Hal Gordon Movies
- 1946
In this musical, a woman finds herself the apex in a triangle of love. On one side is her devoted husband, an ex-fighter pilot. On the other there is her old love. When her husband realizes that she is attracted to the latter, he does the noble thing and allows her to wealthy former love. In return, the equally honorable other man talks her into returning to her spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
The inspiration for this British seriocomedy was Victor Skutezky's stage play She Met Him One Sunday. "She" is Moya Malone (Barbara White), an Irish maid living in Liverpool. "He" is Tom Stevens (Robert Beatty), a Canadian sailor. That "one Sunday" is a busy one, encompassing a few romantic strolls down the dock, Moya's renouncing of her servant status, and a run-in with crooks. Playwright Skutezky also served as producer of It Happened One Sunday. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Beatty, Barbara White, (more)
- 1944
In this romance, a young woman gets into a real mess when her mother begins meddling in her romantic life by conning her into becoming engaged to her boss. Unfortunately, the girl loves another who has gone off to fight the war. Upon his return, he is enraged to learn about the engagement. Mayhem ensues until the whole mess is straightened out and the lovers are reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
The special appeal of Scots comedian Will Fyffe might be lost to American viewers unable to fathom Fyffe's bog-thick accent. Nonetheless, his "regional" British films of the 1930s and 1940s were extremely popular, and Heaven is Round the Corner is no exception. Fyffe plays a farmhand who, with several of his mates and a handful of opera singers and music-hall performers, show up in newly liberated Paris. When the group "invades" the British Embassy, an impromptu musical programme commences. The title song of Heaven is Round the Corner is rendered by Vera Lynn, the sweetheart of the British army during World War II, whose signature tune "We'll Meet Again" has entered into folklore (not to mention the apocalyptic closing scenes of Dr. Strangelove). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leni Lynn, Will Fyffe, (more)
- 1944
Give Me the Stars is a British comedy aimed squarely at the regional audiences of the 1940s. Lenni Lynn plays an American girl (complete with a line of unconvincing slang) who heads to Scotland on family business. She appoints herself protector of her cranky Scots grandfather (Will Fyffe), who of course is not nearly as helpless as she believes. While tolerably produced, Give Me the Stars rather resembles an elongated music hall sketch. But Will Fyffe was enormously popular, and the film brought in the shillings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Like the better-known (and more popular) A Canterbury Tale, Welcome Mr. Washington is a sometimes amusing, sometimes poignant dramatization of what happened when American troops "invaded" England during WW II. Dismissed as "overpaid, oversexed and over here," the Yanks face some hostility while trying to adjust to British manners and mores. But when a farming community finds itself dangerously short-handed at harvest time, the American GIs pitch in and help their British brethren in true "hands across the sea" fashion. Real-life American army lieutenant Donald Stewart is cast as the nominal romantic lead, his lack of professional polish all the more obvious in his scenes with the talented Barbara Mullen. The film is stolen by Peggy Cummins as a precocious teenager, some three years before Cummins was brought to Hollywood to star in Forever Amber (which, as it turned out, she didn't). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Mullen, Donald Stewart, (more)
- 1943
Once again comedian Arthur Lucan dons an old woman's togs to become the tart-tongued Irish washerwoman. This time Mother Riley ends up mixed up with gangsters and busts up a ring of smugglers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1942
Comic actors Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen, members in good standing of Britain's "The Crazy Gang", head the cast of the wartime mirthspinner We'll Smile Again. The film is set at a movie studio, where production of an Arabian Nights epic is constantly interrupted by the fumbling and bumbling of Bob Parker (Flanagan) and Gordon Maxwell (Allen). The two screw-ups redeem themselves by capturing a Nazi spy ring, headed by film star Gina Cavendish (Phyllis Stanley) and Teutonic director Steiner (Meinhardt Maur). Bumptuous radio comedian Horace Kenny contributes to the zaniness as a self-important studio makeup man. The producers engagingly make fun of the film's ultra-low budget with the opening disclaimer "The Anglo-American Film Corporation announces proudly that no expense has been spared to save money on this production." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen, (more)
- 1941
