Anthony Holles Movies

Produced for an economical (even in 1932) £4000, Hotel Splendide stars comedian Jerry Verno as Jerry Mason, an impecunious nobody who inherits the seaside resort of the title. He immediately quits his dead end job, tells his boss off, and travels to Speymouth -- where he finds that his vision of his inheritance does not quite match reality. Although initially disappointed, he decides he will try to make a go of it and sets about making plans on how to bolster the hotel's (and his) fortunes. Along the way he discovers a small package that, unbeknownst to him, contains the famous Dysart Pearls, stolen and buried there before the hotel was built. Eventually the packet falls into the possession of Gentleman Charlie, a former convict who is posing as a new guest at the Splendide. Several complications ensue involving a rival gangster, a detective, a series of mistaken identities and a safe (the combination of which Mason has forgotten) before all ends well and Mason finds himself richer by £10,000. The first of director Michael Powell's features for Gaumont-British, Splendide marked the first time Powell appeared as an actor in a movie which he also directed. In addition, it features one of the earliest cinematic uses of "Funeral March of the Marionettes," better known as the theme music for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

This ironic little British character study stars Stuart Rome as a "most likely to succeed" type. Rome has been invited to give a speech to his old classmates about self-sufficiency and optimism in the face of worldwide depression. Unfortunately, to finance his trip to London, the impoverished Rome must hock everything he owns. The hero's regaining of his own self-respect is the core of this understated drama. Reunion wasn't seen in the US until the early 1950s, when hungry-for-product TV stations were running every British picture they could get their hands on. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When economy expert Kerr works to cut the costs of the fleet in Malta, his lovely daughter, Matthews, is courted by the crew members on board. ~ Rovi

In this British thriller, a hapless fellow learns that he has chosen to stay in a problematic hotel when he learns that the stockbroker in the adjacent room has died and a woman is being blamed for the death. It is son revealed that the hotel manager, and another are attempting to keep the killing quiet until they can arrange the clues just so. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Businessman Edmund Gilbert Edmund Gwenn and his daughter Lilian Wendy Barrie are a well-to-do father and daughter caught in the down-draft of the British economic depression -- he's a financier without finance, and they're both struggling to put on a big front as their resources disappear. When Paul Martin (Robert Donat), a once-wealthy young man trying to survive as an employee of the gas-works, shows up to turn off their utilities, it seems like the end -- but Paul takes a fancy to Lilian and decides to leave their gas and power on. And Mr. Gilbert suddenly takes a fancy to Paul when the younger man discovers that an escaping thief who bumped into him on the underground has left $100,000 on Paul's person. Now Edmund wants the young man as his partner in a new venture, to attract other investors, and matters become more comically complicated still as the byzantine world of romance and finance intertwine. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Dapper song-and-dance man Jack Buchanan was both star and director of That's a Good Girl. Hoping to replenish his bank account, Jack Barrows (Buchanan) tries to marry his female cousin off to a wealthy American. This plan is sidetracked when Barrows, wandering backstage at the Milan opera house, is mistaken for a chorus singer and forced onstage, starting an altogether new plot tangent. None of this nonsense dissuades lady detective Joy Dean (Elsie Randolph) from tracking down Barrows on behalf of his creditors. That's a Good Girl is the film version of a popular stage musical which also teamed Jack Buchanan with Elsie Randolph. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Three adventurous young men find themselves duped by a double dealer in this thriller. The story begins after the young lads have convinced a wealthy man into providing financial backing for their African treasure-hunting expedition. While they are away, he immediately entraps one of the fiancees of the young men by encouraging her to run up an enormous gambling debt. In order to save her father, who has also been tricked by the con man, the girl becomes the wealthy lecher's mistress. The young men return. Their journey has been successful and they are quite wealthy. When they learn that the backer will not follow through on his promises, and has sullied the young woman, they decide that he must be killed. They decide which one will do the deed by drawing cards. He is killed, and the murderer is revealed--but as the coroner decided it was a suicide, the killer is not convicted. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Brewster's Millions was the fourth film version (and first talkie adaptation) of the war-horse Winchell Smith/Byron Ongley play. This being a British film, it's only logical that popular British musical comedy star Jack Buchanan should portray hero Jack Brewster. Once more, Brewster will inherit his uncle's huge estate only if he's able to spend one million pounds within two months. Our hero invests in several "lost cause" stocks and businesses, only to suffer as each one of his investments makes money. A last-act surprise enables Brewster to come out on top--and to claim as his bride the lovely Nancy O'Neil, who would love him even if he were broke. Brewster's Millions would be remade three more times over the next five decades. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this British comedy, a millionaire deals with his wild son by cutting him off the family dole. To regain his father's trust, respect, and fortune, the errant son masquerades as a composer. Unfortunately, his father's rival presents an obstacle. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Music-hall comedian Arthur Riscoe is ideally cast as the title character in Public Nuisance No. 1. The plot and the title are one in the same, as Arthur Rawlings (Riscoe) plies his trade as a waiter, noisily making a mess of things but remaining impishly lovable withal. Heroine Frances Travers (Frances Day) is a shop girl whose wealthy uncle owns the hotel where Arthur works. Against all odds, Frances and Arthur join forces to save the hotel from bankruptcy. The musical numbers are catchy, but, like the film itself, nothing special. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

