Old Mother Riley, Headmistress is a low budget black and white 1950 British comedy film, starring Arthur Lucan and Kitty McShane. The 13th film in the Old Mother Riley series, it features the Luton Girls Choir playing many of Mother Riley's pupils.
Daughter Kitty is sacked from her job as music teacher at an exclusive girls school, but Mother Riley unexpectedly comes into an inheritance, and decides to buy the girls finishing school and give Kitty her job back. Mother Riley soon establishes herself as headmistress at St. Mildred's School for Young Ladies, and throws herself into her new role with vigour, whether it's taking P.E. lessons, brazenly cheating on Sports Day, or confronting the haunted school piano.
Daphne Snowdrop Bluebell Riley ... Arthur Lucan
Kitty Riley ... Kitty McShane
School Choir ... The Luton Girls Choir
Bill Travers ... Willer Neal
Maltby ... Cyril Smith
Clifton Hill ... C. Denier Warren
Miss Helen Carruthers ... Enid Hewitt
Nixon ... Paul Sheridan
Simon ... Harry Herbert
Copeland ... Oswald Waller
Mlle Leblanc ... Jenny Mathot
Miss Chester ... Myrette Morven
Lady Meersham ... Ethel Royal
Mayor ... Bill Stephens
Miss Ashton ... Catherine Carleton (Katie Boyle)
Mrs Shaw ... Dorothy Darke
1st laundry girl ... Vi Kaley
2nd laundry girl ... Jaqueline Stanley
Maisie ... Beth Ross
Mrs Clarke ... Madge Brindley
Woman ...Pamela Hill
Chauffeur ... Graham Tonbridge
Girls ... Patricia Owens
Genine Graham
Joy Frankau
Betty Benson
Mary Thompson
Suzanne Wilde
Doorn Van Steyne
Coral Woods
Joy Adams
Cora Farrel
Sally Owen
Lyn James
Ursula Hopwood
Diana Connell
Anthony Nield wrote in the The Digital Fix, " whilst the idea of Old Mother Riley owning her own girls’ school should provide plenty of comic mileage, we’re still faced with some pointless musical numbers to pad things out...(but) there’s a chirpiness and a punch in the screenplay which is hard not to enjoy. Of course, any level of sophistication is kept at a bare minimum (Lucan was never the subtlest of actors; he performed for the camera just as he did on the stage), but in its own way …Headmistress has an energy equal to that of, say, Hellzapoppin' or the Marx Brothers A Night in Casablanca, even if both are far superior and much funnier. There’s a non-stop quality to the gags which, whilst the film may ultimately be forgettable, amounts to great deal of fun. Certainly, for a thirteenth entry in a big screen franchise (and one made almost as many years after the first), it’s far better than we should rightfully expect."
TV Guide noted, "a poor addition to the "Old Mother Riley" stable...If you see only one "Old Mother Riley" film in your lifetime, don't make it this one."
"Fielding's Review" wrote, "lots of fun gags in this one. Along with Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire, it’s the best of the set."
