James Hayter Movies
Cherubic India-born actor James Hayter looked like a Dickens character come to life. Accordingly, his best-loved role was as Mr. Pickwick in the 1954 movie version of The Pickwick Papers. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Hayter made his earliest stage appearances in the late 1920s; his first film was the 1936 British effort Sensation. Hayter was one of the busiest character actors in the English film industry -- a result, perhaps, of the fact that he had seven children to support. In addition to his perfect Mr. Pickwick, James Hayter was a memorable Friar Tuck in the 1952 Disney production The Story of Robin Hood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1946
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
- Starring:
- Jill Balcon, Derek Bond, (more)
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
In this British comedy, three sailors accidentally get on a Nazi ship. Mayhem ensues when they commandeer it for the Royal Navy. The story is also known as Three Cockeyed Sailors. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
In this WW II comedy, three British sailors get roaring drunk in a South American port, accidentally mistake a German battleship for their own and stagger aboard. Boozy mayhem ensues until the tipsy trio manages to capture the ship and its entire crew on behalf of the Royal Navy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 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
In this drama, set in 1842 England, an independent young woman living with a minister and his wife defies them and goes against their wishes to see Queen Victoria in Edinburgh. While there, she falls in love with a lieutenant and finds her real mother, an actress. With the latter encounter, the woman is really surprised as her guardians had told her that her mother had died when she was quite young. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
African-American actor/singer Paul Robeson had to travel to England in the 1930s to seek out dignified film roles. In Big Fella, Robeson is a happy wanderer who chances upon a runaway child. The kid so enjoys the company of Robeson and his café-singer friend Elisabeth Welch that he threatens to claim that he's been kidnapped if Robeson tries to return the boy to his parents. Interestingly, Robeson's character name is Joe, just as it had been in the actor's 1936 Hollywood triumph Show Boat. Big Fella was based on a novel by Claude McKay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Robeson, Elisabeth Welch, (more)
- 1936
Future Connecticut governor John Lodge stars in the British crime drama Sensation. Lodge plays a hotshot reporter who devotion to his job is messing up his private life. Despite warnings from his girl friend that she'll walk out if he follows up one more hot scoop, Lodge tries to flush out the murderer of a waitress. A packet of incriminating love letters is the "maguffin" in this one. Based on a play by Basil Dean and George Munro, Sensation packs an awful lot of story in its 54 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lodge, Diana Churchill, (more)
