Splinters in the Navy is a 1931 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Sydney Howard, Alf Goddard, and Helena Pickard. It was written by Jack Marks, Harry Fowler Mear, Bert Lee and Robert Patrick Weston. It was made at Twickenham Studios, and is a sequel to Splinters (1929), about an army concert party. A further sequel, Splinters in the Air, was released in 1937.
Contents
Premise
To celebrate their Admiral's impending marriage, his men stage a variety performance. Meanwhile, Joe Crabbs attempts to win back his girlfriend from the Navy's boxing champion.
Cast
Sydney Howard as Joe Crabbs
Alf Goddard as Spike Higgins
Helena Pickard as Lottie
Frederick Bentley as Bill Miffins
Paddy Browne as Mabel
Rupert Lister as Admiral
Harold Heath as Master-at-Arms
Ian Wilson as call boy
Lew Lake as himself
Hal Jones as himself
Reg Stone as himself
Wilfred Temple as himself
Laurie Lawrence as Petty Officer
Thomas Thurban as bandmaster
Reception
Film Weekly wrote: "There is much broad fun in Splinters in the Navy although it is patchy in construction, and falls down in some of the concert-party scenes."
Kine Weekly wrote: "A nautical hotchpotch, a popular collation of broad comedy, music and songs, which is rather lacking in cohesion and action, but, nevertheless, scores the laughs, and should appeal to the masses. Although Walter Forde has dovetailed the Splinters Concert Party fairly successfully into the main theme, the humour gained at the expense of female impersonation is not only rather old-fashioned, but it may be a little displeasing to some. It is the original comedy methods of Sydney Howard and the excellent presentation that get the picture over."