Margaret Lockwood Movies

Adapted from a novel by Osbert Sitwell, A Place of One's Own has a double-edged title: It refers to a physical place as well as a spiritual one. An elderly couple (played with a surplus of age makeup by Barbara Mullen and James Mason) purchase an old house. They've been warned that it's haunted by the spirit of a murdered girl, but decide to set up housekeeping anyway. The restless ghost responds to this intrusion by possessing the soul of Annette (Margaret Lockwood), the old couple's young live-in companion. Leading man Dennis Price is on hand as Dr. Selbie to attempt an emergency exorcism on the vulnerable Annette. A Place of One's Own is a serviceable "spook show" which might have even been better with a little more emotional involvement on the part of the principals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A minor effort from a major director, Bank Holiday is little more than a series of anecdotes involving middle-class Brightoners on holiday. Margaret Lockwood and Hugh Williams played the largest roles, as a couple who find love during their one-day respite from work. Comic relief (which in this film is superior to the straight plotting) is provided by several reliable character actors, notably Wilfred Lawson as an officious constable. The film's major purpose is to poke gentle fun at the foibles of the working class, and as such it doesn't amuse as much as it did back in 1938. Bank Holiday was released in the U.S. as Three on a Weekend. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Veteran British music hall favorite Sid Field made his second and last film appearance in Cardboard Cavalier. Set during the 17th-century British Civil War, the film stars Field as vegetable vendor Sidcup Butterfield. Our hero is dragooned into delivering important documents on behalf of the anti-Cromwell forces. Somehow he winds up in the court of King Charles II (Anthony Hulme) and finds himself wooing royal courtesan Nell Gwynne (Margaret Lockwood). Nothing is sacred in this historical burlesque, which even manages to work a little pie-throwing into the proceedings. One of the scripters is Noel Langley, who in 1939 contributed to the screenplay of The Wizard of Oz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sixty-nine-year-old George Arliss at first seems an unlikely casting choice for Dr. Syn, the 18th-century clergyman-cum-pirate created by novelist Roger Thorndyke. But Arliss never backed down from an acting challenge in all his 50 years of stage and screen work; if he wanted to play a pirate, he'd by gum play a pirate and have the audience firmly on his side all the way through (it turned out to be his final movie appearance). The film begins with the supposed death of the notorious Dr. Syn, then flashes forward to the coastal village of Dymchurch, where the kindly vicar (Arliss) is actually the allegedly deceased buccaneer, still operating his smuggling activities. Director Roy William Neill, better known for his American-made Sherlock Holmes films, keeps things moving at a fast clip. Dr. Syn was remade with Peter Cushing as Captain Clegg in the 1962 Night Creatures, then by Disney that same year as Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, with Patrick McGoohan as a considerably cleaned-up Syn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Britain's Margaret Lockwood is teamed with Hollywood's Dane Clark in Highly Dangerous. Set in a mythical Iron Curtain country, the film casts Lockwood as an entomologist who hopes to stop a planned volley of bacteriological warfare. Facing danger at every turn, our heroine is rescued time and again by a two-fisted American reporter (Clark). The story culminates in a glass-enclosed hothouse, where the two protagonists race against time to neutralize thousands of poisonous insects. One bizarre sequence finds a drug-benumbed Lockwood imagining herself as the star of a popular British radio serial! Future Saint mentor Roy Baker directed from a script supplied by no less than Eric Ambler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The misery caused by a long-term feud between two Irish families provides the framework in this drama based on a book by Daphne du Maurier. The saga begins in 1840 as the father of the Donovan clan rebels against the Brodrick family, the owners of the copper mine located on what was formerly Donovan land. In the ensuing conflict, the mine is destroyed and the eldest Brodrick son is killed. His younger brother then becomes the clan leader. He cares not a fig for mining; instead he would rather spend his time wooing a beautiful local girl whom he marries. They have four children and when the brother dies, his eldest son succeeds him. The new patriarch and his mother are terribly greedy and eager to take control of the mine. His mother is distraught when her son suddenly rejects her. The unwanted woman goes to London where she soon gets involved with gambling and drugs to ease her broken heart. One day, her son travels to the city and runs into her. To ease his aching conscience he asks her to return home. Just as she gets there, the eldest son is killed by another Donovan during a labor dispute. She then has one Donovan arrested. An aging servant manages to talk the bereaved mother into dropping the charges so that the feud may finally end. She does. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When Ellen O' HareMargaret Lockwood leaves her poor aunt Duchess Althene Seyler in Ireland for a singing career in England, she joins street guitarist Terry O' RyanPatric Knowles and eventually returns unsuccessful to Ireland to discover that Duchess is now rich. ~ All Movie Guide

One man's attempts to convince his fellow jurors of the defendant's innocence provides the basis of this drama. The others point out that all the evidence presented proves his guilt, but the man is not swayed. Finally he asks them to reconstruct the crime. They do and find out that the holdout is indeed correct. They also find the real killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ann Markham (Margaret Lockwood) is an employee with the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro. Though ostensibly businesslike and intelligent, Ann can't help falling in love with irresponsible Charlie Kent (Griffith Jones). On their wedding day, Ann discovers that Charlie is on the lam from fraud charges throughout the world. Still, she believes his promise that he'll mend his ways once they've tied the nuptial knot. Not unexpectedly, Charlie goes back on his word, and it is up to handsome millionaire Ashley Morehouse (Norman Wooland) to save Ann from her poor judgment. It was surprising to see the British film industry's resident "wicked lady" Margaret Lockwood playing so gullible a character -- so surprising, in fact, that audiences tended to stay away from Look Before You Love in droves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No relation to the 1970 box-office blockbuster of the same name, the 1944 British film Love Story was originally released in the US as The Lady Surrenders. Margaret Lockwood stars as one of those brilliant but troubled concert pianists, so beloved of British wartime filmgoers. Knowing that she suffers from a potentially fatal heart condition, Margaret has one last fling with RAF pilot Stewart Granger, who is slowly going blind. As in such earlier romantic dramas of the One Way Passage variety, Margaret and Stewart keep their afflictions secret from each other. When the truth comes out, Granger agrees to a dangerous and experimental operation to restore his sight. This sets the stage for a war of wills between Lockwood, who wants Granger to undergo the surgery, and Gragner's fiancee Patricia Roc, who, for reasons of her own, does not. Love Story was cowritten and directed by Leslie Arliss, son of eminent British stage star Sir George Arliss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romance, a down-on-his-luck fellow saves a pretty woman from drowning herself, gives her shelter, and falls in love. By romancing the girl, he destroys all chances of marrying an heiress, but he does not care. While at Monte Carlo, he and his lady love roll the dice and find themselves fabulously wealthy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based upon a famous swashbuckling adventure story by Captain Frederick Marryat, Midshipman Easy is a ripping yarn that served as Carol Reed's solo directorial debut. Jack Easy (16-year-old Hughie Green) signs on for a tour of duty aboard the HMS Harpy, a British ship sailing the Spanish-ridden seas of the eighteenth century. His many adventures in this episodic tale include overpowering a mean-spirited fellow-midshipman; rescuing the Harpy during a particularly nasty storm; intercepting a gold-laden Spanish ship; fighting a duel; capturing the infamous bandit Don Silvio (Dennis Wyndham); and flirting with the exotic Donna Agnes Ribiera (played by young Margaret Lockwood). Midshipman served to bring Reed to the attention of Graham Greene; the two would later collaborate on such films as The Fallen Idol and The Third Man. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide