Diana Beaumont Movies
- 1958
If official documentation didn't exist, we'd never believe a fantastic yarn like I Was Monty's Double. Actor M.E. Clifton James plays himself, a British stock-company actor who becomes an unsung hero during World War II. It seems that James, serving his country as a junior officer, is the exact double of General Montgomery. Major John Mills trains James to impersonate Montgomery to the last detail, then sends the actor on a tour of North Africa, the better to divert the German's attentions away from the real "Monty." Based on James' own written reminiscences, I Was Monty's Double was released in the U.S. under the baffling title Hell, Heaven or Hoboken! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Cecil Parker, (more)
- 1954
Fabian of the Yard is a feature-length compilation of episodes from the British TV series of the same name. Bruce Seton plays Scotland Yard superintendent Fabian, a man who prefers brain over brawn but isn't averse to cracking a few skulls to make his point. In three "Fabian" episodes represented herein, the good inspector goes after a serial-killing truck driver, a blackmailer and a group of bomb-happy IRA terrorists. The supporting cast features such familiar faces as Sarah Churchill (Winston's daughter) and Victor Maddern. When Fabian of the Yard was syndicated in America, its title was helpfully altered to Fabian of Scotland Yard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
A prim and pious old woman suddenly has her hands full when her devilishly free-spirited uncle dies and bequeaths her his five greyhounds, a ramshackle tavern and a popular cathouse in this British comedy that features a number of guest appearances by some of the country's most popular comedians. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
British stage and film star Ralph Richardson stepped behind the cameras for the first and last time to direct Murder on Monday. Richardson also starred in the film, portraying a clerk who suffers a blackout after a blow on the head. Upon recovering, Richardson is led to believe that he has committed murder during the past 24 hours. Originally released in Great Britain as Home at Seven, Murder on Monday was based on a play by R. C. Sheriff. No Orson Welles he, Ralph Richardson invited Sheriff to the set to help him properly interpret the original material; with the input of the author, and with the technical advice of producer Alexander Korda, was able to shoot the film in less than 14 days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, Margaret Leighton, (more)
- 1952
Brilliant plastic surgeon Philip Ritter (Paul Henreid) loses the love of his life, concert pianist Alice Brent (Lizabeth Scott), to her manager, David (Andre Morell). As a balm to his wounded pride, Dr. Ritter Henreid makes over a hideously scarred female criminal into the spitting image of the woman who jilted him (the girl is played by Mary McKenzie "before," and, of course, by Lizabeth Scott "after"). Alas, he cannot make over her personality as well, and soon she's run off with her own crooked crowd. A not-bad precursor to Hitchcock's Vertigo, A Stolen Face was produced by Britain's Hammer Films, and distributed in the U.S. by Lippert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Henreid, Lizabeth Scott, (more)
- 1942
Let the People Sing is an offshoot of J. B. Priestly's earlier show business-based fable The Good Companions. In Companions, a trio of mismatched dogooders save a musical troupe from ruin. In Let the People Sing, Alastair Sim is a besotted nobleman who comes to the aid of indigent comedian Fred Emney. Through Sim's intervention, the planned closing of a local music hall is prevented. Even if Sim hadn't let the people sing, as the title implores, they probably would have done so anyway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Fred Emney, (more)
- 1941
In this musical, the on-air rivalry between a married pair of American radio stars, each hosting a different show heats to boiling when they each have British evacuees on their shows. The wife gets a fellow who claims to live in a castle. A brouhaha ensues as he is believed to be the long-lost heir of a prominent lord. The trouble begins when her husband learns the truth about the supposed "nobleman." The wife doesn't believe her husband and so both set off for Merry Olde England to learn the truth. Many comical adventures ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Originally released in England in 1938 as Murder in Soho, this moody melodrama was advertised in America as "The rapid-fire story of an underworld mobster with a social bee in his bonnet and a rod on his hip"(Whew!) The mobster in question is Steve Marco, played with appropriate sneering menace by Jack LaRue. Booted out of Chicago by the feds, Marco sets up a respectable nightclub in London as a front for his many criminal activities. When a murder is committed in the club and the body deposited in the street, Scotland Yard inspector Hammond (Martin Walker) suspects that Marco is responsible. With Hammond's unofficial blessing, nightclub hostess Ruby Lane (Sandra Storme), the dead man's widow, and inquiring reporter Roy Barnes (played by Bernard Lee, later to gain worldwide fame as "M" in the James Bond series) go undercover to get the goods on the social-climbing mobster. Though Murder in the Night could have gotten by on its own merits, the bravura performance of Jack LaRue truly "makes" the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack LaRue, Sandra Storme, (more)
- 1940
Let George Do It is one of the best and most successful of the George Formby vehicles. The toothy, guitar-strumming Formby plays a dimwitted entertainer who is mistaken for a notorious Nazi spy. The misunderstanding is played to the hilt, culminating with our hero battling the forces of the Axis on the fields of Norway. The film's highlight is a bakery routine which dates back to Charlie Chaplin's 1914 epic Dough and Dynamite. Let George Do It was distinguished by the leading-lady presence of Phyllis Calvert, just on the verge of bigger things. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Formby, Phyllis Calvert, (more)
- 1940
In this entry in the long-running British comedy series, boisterous Irish washerwoman Mother Riley plays the wardrobe lady for her daughter, a chorus girl. Her daughter then falls for a wealthy fellow. To spy, Riley dons a maid's uniform and begins working in the beau's family home. Mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1939
North Sea Patrol is a remake of the 1927 film of the same name; both were adapted from Luck of the Navy, a stage play by Mrs. Clifford Mills. Using a few clips of actual battleships for versimilitude, the film concerns a covert plan by an unnamed enemy nation to invade the sacred shores of England. The spies disguise themselves as the household servants of an admiral, so it can be said with some assurance that this is one picture in which the butler did it. Coming to the rescue is the admiral's daughter (Judy Kelly) and her dashing young navy officer beau (Geoffrey Toone). Made just before the outbreak of WW2, North Sea Patrol was promoted as "up to date" entertainment, even though its source material was nearly twenty years old. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geoffrey Toone, Judy Kelly, (more)
- 1938
A once-popular stage melodrama by Gordon Sherry was the source for the 1938 British film Black Limelight. Raymond Massey plays Peter Charrington, who early in the proceedings is charged with murder. Escaping from the authorities, Peter desperately tries to keep in touch with his distraught wife Mary (Joan Marion), who believes in his innocence. Meanwhile, an overly unctuous fellow named Lawrence Crawford (Walter Hudd) watches from the sidelines as Peter eludes the police. Crawford has a vested interest in the outcome of the chase; he is, after all, the real murderer. Reviewers in 1938 enjoyed Black Limelight, but carped over the fact that neither Raymond Massey nor Joan Marion seemed inclined to scale down their stage characterizations for the more intimate demands of the screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Massey, Joan Marion, (more)
- 1936
In this espionage thriller, a scientist develops a nonflammable fuel. Fearing that his life and the formula are in jeopardy, he photographs the formula and sends the picture to the League of Nations where it will be safe. Sure enough, the spies close in and kidnap his sister so he will be forced to give up the formula. Fortunately, the villains are thwarted and the formula is safe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Birds of a Feather was based on A Rift in the Loot, a play by George Foster. British music-hall great George Robey stars as a "nouveau riche" sausage manufacturer. Hoping to break into society, Robey moves himself and his loved ones into the castle of a noble but impecunious family. So as to avoid the scandal of their poverty, the castle's real owners pose as servants. It isn't long before the lowbrows and highbrows discover that they're really not all that different underneath, especially when Robey's daughter and the aristocrats' son fall in love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Robey, Horace Hodges, (more)
- 1935
In this British working-class drama, a worker gets fired for voicing his opinions on labor-saving technology. He is too ashamed to tell his family, and also fears throwing them into a panic until after his daughter is married. Just after the wedding, his daughter's husband suffers a terrible accident, and now the father is terribly depressed until his daughter gives birth to a grandson who gives him a little hope for the future. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1933
British matinee idol Ivor Novello carries the weight of Autumn Crocus on his handsome shoulders. Novello plays an alpine innkeeper, happily married and the father of a cute little daughter. He seriously considers kicking over the traces when he meets beautiful British schoolteacher Fay Compton, who is vacationing in the mountains. Both Novello and Compton become too deeply involved with each other to accommodate a happy ending. Autumn Crocus was adapted from the long-running West End stage production by C. L. Anthony. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivor Novello, Fay Compton, (more)
- 1932
Based on a stage play by Edgar Wallace, The Old Man is nowhere near as benign as its title. The eponymous character is a mysterious, never-seen criminal mastermind, who specializes in bumping off other criminals. Scotland Yard traces the Old Man to a rustic inn, where the villain could be anybody -- even one of the female guests! When a blackmailer preying upon Lady Arranways (Anne Grey) is murdered, everyone is placed under suspicion, but eventually the Old Man tips his hand and meets a grim demise. Oddly enough, it isn't the Law who brings the Old Man to justice, but comic-relief servant Mrs. Harris, played by the inimitable cockney comedienne Maisie Gay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cecil Humphreys
- 1932
In this crime drama, a gambler runs up a huge debt and happily pays it back. The owner of the gambling house learns that the gambler's girl friend is his cousin. She is first in line for his late uncle's fortune; he is second. The greedy fellow kidnaps his cousin and plans to eliminate her. Fortunately, Scotland Yard rescues her and arrests him. Later a huge fire erupts and her brave lover climbs up to the roof and saves her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1931
No relation to the 1929 American crime melodrama of the same name, the British Alibi is based on Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, previously dramatized for the stage by Christie and Michael Morton. Austin Trevor stars as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, he of the "little grey cells" who solves the murder of a doctor. The play had starred Charles Laughton as Poirot, who unfortunately was unable to appear in the film. The narrative gimmick in the original novel (to explain it here would be to give away the ending) could not possibly be adequately dramatized--except, perhaps, in a radio version-so Alibi gets along without it. The film represents the screen debut of Elizabeth Allan, an intelligent, attractive British actress best known for her portrayal of Lucy in the 1935 Hollywood version of Tale of Two Cities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Austin Trevor, Franklin Dyall, (more)
