| Old Mother Riley Detective | |
| Director: | Lance Comfort |
| Producer: | John Baxter |
| Starring: | Arthur Lucan Kitty McShane Hal Gordon |
| Music: | Kennedy Russell |
| Cinematography: | James Wilson |
| Editing: | E.W. White |
| Studio: | British National Films |
| Distributor: | Anglo-American Film Corporation |
| Runtime: | 80 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Old Mother Riley Detective is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane and Hal Gordon.[1] It was part of the long running Old Mother Riley series. Old Mother Riley investigates the disappearance of food during the war, a serious crime because of rationing.
The film opens with a night watchman being bludgeoned, as a safe is cracked open in the offices of the District Food Controller. A list of wartime foods to be rationed is stolen, and the police fear gangsters are planning to sell the foods on the black market. As the office charwoman, Old Mother Riley's fingerprints are all over the safe, and she becomes the police's number one suspect. To prove her innocence, Mother Riley turns detective, adopting various methods and disguises to track down the villains.[2] [3]
TV Guide wrote of the film, "a lifeless effort...The gangster premise is merely an excuse for Lucan to try out some humorous bits (in drag, of course), but the picture is too padded to hold much interest."[4] Kinematograph Weekly noted, "one of Arthur Lucan's and the series' best efforts."[5]