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Smiley Gets a Gun (1958)

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clip Acting the goat

Original classification rating: G. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

In Sunday services, Smiley (Keith Calvert) has volunteered to pump the organ for Mrs Gaspen (Ruth Cracknell) as part of his campaign to be good. One of his school rivals pushes a goat into the church, as the congregation sings a hymn. Smiley tries frantically to get rid of it, while not letting the organ stop. The policeman (Chips Rafferty) doesn’t see what’s ahead as he brings the collection plate forward. The vicar (Gordon Chater) can’t believe his eyes.

Curator’s notes

The style of comic acting is broader in the sequel. In this clip alone, we see Keith Calvert, Ruth Cracknell and Gordon Chater perform exaggerated double takes and Chips Rafferty take an unlikely pratfall after failing to see or hear a goat that’s right in front of him.

The broad acting suggests that Anthony Kimmins wanted the film to be simply more commercial, rather than as good or better than its predecessor. In the end it was neither of those things, but this is one of the film’s better comedy scenes because the mayhem caused by the goat is well orchestrated and contrasts nicely with the pious church setting. Note a very young Ruth Cracknell in her first screen role, and Gordon Chater as the vicar, in almost his first screen appearance.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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