Adapted from arthur pinero's relentlessly popular stage farce the magistrate, those were the days was a perfect early vehicle for the comedic brilliance of will hay.hay's feature length debut is a typically entertaining study of the upstanding but ineffectual magistrate, mr poskett, while a youthful john mills is the 20 year old stepson who must pretend to be 15 to preserve the secret of his mother's falsified age angela baddeley and veteran character comedians claude allister, h.f'. '.strtoupper('m')altby and george graves are among an impressive supporting cast.presented in a brand new digital transfer from the original film elements, this rare cinematic gem directed by former variety star thomas bentley notably includes a wonderful evocation of the atmosphere of a 1890s music hall, with lily morris and harry bedford among a number of leading acts featured.special featuresimage galleryoriginal script pdf