Who said she knows you know

Her act was full of malapropisms and catchphrases that had become part of her public persona, the most famous of which was "She knows, y'know! She came to national attention in BBC television's The Good Old Days in , which led to her television series, Be Soon named after another of her catchphrases in , followed by her own sitcom, The Best of Friends, in She also appeared in films, including Saturday Night and Sunday Morning in and the film version of the musical Oliver!

One memorable thing that happened to Hylda in March , and which would stay with her for ever and was to give her great pride, was that she was the subject of This Is Your Life.

Hylda was rehearsing in Brixton for the new TV series of Nearest and Dearest and her agent, Bill Roberton, had been liaising with Thames, giving them as much detail as possible. The day came and it was arranged that Bill would go over in the Thames TV limousine to Brixton and bring her back to town as though they were going to a press call.

They got in the car and off they went, Hylda totally unaware and chatting merrily away. All the time Bill could see the driver in his interior mirror. The community described in this film was small and localised, homogenous and poor, the remnants of the 19c in the industrialised north.

The whole film is an opportunity to showcase the 'comic character' that actress Hilda Baker who emanated from the mill towns of Lancashire had honed on stage and television for 40 years already. The theatre used to bring forth such artists, performers who built a persona on stage, comedians and dramatic actors, whose 'character' was then used in various revues, plays, and later movies and TVs. Audience familiarity was key, they weren't hired to disappear into their characters, but two bing their 'character' to the part.

Audiences gong to see Hylda Baker in this tailored vehicle would have known and loved Hilda's peculiarities before they entered the theatre.

Furthermore, they would have recognised the 'plot' that another reviewer can't see, I. Fighting against the structures of their community, class, background etc. He's at university, already an extraordinary achievement for a working class northerner in those times, and social convention and the offer of some financial security looks set to be used to pressure him into marriage unfairly? Many around see the offer as golden which speaks to the poverty of ambition as well as actual poverty of the time, class and place even the boy himself, who likely knows he's not the father seems minded to accept his lot, but the mother doesn't believe he's responsible, and won't let his 'life be ruined'.

She defies the pressure all around, calls out the blackmail and through various comic machinations does her best to ensure his freedom and his return to study.

The tone of this film is oddly real for such a broad comic character, but in its way it reflects its time and place very well indeed. Some of the other actors are weak and it isn't especially clever, it isn't especially funny either, particularly if you don't 'get' Hylda Baker and aren't familiar with her brand of music hall schtick.

But it could be compared to a similar but much more lauded film like 'Sparrers can't sing' from the same year, but set in London's East end. Sparrers is a far better film, but the essence is the same, a view into a disappearing world, perhaps one which we should be glad to see the back of, but one which a film like this can really tell us about in ways that academic study and other more conscious investigations can't.

Yet again, we have Talking PicturesTV to thank for looking after this film, you can be certain it would be looked after by the BFI it were set in London or was by some obscure minority auteur. But films like this, which were once mainstream, if regional and working class in their appeal, are rudely neglected by that institution.

In my view it hardly stands up as a comedy, it isn't the best testament to a Hylda Bakers comic personae either, but it's a fascinating window on another world, and for some older viewers may even bring a little of the warmth of remembrance for some of the 'real life' stock characters of that time and place, such as 'the lodger' whose life is pinpointed by the mother in a short monologue which she delivers when trying to persuade him to put himself forward and marry the girl.

All hail the mother, who behind the nonsense of the form is a character I recognise from my own family and that generation strong, ambitious, holding it all together, a dynamic force whose life has been about lifting her chicks out of poverty, whose commitment to betterment is laudable, who is not beholden to nor bowed.

By the pressure of religious, social or other conventions. And all hail to Hylda and the writers who subtly gave life to her in this now interesting if clumsy period piece.

Hylda Baker is now a cult figure and is often quoted by today's British comediennes as an influence and a trailblazer. Sign In. Edit Hylda Baker. Showing all 7 items. The song with comically altered text as if the words had been slightly misheard a trade mark for Hylda such as "if you're chilled with infection, you're too sly to convey" made number 22 in the British charts in View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro.

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