My Learned Friend
1943 film by Basil Dearden, Will Hay
My Learned Friend is a 1943 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Basil Dearden and Will Hay and starring Hay, Claude Hulbert and Mervyn Johns. It was written by John Dighton and Angus MacPhail and produced by Michael Balcon, Robert Hamer for Ealing Studios.
The film's title refers to a tradition in British law: when addressing either the court or the judge, a barrister refers to the opposing counsel using the respectful term, "my learned friend".
This was Hay's last film.
Plot
William Fitch is a seedy lawyer who finds himself marked for assassination by a forger whom he previously defended unsuccessfully. He teams up with an incompetent solicitor to try to prevent the deaths of others involved. The film climaxes with a sequence where Fitch hangs from the hands of the clock face of Big Ben in an attempt to prevent a time bomb being detonated.
Cast
Will Hay as William Fitch
Claude Hulbert as Claude Babbington
Mervyn Johns as Arthur Grimshaw
Lawrence Hanray as Sir Norman
Aubrey Mallalieu as magistrate
Charles Victor as "Safety" Wilson
Derna Hazell as Gloria
Leslie Harcourt as barman
Eddie Phillips as Charles Edward "Basher" Blake
G.H. Mulcaster as Dr Scudamore
Ernest Thesiger as Ferris
Lloyd Pearson as Colonel Cudleigh
Gibb McLaughlin as Carstairs, the butler
Maudie Edwards as Ethel "Aladdin" Redfern
Ronald Shiner as man at Wilson's café [uncredited]
Ian Wilson as stagehand [uncredited]
Hy Hazell [uncredited]
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Angus MacPhail and John Dighton have written a wealth of craziness into this screen play which emerges as a farce in the best and most violent tradition. ... Hay and Hulbert rush through their parts in rollicking irresponsibility which infects the whole cast."
Kine Weekly wrote: "The story visits a low dive In the East End, a theatre stage during the presentation of a pantomime, a lunatic asylum, the vaults of the House of Lords and the clock tower and face of Big Ben, yet, strangely enough, the majority of its laughs are promoted by cross talk rather than by action.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “My Learned Friend” is 1943 film by Basil Dearden, Will Hay. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Learned, Friend and film, not as a finished interpretation.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6945811. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1943.
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