Alfred Drayton Movies

Though it pales in comparison to the Royal Shakespeare Company's epic staging of the original novel in the early 1980s, this compact adaptation of Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby is most entertaining on its own terms. Derek Bond plays the title character, a resourceful young Britisher forced to protect his family against the demonic machinations of his wicked Uncle Ralph (Cedric Hardwicke at his most odious). Cast out into the cold cruel world, Nicholas Nickleby deals adroitly with friend and foe alike, eventually coming full circle to mete out just desserts to his unspeakable uncle. With only 108 minutes' running time at his disposal, screenwriter John Dighton (later a mainstay of the Ealing Comedies) was forced to eliminate several of the novel's 52 highly distinctive characters and intricate subplots. There is evidence that there was even more cutting after the film was completed; for example, the tatty touring theatrical troupe managed by the delightfully pompous Vincent Crummles (Stanley Holloway) appears only in a series of abrupt vignettes, while Crummles himself is confined to a mere handful of lines and gestures. Still, many of Dickens' colorful characters are vividly realized, especially the unfortunate, mentally challenged Smike (Aubrey Woods). When released in America, Nicholas Nickleby was pared down to 95 minutes, with surprisingly little damage to the continuity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The British Half-Way House is from the Thunder Rock and Outward Bound school of Divine Intervention films. A group of travellers, all of whom have reason to regret the actions of the past, take shelter from a storm in an old inn. There's something eerie about the place and its owner (Mervyn Johns)...something that indicates the guests aren't quite operating in their own time anymore. It develops that the inn really doesn't exist anymore; it had been destroyed by a bomb a year earlier. By staying in this half-way house, the guests all have a chance to rectify the errors that they've made in their own lives during the past year. Half-Way House was adapted from a play by Dennis Ogden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having underestimated Hitler in the 1930s, British propaganda specialists spent the early war years insisting they were prepared for any international contingency. Big Blockade was a morale-boosting film produced in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Welfare. In documentary fashion, the film underlines the importance of the economic blockade which Britain directed against Germany. An all-star cast (Michael Redgrave, Leslie Banks, John Mills, Robert Morley etc.) appears in brief sketches dramatizing the effect of the blockade and the reactions of the British public. While it received good reviews at the time, The Big Blockade quickly fell out of favor once it served its wartime purpose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another cheeky entry from the Aldwych Theatre farceurs, Banana Ridge is based on a play by Aldwych perennial Ben Travers. Alfred Drayton plays a wealthy, respected gentleman suddenly confronted with old flame Isabel Jeans. She shows up out of nowhere, claiming that her illegitimate son is his. The possibility of scandal creates a brouhaha with Drayton's wife Adela Dixon, and daughter Nova Pilbeam. Old chum Robertson Hare offers to help Drayton out--and nearly wrecks his own marriage in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy, a bishop is desperate to finish the restoration on his cathedral. To quickly raise the needed cash, he gives a fellow some money. The fellow promises the bishop that he will use it to make the 1,000 pounds needed to complete the job. The ingenious man uses the honest money to buy smuggled goods. Among the things he buys are silk lingerie and brandy; the latter ends up being sold at a church bazaar and the money is raised. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Blackmail is the basis of this crime drama based on a novel by Edgar Wallace. The trouble begins when the leader of a ring of blackmailers becomes an amateur sleuth to outfox Scotland Yard. He spends a lot of time in the Yard getting to know the higher ups. When not schmoozing with the cops, the crook is plotting blackmail schemes. Despite their efforts the Yard has many problems figuring out the leader of the ring. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The inimitable Gracie Fields illuminates the screen in her sole 1935 vehicle Look Up and Laugh. The Lancashire-born comedienne is cast as Gracie Pearson, one of several clerks in a small-town market. When Gracie and her co-workers are threatened with dismissal by a chain-store takeover, they manage to save their jobs by digging up a Royal Charter, declaring their store an autonomous nation. The film was based on a story by J. B. Priestley, who undoubtedly didn't include Gracie's traditional cheer-up songs in his original synopsis. Billed 15th in Look Up and Laugh is 22-year-old Vivien Leigh, whose third film this was. