Margaret Lockwood Movies
Born in India to a British railway clerk, Margaret Lockwood was educated at London's Italia Conti School. After training for an acting career at RADA (several years after her official stage debut at age 12), she made her first film in 1935, billed as Margie Day. After a series of inconsequential ingenues, Lockwood was given a role with teeth in Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938). She had a brief Hollywood career (two films' worth) in 1939, then returned to England, where throughout the 1940s she specialized in beautiful but diabolical adventuresses. She left the screen in favor of the stage in 1955, then made a long overdue return to films in The Slipper and the Rose (1976). Books on Lockwood's career include her own autobiography Lucky Star (1955) and Hilton Tims' Once a Wicked Lady (1989). Margaret Lockwood was the mother of British film actress Julia Lockwood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1939
A Girl Must Live is the philosophy of gold-digging chorus girls Gloria Lind (Renee Houston) and Clytie Devine (Lilli Palmer). Both feel that they could live most comfortably off the money inherited by the Earl of Pangborough (Hugh Sinclair) a handsome but unworldly nobleman. Despite the most strenuous efforts by Gloria and Clytie, it is sweet and demure chorine Leslie James (Margaret Lockwood) who claims the Earl as her husband. Robust comedy relief is provided by the venerable George Robey as a bibulous "sugar daddy". A Girl Must Live was one of three 1939 films directed by Carol Reed, still some distance removed from Odd Man Out, The Third Man and Oliver!. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Renee Houston, (more)
- 1939
A. J. Cronin's novel was brought to the screen by director Carol Reed. The film is set in a northern England mining town (far more realistically depicted than the back-lot Welsh village in John Ford's How Green Was My Valley. The parents of Michael Redgrave have labored long and hard so that their son can escape his grimy environs and make something of himself. While away at school, Redgrave is trapped into marriage by Margaret Lockwood, previously the lady friend of ill-tempered Emlyn Williams (the actor was himself a product of the Welsh mining community). When Lockwood and Williams resume their romance, the disillusioned Redgrave returns home, where he becomes deeply involved in a labor dispute. He ultimately decides that it is best for all if he remains in the village of his birth, working tirelessly on behalf of his friends, relatives and neighbors. Denied the larger budgets indigenous to Hollywood films, Carol Reed invested a gritty documentary "feel" into The Stars Look Down; the film brought him international acclaim, serving as a stepping stone for even greater cinematic accomplishments. Curiously, Reed himself didn't subscribe to A. J. Cronin's opinions vis-a-vis the nationalization of the coal mines; he was simply attracted to the dramatic possibilities of the tale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
The sole survivor of an Indian attack, orphan girl Susannah Sheldon (Shirley Temple) becomes the mascot of the Canadian Mountie outpost headed by Superintendent Standing (Moroni Olsen). Mountie Angus "Monty" Montague (Randolph Scott) and his sweetheart (and Standing's daughter), Vicky (Margaret Lockwood), appoint themselves as Susannah's unofficial parents, doing their best to help the girl overcome her terrible ordeal. Eventually, it is "little miss fix-it"Susannah who brings peace between the Mounties and the Blackfeet, but not before Monty is nearly burned at the stake by the renegade Indian responsible for fomenting all the trouble. This is the film in which Shirley Temple not only teaches Randolph Scott how to tap dance, but also shares a peace pipe with a Blackfoot youngster (and gets good and nauseated in the process). Based on a novel by Muriel Denison, Susannah of the Mounties was originally released in sepiatone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, (more)
- 1938
The Lady Vanishes, Alfred Hitchcock's comedy-thriller, came at the end of his British period; this film's success brought Hitchcock to the attention of Hollywood. He would complete only one other British production, Jamaica Inn, before crossing the Atlantic to working for David O. Selznick on Rebecca. The film concerns the young Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood), heading home on a train after spending the holidays in the Balkans. Iris becomes friends with a kindly old lady, Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty) after Iris gets hit in the head with a flowerpot meant for Miss Froy. On the train, recovering from the blow, Iris falls asleep. When she awakens, Miss Froy has vanished, replaced by someone else in Miss Froy's clothing. Iris talks to the other passengers, a bizarre collection of eccentrics who think that Iris is crazy for insisting on there even being a Miss Froy -- everyone denies having ever seen the old woman. Finally, Iris finds a young musician, Gilbert (Michael Redgrave), who believes her and the two proceed to search the train for clues to Miss Froy's disappearance. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, (more)
- 1938
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
- Starring:
- John Lodge, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
- 1938
Owd Bob is a remake of the silent film of the same name, which in turn was based on a story by Alfred Olivant. Dominating the storyline is crusty Scottish farmer McAdam (Will Fyffe), who carries on several simultaneous feuds with his neighbors. McAdam is particularly antagonistic towards young David Moore (John Loder), newly arrived from Derbyshire. It's bad enough that Moore is sweet on McAdam's pretty daughter Jeannie (Margaret Lockwood); but when Moore enters his sheep dog Owd Bob in an annual contest that has always been won by McAdam's prize pooch Black Wull, it's too much to bear. An unexpected tragedy softens McAdam to the extent that he finally accepts Moore as a worthy son-in-law. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Fyffe, John Loder, (more)
- 1937
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
- Starring:
- George Arliss, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
- 1937
