Anthony Bushell Movies
A graduate of Oxford, British actor Anthony Bushell came to Broadway in 1927 to appear opposite the legendary Jeanne Eagels in Her Cardbord Lover. In 1929, Bushell was hired as the secondary romantic lead in the award-winning talking picture Disraeli, at the insistence of the film's star George Arliss. Though his performance in Disraeli was stiff and unconvincing, he was much better in James Whale's WWI drama Journey's End (1930). Gradually, Bushell gravitated to the production end of the film business, serving as associate producer for Laurence Olivier's Shakespearean productions Hamlet (1948) and Richard III (1955). He served as director for a trio of profitable if undistinguished films: The Long Dark Hall (1951), Angel With a Trumpet (1951), and Terror of the Tongs (1961). In the 1960s, he worked extensively in television, notably as one of the producer/directors of the anthology series Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years (1960). Anthony Bushell was married to American actress Zelma O'Neal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1931
A WWI American nurse stationed in London (Constance Bennett) meets a handsome flier and finds only sorrow in this three-hanky melodrama. She gets pregnant; then the flier disappears during a mission and she must bear her child alone. Time passes and eventually, she reluctantly agrees to marry a disabled British officer. Not long afterward, her true love reappears (not dead, after all) and many complications ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, (more)
A wimpy king is forced to take responsibility for his little North Sea island kingdom after his iron-fisted wife goes on a vacation to the US in this comedy. Soon after she leaves, his subjects launch a revolt and the flighty fellow must quickly figure out what to do. Things get worse when his daughter tells him that she plans to marry a commoner. Fortunately, once the king makes his decisions, things settle down and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lowell Sherman, Nance O'Neil, (more)
- 1930
R.C. Sherriff's forceful drama about men at war, a long running hit in London as well as New York, is brought to the screen in this film adaptation. Capt. Denis Stanhope (Colin Clive) is the commander of a military unit during World War I; constantly bombarded by enemy fire and hemmed in by his superiors, Stanhope no longer believes in the cause for which he fights, and is despondent over the thought he is sending young men to a pointless death. Depressed, Stanhope has turned to drink, and often squabbles with Lt. Osborne (Ian MacLaren), his second-in-command, as well as berating nd Lt. Raleigh (David Manners), whose sister is Stanhope's beloved. As his confidence begins to collapse, Stanhope believes he has lost the respect of his men, until he secretly obtains a letter Raleigh is writing to his sister. Journey's End was the first major success for director James Whale; he soon signed a deal to work in the United States, and he cast his Journey's End leading man, Colin Clive, in one of his first American projects, Frankenstein. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Clive, David Manners, (more)
- 1930
Basil Rathbone unexpectedly plays the romantic lead in The Flirting Widow. Dorothy Mackaill stars as a wealthy young lady whose father has forbidden her younger sister (Leila Hyams) to marry before Dorothy does. To help sis out, Dorothy "invents" a husband, whom she claims is a British colonel stationed in Arabia. Dorothy discovers that the man she's designated as her imaginary hubby actually exists, in the form of the nonplused Mr. Rathbone. The dilemma: Dorothy has claimed that Rathbone is deceased, a report that is greatly exaggerated. Based on the story Green Stockings by A.E.W. Mason, Flirting Widow was the remake of a silent feature titled Slightly Used (27). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Mackaill, Basil Rathbone, (more)
- 1930
Richard Dix plays a working stiff who submits to an odd experiment. It is scientist Allen Kearns' contention that a man and a woman can be made to fall in love via prearranged circumstances. Kearns introduces Dix as a society gent and sets up a marriage with wealthy Renee Macready. Nature proves stronger than Nurture, and Dix ends up with Lois Wilson--Kearns' own fiancee. Lovin' the Ladies was actually based on the stage play I Love You, written by the film's producer, William LeBaron. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Lois Wilson, (more)
- 1930
First filmed in 1926, the venerable stage melodrama Three Faces East was remade as a talkie in 1930. Set during WWI, most of the film takes place in the London home of Sir Winston Chamberlain (sic), First Lord of the Admiralty. What Sir Winston doesn't know is that his faithful butler Erich Von Stroheim is the head of a German espionage ring. What nobody knows are the true loyalties of heroine Constance Bennett, who might be a British agent, a German spy, an innocent bystander, or none of the above. The property would be filmed again in 1940 as British Intelligence, with Boris Karloff and Margaret Lindsay in the leading roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constance Bennett, Erich Von Stroheim, (more)
- 1929
In the early days of sound film, one of Warner Bros.' big box-office draws was the aging stage actor George Arliss and, in Disraeli, Arliss scored his biggest box-office hit. He is at his best as the foxy British prime minister (in a role he created on-stage and re-created earlier in a 1921 silent film version of the same play). The film concerns the machinations of Disraeli in his efforts to secure the Suez Canal for England. After his liberal opponent Gladstone defeats Disraeli's attempt to raise a line of credit to buy the Suez Canal, Disraeli retires to his country estate to plot a new strategy. When he intercepts a coded telegram from an Egyptian potentate indicating Egyptian financial problems and a willingness to make a deal on the canal, Disraeli jumps on the chance to secure funding from the Bank of England but is denied the credit. Searching for another funding source, he obtains the services of international banker Hugh Meyers (Ivan Simpson). However, when Disraeli's emissary arrives in Cairo with a check to purchase Suez, it is discovered that Meyer has gone bankrupt. Now Disraeli must enlist all his charm and wiles to persuade the Bank of England to honor the bad check. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Arliss, Joan Bennett, (more)