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic costume drama, a man in the service of a king finds that falling in love with the queen can carry a high price. Struensee (Clive Brook) is a doctor from Hamburg who is called upon to treat Denmark's King Charles VII (Emlyn Williams) while the potentate visits Germany. The grateful King brings Struensee back to Denmark with him where he will be afforded a life of luxury. However, Struensee's new and idyllic life hits a considerable snag when he falls in love with Queen Caroline (Madeleine Carroll). The Queen is also infatuated with Struensee, but the Queen Mother (Helen Hayes) soon learns of their affair and has both Struensee and Caroline put behind bars. Struensee is able to arrange for the Queen's escape, but she refuses to leave without the man she loves. The film was also shown under the titles The Loves of a Dictator, The Love Affair of the Dictator, and For Love of a Queen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy, the owner of a country pub finds her wedding night ruined when a man comes up and offers her husband a shilling. He accepts it, but discovers that it is really the Queen's bounty for enlistment and that the kindly man is the local recruiting officer. The bride decides she must be with her man and ends up impersonating one to be with him. Eventually she saves him from the French. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Tom Walls is both star and director of the airy comedy-melodrama Lady in Danger. Marooned in the revolution-torn kingdom of Ardenburg, British businessman Richard Dexter (Tom Walls) is requested by the leader of the insurgents to safely escort the country's beloved queen (Yvonne Arnaud) to England. Dexter obliges, bundling the queen into his private plane and zooming across the border. He hides the pretty monarch in his apartment, resulting in quite a row when his fiancee Lydia (Anne Grey) shows up unannounced. The farcical possibilities of Lady in Danger are played to the hilt, and the rest is good semi-clean fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the best of Michael Powell's low-budget "quota quickies" -- essentially British B-movies made on ultra-low budgets under the government-imposed quota system for British-made movies in British theaters -- Red Ensign was also one of the more intelligent thoughtful dramas of its kind. Set amid the massive economic disruptions of the worldwide depression of the mid-'30s, it tells the story of David Barr (Leslie Banks), the managing director of an idled Scottish ship-building company, who has devised a revolutionary new design for cargo vessels using arcform hulls, which permits them to operate more cheaply and efficiently than any ships currently in service. He can revolutionize the merchant shipping industry, but Barr wants more than that -- he sees that as only the first step to reviving the entire British economy. Barr, who worked his way up from the shipyards (starting as a riveter) to the boardroom, is able to see this larger picture, from the top down to the vantage point of the lowest yard worker, and from the bottom up to the management suites, and he is driven by the breadth and clarity of what he perceives. But before he can do that, or get even one ship built, he has to overcome the resistance of the other directors, upper-class all, who admire Barr's brilliance but can't understand his passion, content as they are to ride out this worldwide depression in cautious comfort. Their leader is the recalcitrant board chairman, Lord Dean (Frank Vosper), who not only doesn't believe in taking risks but also resents Barr's successful wooing of the company's principal shareholder, June Mackinnon (Carol Goodner), the daughter of the company's late founder.

Barr is single-minded in his vision and certain enough of his cause that he is willing to withhold information from the other directors to get what he wants, and even commit forgery if there's no other way to get the first ship built. Lord Dean, meanwhile, wants to sign a contract for the new ships with Manning (Alfred Drayton), the unscrupulous owner of a shipping line notorious for its use of foreign registries, poorly paid and trained foreign crews, and safety violations, which would solve the shipyard's problems for a time but do nothing for British shipping or the economy. And Manning, desiring these new ship and faced with Barr's opposition, is not above putting spies and saboteurs into the shipyard, and setting fires and explosions to undermine Barr's work. Amid the corporate maneuvering and the threat of strikes (fomented by Manning's paid agitators) and arrest, the script keeps the pacing brisk and the focus tight on the fate of Barr and his ideas, in what was one of the more cerebral and diverting dramatic thrillers of its day. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide