Ralph Reader thought up the idea of Gang Shows in 1932.It became so popular that by 1937 it was part of that years Royal Variety Performance.I remember that it was performed at the Golders Green Hippadrome and the Odeon Temple Fortune,both very near me,however i cannot recall ever having been to see it.Whilst this is a pleasant enough musical revue with tuneful songs i don't think it is the sort of thing i would have completely enjoyed.The film has a surrounding story about Reader struggling to put on a show which is about par for the course.The musical numbers are a curious mix.There is a minstrel number which is very un pc.Then there is a Mexican number where young boys dress up as young women in what would for a woman be a very revealing dress.There are also a number of men,presumably Scoutmasters who dress up in womens clothes despite having moustaches.I wonder if this is quite what the Scout Association would have in mind to promote membership in this day and age,i somewhat doubt it.It is a pleasant if nostalgic film probably of most interest to those involved with scouting. By the way the Goon Show had no connection with The Gang Show as suggested by the other reviewer.I believe that the word was first coined by the creator of "Popeye" and then used a lot in WW2 to describe German guards in POW camps.
Review of The Gang