H. G. Wells was both the author of the original source -- an essay, rather than an actual novel, concerning mankind's future -- and the screenplay (in conjunction with Lajos Biro) of this epic science fiction tale, but it was producer Alexander Korda who framed the terms on which it is presented, vast and elegant, and visually striking. Opening in the year 1940, we see the next century of human history unfold, initially with amazing prescience. In Everytown (a stand-in for London) in 1940, the people prepare to celebrate Christmas amid rumors and rumblings of war -- forward-thinking pacifists like John Cabal (Raymond Massey) try to raise concerns amid a populace either too fearful to think about the risks, or so pleased with business conditions that they're oblivious to the downside of war. And then it comes, devastating Everytown (in scenes shockingly close to the actual World War II London blitz, a half-decade away when these scenes were written) and the country, and finally the world. After 30 years, the war goes on, except that there are no more nations to fight it, only isolated petty fiefdoms ruled by brigand-like strongmen, running gangs organized like tiny armies. Among the most ruthless and successful of them is Rudolph (Ralph Richardson), who runs what's left of Everytown. He keeps his people in line by force, and his war with his neighbors going with his bedraggled troops, while pressuring the tiny handful of scientists, mechanics, and pilots to keep as many of the aging, decrepit planes as they can operating. A few educated men around him -- whom he doesn't really trust -- try to resist the worst of his plans and orders, while going through the motions of carrying them out. And then, one day, out of the sky comes a plane the like of which they've never seen before, sleek and fast, and piloted by a mysterious man whom Rudolph orders imprisoned. It is John Cabal, older but just as dedicated to the cause of peace, and ready to fight for it. He announces the existence of a new order, run by a society of engineers and scientists, called Wings Over The World, here to re-establish civilization. Rudolph will hear none of it, thinking instead to use Cabal's plane and those of any of his friends who follow as weapons of war -- but Rudolph's wife Roxana (Marguerite Scott) sees the wisdom of what Cabal offers and helps him. The bombers of Wings Over The World drop the Gas of Peace, which puts the entire population of Everytown to sleep -- all except Rudolph, who goes down fighting and dies -- allowing the army of the Airmen to enter and free the city. Seventy years go by, during which the Earth is transformed and a new civilization rises, led by scientists and engineers. Immense towers now rise into the sky, and the population is freed from most of the concerns that ever led to it war. In fact, a new complacency starts to take hold amid a populace for whom most needs are now easily met -- all except the leaders, engineers who keep advancing, year after year, with new projects and goals. And now, having conquered the Earth and all of the challenges it has to offer, Oswald Cabal (Raymond Massey), the great-grandson of John and the current leader, is about to embark on the grandest project of all, moving into deep space. The first launch of a manned vehicle, fired by the Space Gun, is about to take place. But there is discontent being spread by the sculptor Theotocopulos (Cedric Hardwicke), who is weary and distressed from this constant push toward new advances and progress -- he wants mankind to reassert itself over this ever-advancing technology, and sees the Space Gun and all it represents as a new threat. In a speech, he exhorts the restive populace to stop the launch. They proceed, en masse, to attack the Space Gun, while Cabal struggles to beat them to their objective and take the next bold step into space. "All of the Universe," he declares, "or nothing -- which shall it be?" ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Adapted from a popular West End stage musical, This'll Make You Whistle has been refashioned as a suitable vehicle for Jack Buchanan. Surprisingly, all of the music has been excised from the film version, denying Buchanan the opportunity to display his considerable singing and dancing skills. No matter: the star is in fine fettle, cast as a playboy who's trying to ditch the blue-nosed guardian of his fiancee (Bobbie Rivers). Somehow this requires our hero to pose as a notorious forger, a masquerade he pulls off all too well. This'll Make You Whistle takes place on the French Riviera, which looks suspiciously like a British seaside resort. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi