Review of Splinters

In 1915 General Sir Henry Horne ordered the formation of a concert party to raise the spirits of British troops fighting in France. It was such a success that later a theatre was built to house the show (called "Splinters"). At the end of the War some of the men who'd appeared in the shows (including Eliot Makeham, who went on to have a successful film career) staged a version of the show in London and on tour. It consisted largely of female impersonation. According to the book "British Theatre Between the Wars" the tours continued until the late 1930s. This film version, shot at the new Elstree Studios, is a valuable record of some of the songs and two sketches from the stage show. It sounds as though they were performed to a live audience, which is very receptive to the Army jokes and risqué humour. Unfortunately a wrap- around story has been added showing the concert party being established and then performing in the heat of battle. The delivery of the dialogue in these sequences is so slow that at times it seems in danger of grinding to a halt. The show extracts, however, are fascinating. To correct the earlier review, the performers re-creating their stage roles are not Sydney Howard and Nelson Keys but Hal Jones and Reg Stone. Stone was called "the most amusing female impersonator in England." His style, possibly modelled on Julian Eltinge, is elegant and very convincing. He and Jones (and Sydney Howard) returned in a sequel "Splinters in the Navy".