The Galloping Major
Charlie Smirke, Raymond Glendenning, Marion Harris Jr., and Bruce Belfrage all receive "Guest Artistes" credits.,Maggie: Any news from your friend down the police station?
Sergeant Adair: Doing what 'e can. Says they've got more important things to worry about than lost 'orses.
Maggie: It's all those crimes of passion.
Sergeant Adair: Never mind about passion. I'd like some bread and drippin'.,The opening credits are presented as adverts on London buses.,References The Countess of Monte Cristo (1948),The films directed by Henry Cornelius can be counted on the fingers of one hand: Passport to Pimlico (1948) -- one of Britain's most successful comedies -- The Galloping Major (1951) -- Genevieve (1953) -- possibly Britain's number one combined box office and critical success for the year -- I Am a Camera (1955) -- which failed to fill audiences with enthusiasm but nonetheless provoked the ire of the censor and thus became a top money-maker by default -- and finally Next To No Time (1957) which failed dismally even though it starred Kenneth More and was deliberately kept back from release until More scored a major triumph with A Night To Remember.

So how does The Galloping Major fare in this line-up? Very well, in my opinion. It has a lively script with several very ingenious touches. I love his moral-ground introduction in which A.E. Matthews lays down the law to our hopeful hero, but in the very next scene we discover that his motivation is more than somewhat curdled. The same goes for the introductory and following scenes featuring Hugh Griffith.

All the players bar one are at the top of their form. True, Kenneth More has little to do and doesn't really look the film director type; but the big letdown is Raymond Glendenning who hogs the camera so avidly, it seems like he's never going to let go! For a while there, it seems like Cornelius is going to make a thing of double-decker buses. This doesn't follow through, but happily, transport is certainly one of the main items on his agenda.

In all, despite Gendenning and an adequate but not exactly overly charismatic hero, plus a few slow patches here and there, The Galloping Major is a British character-filled delight.,