| Don Chicago | |
| Director: | Maclean Rogers |
| Producer: | Louis H. Jackson |
| Screenplay: | Austin Melford |
| Based On: | Don Chicago by C. E. Bechhofer Roberts |
| Starring: | Jackie Hunter Eddie Gray Joyce Heron |
| Music: | Percival Mackey |
| Cinematography: | Gerald Gibbs |
| Editing: | Grace Garland |
| Studio: | British National Films |
| Distributor: | Anglo-American Film Corporation |
| Runtime: | 80 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Don Chicago is a 1945 British second feature ('B')[1] crime comedy film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Jackie Hunter, Joyce Heron and Claud Allister.[2] [3] The screenplay was by Austin Melford based on the 1944 novel of the same title by C. E. Bechhofer Roberts.
Don Chicago, and aspiring but timid gangster, is forced to leave the United States after crossing the wrong people, and on arrival in Britain he is treated as a dangerous criminal. He steals the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, and infiltrates the BBC to make various announcements.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This film has some amusing moments, but script and production as a whole lack the slickness and pace which will turn an improbable story into a first-class farce. Jackie Hunter bears the main burden of the acting in the title role and shows promise as a film comedian, but the rest of the cast are given few opportunities to provide him with effective support."[4]
Kine Weekly wrote: "Exuberant gangster burlesque, with bright vaudeville intermissions ... The biggest laughs, and fortunately, these are very plentiful, come when Jackie Hunter and Monsewer Eddie Gray are permitted to improvise and introduce their well known radio, cabaret and music hall acts. In effect a two-man show."[5]
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Possibiities of comedy defeated by quality of the material."[6]