Old Mother Riley’s New Venture (1949)

Music-hall comedian Arthur Lucan first brought his "drag" character Old Mother Riley to the screen in 1937. Lucan went on to star in 14 films as the rambunctious Irish washerwoman, while Lucan’s wife Kitty McShane co-starred as Old Mother Riley’s daughter, who had a habit of bursting into song whether the audience liked it or not. Old Mother Riley is put in charge of managing a huge luxury hotel. A jewel theft seriously compromises Mother Riley’s new position, but everything is resolved in a climactic slapstick-fest, replete with pie-throwing.

1949, B&W, 79 minutes