Jack has this picture virtually to himself, the rest of the cast seem utterly lifeless in comparison with his brash breeziness. The film is a product of Empire and the Bulldog Spirit (BS) attitudes come out in force.
Jack is AB seaman Jack Ponsonby in the Navy with a distinguished ancestor in Admiral Ponsonby which constantly fuels his imagination. It also gets him into the right Society to chase the current Admiral's daughter. To prove himself worthy to her and her Dad, no I mean his country, he attempts to discover the whereabouts of the British submarine which was stolen by Chinese bandits and is being ransomed for £800,000. The scenes with these bandits had obviously been constructed with the Shanghai Express or Bitter Tea of General Yen in mind, as it introduces a note of savagery that leaves you feeling maybe Jack is going to get horribly killed here. He also has some sexy clinches with an alluring female which left me wondering if Cicely gave him a piece of her mind when she saw the film!
Throughout he repeatedly sings snatches of his famous song The Hat's On The Side Of My Head to show the audience how jaunty they must always be when faced with adversity. And why not too?! A nice little film for jaunty people like me, glum people and those who don't like '30's British b&w musical comedies should avoid.
