Will in his last film My Learned Friend                                        Cinema Headlines(1933)          

No doubt, lying in archive vaults around Britain lay the films and scrapbooks of a truly master comedian. Once he rivalled great names like Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy for box-office takings in the U.K. But now, Will Hay is hardly more than a name in the history books. This is something that surely needs rectifying. We have generations of people who have and are growing up oblivious to the unique talent that was Will Hay. Hay, like Chaplin and Laurel had a music-hall background, touring the country learning his trade with the Fred Karno Troupe. Karno's golden rule of comedy was 'When in doubt, fall on your arse.' It was Karno who had described Will as a brilliant sketch artist and comedian. Hay returned the compliment by saying 'Most of what I know, I owe to Fred Karno.' Britain’s golden age of comedy was the 1930’s and 40’s, and without doubt Will Hay was one of the biggest box office draws of this time. Will made his films between 1934 and 1943 and his cinematic work showed him in truly idiosyncratic roles. It mattered not that he was a Stationmaster, a Schoolmaster, a Policeman, or a Fireman. He invariably represented the architectural figure of authority, totally oblivious to irony, always performing his antics with a serious mindedness. But behind the stony faced façade of seriousness was a thinly disguised ineptness, one which cast doubts to the creditability of the position he held. There was another side to these characterizations and one that you could not help but love. He had an ability to gain the confidence of his lively legion of cohorts and rarely failed to get them to unite in order to overcome any challenge to his authority. He really was one of the most enduring and endearing of all the comics from the 1930’s. He appealed to all classes and had true countrywide appeal. There was a domesticity about his humour and he fuelled the long-standing belief that Britain’s most invincible establishments were filled with pompous peers. Will’s music-hall experience became an invaluable asset when he entered into the world of celluloid. His delivery, styled in the best traditions of the music-hall made him particularly suited to the big screen. His biggest laughs came through long wordy exchanges, and equivocal speeches that were filled with a large amount of uncertainty. All this was beautifully accompanied by Hay’s trademark sniffs, coughs and pugnacious looks. These richly veined attributes were captured by the camera and provided the cinema going audience with a more peering view than was ever afforded the music-hall attendees. Will Hay’s preference for an involved storyline also suited the cinema. Will had long worked out that his music hall routines were ideally suited to the silver screen and that this medium allowed the viewers to get in close to see his wonderful facial gestures. Never was there a more contorted grimace than the one demonstrated by Will Hay! 

Will Hay built up a great working relationship with Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott so much so that their partnership was to become one of the most famous of it's time. It came as a great shock to many people, when just after the filming of Convict 99 Will Hay announced to Gainsborough Studios that he did not want to continue with Moffatt and Marriott. The feeling was that he was getting tied down within the threesome, even though the team were enjoying rave reviews. It was reported at the time that Will doubted if the success of Oh,Mr Porter! could ever be repeated. (Oh,Mr Porter! took £500,000 at the British box-office in 1937.) The studio did not agree with Will's views, they knew that the filmgoers wanted more of Will along with the characters of Albert and Harbottle. The partnership was to last for a further two films, finally ending with Will's stubbornness to continue within the threesome. The studio along with the director Marcel Varnel accepted the inevitable and the partnership was no more. Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott were to remain at the Gainsborough studios and formed a new partnership with big hearted Arthur Askey.

It could be said that possibly Will Hay's place in history has been eclipsed by the likes of Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy along with Britain's George Formby because these are the names that people do remember when asked  about comedy from this era but actually Will Hay was both a inspired inventor of comedy and also an exceptional performer in his own right.