genre those were the days 
William Thomson Hay ( 6 December 1888  18 April 1949 ) was an English ___MASK24___ , who first became well known for his theatrical sketch as a joke - schoolmaster , which he took on world tours . He moved on to films , some of them continuing the schoolmaster theme , in which he also featured as a writer and director . In " The Goose Steps Out " ( 1942 ), his brand of humour was adapted for ___MASK59___ propaganda . Hay was also a keen amateur astronomer , who built his own observatory . Those Were the Days is a 1934 British film primarily remembered as ___MASK6___ Hay ' s first major screen role . It was based on Sir Arthur Wing Pinero ' s 1885 farce The Magistrate and was the first of two Hay movies based on Pinero ' s plays , the other being Dandy Dick . The movie also featured ___MASK32___ hall acts of the time - acts of a type rarely committed to film . ___MASK16___ is a theatrical ___MASK95___ of ___MASK40___ entertainment . It was especially popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s . A typical vaudeville performance is made up of a series of separate , unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill . Types of acts have included popular and classical musicians , singers , dancers , comedians , trained animals , magicians , strongmen , female and male impersonators , acrobats , illustrated songs , jugglers , one - act plays or scenes from plays , athletes , lecturing celebrities , minstrels , and movies . A vaudeville performer is often referred to as a " vaudevillian ". ___MASK70___ is a ___MASK95___ of film in which the main emphasis is on humor . These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement and most often work by exaggerating characteristics for humorous effect . Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception ). One of the oldest genres in film , some of the very first silent movies were comedies , as slapstick comedy often relies on visual depictions , without requiring sound . When sound films became more prevalent during the 1920s , comedy films took another swing , as laughter could result from burlesque situations but also dialogue . ___MASK32___ hall is a type of British theatrical ___MASK87___ that was popular from the early Victorian era circa 1850 and lasting until 1960 . It involved a mixture of popular songs , comedy , speciality acts , and ___MASK40___ ___MASK87___ . The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such ___MASK87___ took place . British music hall was similar to American vaudeville , featuring rousing songs and comic acts , while in the United Kingdom the term " vaudeville "' referred to more working - class types of ___MASK87___ that would have been termed " burlesque " in America . The Goose Steps Out is a British ___MASK89___ released in 1942 . This film starred , and was co - directed by , the British comedian Will Hay . He shared directorial credit with Basil Dearden whose first film as a director this was . The film was a big box office hit in Britain , but not in the U . S ., where audiences failed to respond to the humour of Hay ' s pathetic , bumbling persona . " The Goose Steps Out " is also noted as the film debut of a young Peter Ustinov . Dandy Dick is a 1935 British ___MASK89___ starring Will Hay . It was based on the 1887 play " Dandy Dick " by Arthur Wing Pinero . It is the second and last of his films to be based on a play by Arthur Wing Pinero  the first was " Those Were the Days " which was based on " The Magistrate ". Moore Marriott , who played an uncredited role in the film , later became a famous stuntman to Hay in films later on alongside Graham Moffatt , it was during the film of Dandy Dick that Marriott introduced the idea of being a stuntman to Hay . Career . Marriott was born at Alpha Place , Yiewsley , Middlesex , on 14 September 1885 , the son of George Matthew Marriott ( 1859 - 1940 ), who was then a commercial traveller , and his wife , Edith Rousby , née Coleman ( 1864 - 1946 ). His parents were actors , and his father became a theatrical manager . Moore Marriott made his stage debut at the age of five . He had originally intended to train as an architect , but instead he became an actor in films . Rather like Clive Dunn later , he became typecast as playing old men when he was still relatively young . He had a special set of artificial teeth which he would put in to ___MASK39___ his ' old man ' characters . He had no teeth in real life and took four different sets of false teeth with him to achieve ___MASK40___ in his characters . An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who concentrates their studies on a specific question or field outside of the scope of Earth . They look at stars , planets , moons , comets and galaxies , as well as many other celestial objects  either in observational astronomy , in analyzing the data or in theoretical astronomy . Examples of topics or fields astronomers work on include : planetary ___MASK22___ , solar astronomy , the origin or evolution of stars , or the formation of galaxies . There are also related but distinct subjects like physical ___MASK60___ which studies the ___MASK14___ as a whole . Graham Victor Harold Moffatt ( 6 December 1919  2 July 1965 ) was an English character actor and ___MASK24___ who was most active in the 1930s and 1940s . ___MASK87___ is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience , or gives pleasure and delight . It can be an idea or a task , but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousands of years specifically for the purpose of keeping an audience ' s attention . Although people ' s attention is held by different things , because individuals have different preferences in ___MASK87___ , most forms are recognisable and familiar . Storytelling , music , drama , dance , and different kinds of performance exist in all cultures , were supported in royal courts , developed into sophisticated forms and over time became available to all citizens . The process has been accelerated in modern times by an ___MASK87___ industry that records and sells ___MASK87___ products . ___MASK87___ evolves and can be adapted to suit any scale , ranging from an individual who chooses a private ___MASK87___ from a now enormous array of pre - recorded products ; to a banquet adapted for two ; to any size or type of party , with appropriate music and dance ; to performances intended for thousands ; and even for a global audience .