# Harmony Row (film)

Harmony Row is a 1933 Australian musical comedy directed by F. W. Thring and starring popular stage comedian George Wallace. It marked the film debut of Bill Kerr.

## Plot

George enlists in the police force and is assigned to Harmony Row, a haunt of criminals such as Slogger Lee. He makes several friends, including the pretty street musician Molly, and boy soprano Leonard. He is persuaded to fight Slogger Lee in a boxing tournament. He manages to defeat Slogger and win, and is united with Molly.

## Cast

* George Wallace as Contable Dreadnought
* Phyllis Baker as Molly
* Marshall Crosby as the sergeant
* John Dobbie as Slogger Lee
* Bill Kerr as Leonard
* Bill Innes as Detective Brooks
* Edwin Brett as the father
* Norman Shepherd as the butler
* Norman French as the husband
* Bebe Scott as the wife
* Gertrude Boswell as the housekeeper
* Leonard Stephens as the Ferrett
* Dan Thomas
* Nell Fleming
* Nell Crane
* Elza Stenning
* Thelma Scott
* Dorothy Weeks
* Johnny Marks
* Campbell Copelin

## Original play

The film was based on a revue Wallace had performed in the 1920s. It was one of a series of "revusicals" written by Wallace during this period.
In Harmony Row Wallace played "Dreadnought" an incompetent policeman called Dreadnaught.
The Bulletin said "George. Wallace’s new revue, a fourth-rate coster turn with splashes of local color to make it look like home, is a wearisome affair. Only the ballet, George Wallace’s clowning and the boxing scene at the finish save it from being a dreadful example."
The revue was a success and toured through Australia.

## Production

Wallace and F.W. Thring decided to make a film together resulting in His Royal Highness. This was followed by Harmony Road. Wallace said the two films cost £35,000 between them. In August 1932 Wallace and Thring would sign a five year contract.
Most of the cast were stage actor making their film debut. The film marked the feature film debut of Bill Kerr who had been cast by Thring in a proposed movie called Pick and the Duffers. That movie was not made but he was then cast in Harmony Row.
Filming began in Melbourne on 4 July 1932 and was finished in four weeks.
The full version of the film features a haunted house sequence where George unravels a mystery in a mansion. In some versions of the film this sequence was cut and replaced with one where George arrests a high society gentlemen (Campbell Copelin), thinking he's a thief.

## Reception

The film was released on a double bill with Diggers in Blighty and was a success at the box office. The two films grossed £8000 in Melbourne and £3070 in two weeks in Sydney. However Thring complained he only received a small portion of returns.

### Critical

The critic from The Sydney Morning Herald called it "the first really successful picture that Efftee Films have produced."
Everyones wrote, "George Wallace again proves his ability as a screen comedian, and George Wallace from now on he must be considered as a box-offlce factor. “Harmony Row” lacks the production quality of “His RoyalHighness”; it is far less ambitious technically; but it provides considerably more humor."
The film was released in England.

## Re-release

Pat Hanna bought the rights to Efftee's films and kept them in circulation for many years. In 1952 Harmony Row and Diggers in Blighty were hugely successful in country towns, prompting them to be re-released in Melbourne.
The Age called it "scarcely more than a vaudevilllan mixture of routine situations and weak double-entendres. Easily the most interesting item is the precarious tenure of George Wallace's trousers."