan, whatever else he might have been, was not gay. Perhaps at the heart of any debate concerning this extraordinary character is how does one speak or write of Old Mother Riley. A very real and very unique characterization, but is it a man? Is it a woman? Perhaps it is unfair to creator Arthur Lucan, but his characterization will always be a female to me. Just as much, as in our modern age, we don’t think of Patrick Fyffe or Barry Humphries when we discuss Dame Hylda Brackett or Dame Edna Everage. They are ladies and so is Old Mother Riley.

Indeed, one might ask, and of far more importance than the title of “National Treasure,” why, if we have Dame Hylda and Dame Edna, do we not have Dame Daphne Snowdrop Bluebell Riley? Dame Hylda Brackett is pretty much forgotten today, and, somewhat sadly, was never really known outside the United Kingdom. Dame Edna has retired, although she is probably too forceful a character to sink completely into anonymity. But Daphne Snowdrop Bluebell Riley will continue on through her marvelous films and through our memories. She will remain forever in our hearts.

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We will smile at her antics, but we also perhaps quietly will shud-der as we realize the reality of what lies behind the character. We may know just the same instincts, but we keep them under control. We may relish a fight as much as does Old Mother Riley. Or we know others, perhaps close relatives, with the same sense of wrong and outrage that Old Mother Riley displays so fervently, and often without a due sense of the reality of the situation.

In the Introduction to this magnificent book, I seem to be men-tioned quite a few times, and often with fulsome praise, not always deserved and, I am sure, not influenced by my writing this introduc-tion. I must confess that I came to Old Mother Riley somewhat late in life. I first saw her on screen as an adult thanks to a Saturday children’s matinee at a local cinema. When I saw one of her films was to be screened, I plucked up the courage to go in and ask the manager if I might be allowed to attend. Highly suspicious of my interest in a children’s matinee, with the emphasis on children, he agreed, but only if I sat, alone and in solitary confinement, upstairs in the bal-cony which the cinema did not usually open on a Saturday morning. Obviously, I appreciated the film more than the kids downstairs. But at least they laughed and cheered at Old Mother Riley, while the main feature, from the much vaunted Children’s Film Foundation, was greeted with boos, jeers and general contempt. Again, we have this discrimination by the British establishment and British society. Awards for the work of the Children’s Film Foundation, but none for Old Mother Riley. Where is her BAFTA?

The closest I ever came in person to Old Mother Riley was around 1970, I do not recall the date or even the exact year, when the British Music Hall Society hosted a tribute to female impersonation, hosted by its founder Ray Mackender, to whom I was very close. On the bill was Rex Jameson as Mrs. Shufflewick (“broad-mined to the point of obscenity”) and Old Mother Riley understudy Roy Rolland, who was (admittedly very amusingly) over-the-top and “camp” in an outra-geous style that Arthur Lucan would probably not even have known how to adopt. I brought along a good friend, actor John Stuart, who had been Kitty McShane’s boyfriend in two films, Old Mother Riley in Society (1940) and Old Mother Riley’s Ghosts (1941). After the show, John and I sat in the bar and we were joined by ventriloquist Bobbie Kimber, who had always appeared on stage as a woman since the late