Onetime Hollywood silent film producer Joe Rock packed himself off to his native England in the 1930s to make British programmers. Captain Bill is a vehicle for the all-but-forgotten music hall comic Leslie Fuller, who teamed with Rock to put up the money for this minor-league production. The corpulent Fuller plays a bargee (dock worker) who develops a fondness for schoolteacher Kay Strozzi. He helps teacher foil a gang of scuzzy criminals. Directed by Ralph Cedar, best known for his fast-paced second unit work on such American comedies as W.C. Fields' The Bank Dick (40), Captain Bill was filmed in 1935, but not released overseas until six years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 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 British WW II comedy, a brave member of the Police War Reserve eventually becomes a hero when he exposes a conspiracy to sabotage the battleship Hercules on her first voyage. But at first his fellow officers believe that he is one of the enemy agents and pursue him down the docks, causing him to prematurely launch the ship and save it from exploding. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
The original British title of this wartime musical farce was George Takes The Air. George is George Formby, the toothy little chappy with the ukulele whose films made oodles of money in the 1930s and 1940s. This time, Formby is an 'umble Army private mistaken for a dashing RAF pilot. Had their not been a slapstick airborne finale, audiences might have grown violent. Manning the cameras in It's in the Air was future director Ronald Neame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Formby, Polly Ward, (more)
- 1939
What a combination! Break the News boasted the talents of English stage star Jack Buchanan, French entertainer Maurice Chevalier, legendary director Rene Clair, and songwriter Cole Porter. But what should have made for dynamite entertainment, fizzled in the eyes of disappointed contemporary reviewers. Buchanan and Chevalier play a song and dance team that is getting nowhere fast. In an effort to jump-start their flagging careers, the two dream up an elaborate scheme that begins when Buchanan 'mysteriously' vanishes. Soon afterward Chevalier turns himself in, claiming that he killed his partner, fully aware that Buchanan is actually hiding out in a Balkan village and will magically reappear at the crucial moment. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the jailed Chevalier, poor Buchanan has been captured by revolutionaries who have mistaken him for an enemy general. Will he escape in time to save Chevalier from final justice? The film's source material, a novel by Loic de Gouriadic, has been re-filmed several times, most recently as The Art of Love (65) with James Garner and Dick Van Dyke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Jack Buchanan, (more)
- 1939
In this crime drama, a boys' school matron is brutally murdered after she wins the French lottery. The story tells how it was done. She is killed by a French loan shark who tricks her into coming to his place. He then kills her and has another woman put on her clothing and collect the lottery winnings. The law pursues the killer, who commits two more murders before he kills himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emlyn Williams, Sara Seegar, (more)
- 1939
British Writer/director Anthony Kimmins was willing to expand his range from drawing room comedy to the "low" humors of the provincial music halls. Kimmins' Come on George is an unadorned vehicle for toothy, ukelele-strumming North Country comedian George Formby. Formby plays a somewhat overage stableboy who is the only person able to calm a jittery race horse. In the foregone conclusion, Formby rides the horse to victory. Come on George was a product of George Formby's peak movie years; after the war he suffered a professional eclipse and was back making the cheap programmers (vide George in Civvy Street) whence he had started his cinematic career. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
Filmed in lavish Technicolor and given Tiffany production values by producer Alexander Korda, the British comedy Divorce of Lady X is at base a trivial little farce, buoyed by the sprightly performances of star Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier. Ms. Oberon plays a costume-party guest who is forced to stay in a hotel overnight due to inclement weather. There are no rooms available, so the management prevails upon handsome but stuffy lawyer Olivier to give up half of his suite to the lovely Oberon. After a chaste evening together, Olivier becomes obsessed with Oberon, deducing that her elusiveness is due to the "fact" that she is married. Actually, she is nothing of the kind, but when an old school chum (Ralph Richardson) comes to Olivier's office to arrange for a divorce, Olivier jumps to the conclusion that Oberon is his old friend's soon-to-be "ex". Based on Gilbert Wakefield's play Counsel's Opinion, Divorce of Lady X has become a familiar presence on cable TV because of its public domain status; less familiar is an earlier movie version of the Wakefield play, filmed in 1932 by director Allan Dwan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, (more)
- 1938
This musical features many popular ballads from the 1880s as it tells the tale of a cabaret singer and her boozy husband who travel to the South African gold fields to seek their fortune. They choose an empty mine, and while her husband hopefully works in the mine, the woman gets a singing job in a local saloon. Time passes, and eventually she and the handsome proprietor begin falling in love. By the story's end though, the woman returns to her neer-do-well but sweet husband. Together they begin looking for the elusive mother lode. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gracie Fields, Victor McLaglen, (more)
