THE GALLOPING MAJOR is an endearing British comedy set in the world of horse racing and the bookmakers it attracts. I'm no real fan of the subject matter, but this film combines a lively, upbeat script with a cast of familiar British character actors to give it a sheen of quality that makes it impossible to dislike in many respects.

The underrated Basil Radford plays a struggling businessman with a young daughter to care for; she's played by Janette Scott, who would later go on to make films for Hammer and the like as an adult. She was also Thora Hird's daughter. Radford decides to buy a racehorse with the help of an unlikely debt collector, played by the great Hugh Griffith. It doesn't go exactly to plan, and the story goes from here.

THE GALLOPING MAJOR is one of those films where it's very easy to sit back and just enjoy the wealth of talent on the screen. Sid James is here and Charles Hawtrey too, near unrecognisable in a bit part. Joyce Grenfell brings a lot of character even though she only has a few lines, while Kenneth More makes an early appearance as a film director. Jimmy Hanley gets a lot of screen time, Sydney Tafler is a barber, Alfie Bass a newspaper seller, and real-life horse racing commentator Raymond Glendenning plays himself. It's a slight tale overall, but a fun one too.