Old Mother Riley (film)

Old Mother Riley was a series of British comedy films popular from the late 1930s to the 1950s, starring Arthur Lucan as the character Old Mother Riley, an Irish washerwoman. The character was originally created for the music hall stage and proved popular enough to transition to film.

The films typically featured slapstick humour, broad characterizations, and topical storylines. Lucan, in drag as Mother Riley, would engage in comical situations, often involving mistaken identity, run-ins with the law, or attempts to solve mysteries. Kitty McShane, Lucan's wife, co-starred in the films, usually playing Mother Riley's daughter or another related female character.

While the films were commercially successful at the time, they have been criticized in later years for their stereotypical depiction of Irish characters and their reliance on lowbrow comedy. Nevertheless, they remain a significant part of British film history, representing a particular style of popular entertainment that resonated with audiences during the interwar and postwar periods. Key titles in the film series include Old Mother Riley (1937), Old Mother Riley Joins the Army (1939), Old Mother Riley in Society (1940), and Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952), also known as My Son the Vampire in the US. The films offered escapist entertainment during a time of significant social and economic hardship.