Oh, Mr. Porter! is a messy, hilarious delight

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for grainy, slapstick-heavy British comedy from the 1930s, Oh, Mr. Porter! is an absolute treat. You should watch it if you want to see Will Hay stumble through life with total, unearned confidence. If you prefer high-stakes drama or modern pacing where scenes don't just ramble, you'll probably hate this. It’s definitely not for the impatient types who need a new explosion every five minutes.

The whole thing takes place in Buggleskelly, a railway station that looks like it’s held together by pure hope and spiderwebs. Watching Hay try to impose order on this place is like watching a man try to organize a tornado. He’s got these two sidekicks, Harbottle and Albert, and honestly, the way they just bicker while everything falls apart is the best part of the movie.

There’s a scene involving a railway signal that goes on for a bit too long, but it’s so damn funny I didn't mind. The silence before the punchline just hangs there, and you can see Hay’s face doing all this work while he tries to pretend he’s not currently ruining the entire transport schedule. It feels like a real, imperfect moment.

The gun runners plot is basically just an excuse to get these three into trouble. It’s not exactly Easy Money in terms of intensity, but it doesn't need to be. The movie gets noticeably better once it stops trying to explain the crime and just lets the characters argue about train schedules while the villains lurk in the background looking confused.

Some random notes:

• The windmill scene is iconic for a reason. I laughed way more than I probably should have.
• The extras in the background look like they’re just happy to be standing in the sun.
• I think one of the locomotives actually had a personality, which is more than I can say for some human actors in these vintage reels.

It’s not perfect. The editing feels like it was done with a pair of rusty garden shears in some places. Sometimes the dialogue gets buried under the sound of a train whistle or just someone mumbling, but honestly, that’s part of the charm. It feels like you’re watching a piece of history that was never meant to be preserved in such high resolution anyway.

If you want something to cleanse your palate after sitting through a boring modern blockbuster, put this on. It’s got a weird, frantic energy that I really miss. 🚂💨