- 1937
In this comedy, a scrawny barber must compete with a muscle bound thug for the love of a manicurist. Naturally the manicurist is most attracted to the brute until the barber can prove that he is a crook. The two then duke it out in the boxing ring. Later it is the weakling who gets the girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Amazing Quest was the original British release title of the 1937 comedy Romance and Riches (aka Riches and Romance). Making a rare return trip to England, Cary Grant plays the heir to a huge fortune. Alas, Grant is miserable, because he's never worked for his money. Determined to prove his worth, Grant makes a wager than he can earn his keep for a full year without ever touching the family millions. He loses his bet when he must draw upon his money to wed poverty-stricken Mary Brian, the better to save her from an unhappy marriage of convenience. Still, his experiences among the working classes have left an indelible impression; turning his back on his "equals," Grant invites all of his newly acquired lowborn friends to his wedding reception. Like His Girl Friday, Penny Serenade, and Charade, Amazing Quest is one on the ever-growing list of Cary Grant films that have lapsed into public domain, and thus are more readily available than when first released. Amazing Quest was based on a novel by E. Phillips Oppenheim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Mary Brian, (more)
- 1936
In this comedy a pair of aspiring music hall entertainers attempt to live their dream while saving their landlady's daughter from ruin. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1936
Based upon The Chase of the Golden Plate by Jacques Futrelle, The Man Behind the Mask was the last film Michael Powell made before The Edge of the World established him as a major director. As the film begins, loving couple Nick Barclay (Hugh Williams) and June Slade $Jane Baxter) are attending a fancy masked ball, from which they plan to elope. Nick, however, is assaulted, and his assailant takes his place at the party. Thus disguised, he steals away with both June and a famous artifact, the Shield of Kahm, that belongs to her father, Lord Slade. Nick, whose story of being assaulted is not given full credence, begins a search for June, enlisting the aid of a Dr. Walpole and his secretary along the way. They rescue June and the Shield from an inn, although they do not capture the thief. June and Nick proceed with their plans to marry; but with the burglar still loose and upset that his plans were foiled, neither they nor the Shield are safe. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- 1936
The Queen of Hearts stars Lancashire's own Gracie Fields as Gracie Perkins, a seamstress who is mistaken for a wealthy patroness of the arts. The fun begins when Gracie is approached to back a new stage show. Hoping to crash society -- or at least land a part in the show herself -- she keeps up her masquerade. To absolutely no one's surprise, she's the hit of the show and as icing on the cake ends up winning the heart of leading man Derek Cooper (John Loder). Queen of Hearts was directed by comedian Monty Banks, who happened to be Gracie Fields' brand-new husband. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Loder, Enid Stamp Taylor, (more)
Oskar Homolka plays a London movie-theatre owner who maintains a secret life as a paid terrorist. Homolka's wife Sylvia Sidney doesn't suspect Homolka of any wrongdoing, but she's picked up enough second-hand information about her husband's activities to arouse the interest of government agent (John Loder). Posing as a grocer, Loder moves next door to the Homolkas, befriending Sidney and her precocious young brother Desmond Tester. Sensing that he's being watched, Homolka sends Tester out to deliver a reel of film. The reel contains a time bomb, but Homolka is certain that the boy will deliver his package on time and will be safely away by the time the bomb explodes. Thus begins one of Hitchcock's most electrifying suspense sequences, as the unsuspecting boy is delayed en route to his destination. Sabotage was based on Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent; the film was retitled A Woman Alone in the US. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Sidney, Oscar Homolka, (more)
- 1936
In this comedy, a young man learns that he is supposed to inherit some valuable jewels and enlists the aid of his shyster lawyer to see that he gets them. The trouble is the stones are tucked away into the lining of one of six antique chairs that have mysteriously vanished. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1936
In this little thriller, an innocent wager nearly results in death. The trouble begins when a novelist bets that he can hide his friend for a month. He then whisks the fellow into the country. However, the young victim's parents do not know about the bet and call the police. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Hobson, Leslie Perrins, (more)