In this British musical, the trouble begins when a performer has a tiff with his singing partner during a show and ends up running outside. He is costumed as a beggar and in this guise encounters a kindly orphan who is in the custody of a former musician. Seeing his ragged clothing, she pities him and brings him home for a hot meal. The performer realizes that in the face of the poverty she and the magician suffer with daily, that he is truly a lucky man. Later he falls in love with the orphan girl and makes her his new partner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Tracy, Arthur Riscoe, (more)
- 1937
In this musical, a young fellow aspires to a career as a radio star. Along the way, the falls in love with a scientist's daughter. He then adds several talented friends to his act and at last finds success. Unfortunately, on the night of their big radio performance, fire erupts and he ends up saving the scientist's daughter, ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
Based upon a hit German musical that had already been filmed in 1934, Who's Your Lady Friend? emerged as a British comedy-with-music in 1937. Dr. Mangold (played by Vic Oliver, a popular dance-band leader of the day) is a famous Viennese "beauty specialist" (i.e., plastic surgeon), saddled with a rather incompetent secretary named Fred (Romney Brent). Expecting an extremely important new client from France, Dr. Mangold makes the mistake of sending Fred to the station to pick her up. Due to a mix-up about identities, Fred instead returns with a vixenish cabaret singer named Lulu (Frances Day). To add to the complications and misunderstandings, Fred's fiancée Mimi (Margaret Lockwood) sees him out with the beautiful singer and leaps to the conclusion that he is being unfaithful to her. At the same time, Mrs. Mangold (Betty Stockfield) assumes that her husband, the doctor, has also succumbed to Lulu's wiles. Matters are not made any better when Fred goes on a bender and somehow ends up in the same bed as Mrs. Mangold. Eventually, everything is cleared up and the couples reunite happily. The score features the minor hit "Moonlight and Music", and the character of the maid is played by Sarah Churchill, daughter of Winston Churchill and wife of Vic Oliver. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- 1936
In this tuneful and sentimental romance, a young architect from France falls in love with his employer's daughter. Unfortunately, she feels differently and marries another. The loss inspires him to quit his job and return to France where he becomes a wanderer. Eventually he encounters a beautiful gypsy and together they form a minstrel act. When she learns that he must return to England at summer's end, she is very sad. He too is sad, but he goes and discovers that the first woman didn't marry after all. He is happy until he sees that she is really an avaricious, conniving gold digger. Soon he is back in France with the good-hearted woman he has really come to love. A French version of this film was shot and released at the same time. Both are remakes of an earlier version. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Betty Stockfeld, (more)
- 1936
The Amateur Gentleman takes place in England during the Regency era. The hero is Barnaby Barty (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), an innkeeper's son. To prove his dad innocent of a crime, Barnaby poses as a famous bare-knuckle gentleman prizefighter. In this guise he gains access to the Royal court, and in short order falls in love with aristocratic Lady Cleone (Elissa Landi). He also discovers that Cleone's fiancé (Basil Sydney) is the man responsible for the crime for which his dad was blamed. Produced by Douglas Fairbanks Jr's own company in England, The Amateur Gentleman was based on a popular novel by Jeffrey Farnol. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Elissa Landi, (more)
- 1936
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
- Starring:
- Hartley Power, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
- 1936
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
- 1935
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
- 1935
The son must pay for the crimes of the father when art-dealer Samson frames the son of the man who ruined his career. Samson sets the boy up to take the blame for the theft of $2,500--taken from Samson's gallery safe. Doubly unfortunate for Samson, the son has an alibi in Samson's wife, who is having an affair with the boy. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Nissen, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
- 1935
Henry Oscar plays Gabriel Perry in this rusty-dusty British courtroom drama. Perry is the local justice-of-the peace; his wife is played by Olga Lindo. When Mrs. Perry discovers that Gabriel has committed murder, she can do nothing; after all, a wife cannot testify against her husband (or could not back in 1935). Margaret Lockwood, on the verge of stardom, shows up in a nondescript ingenue role. The Case of Gabriel Perry was adapted from Wild Justice, a play by James Dale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Based upon a book by I.A.R. Wylie that was previously filmed as Young Nowheres, Some Day is a simple romantic tale about love among the working class. In this case, that class is represented by Curley Blake (Esmond Knight) and Emily ( 19-year-old $Margaret Lockwood, later one of Britan's most popular film stars). Curley runs the elevator in an apartment house, while Emily is a cleaning girl, one of whose clients -- Mr. Canley (Henry Mollinson) -- lives in this building. They long to be married, but their pitifully low wages and dim hopes of improving their lots prevent them from tying the knot. Anxious to do something special for Emily, who has been to hospital, Curley decides to prepare a special dinner for her, using the flat of a tenant who is supposed to be away. Unfortunately, that tenant returns, irate at this unauthorized use of his apartment, and he and Curley fight. The elevator operator is charged with illegal entry, and things look black until Canley steps in and sets things right. The story was filmed again in 1937 as That Man's Here Again. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- 1935
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
- 1934
A man's love for his wife overcomes his hatred for the family that brought her up in this period romantic adventure. Jan Ridd (John Loder) is a farmer in 17th Century England who has sworn to take revenge upon the Doones, an outlaw family who have laid waste to much of the property in his part of the country and were responsible for the death of Ridd's father. Ridd meets a woman named Lorna (Victoria Hopper), and in time they fall in love and marry. However, Ridd learns that Lorna was kidnapped by the Doones as a child and raised among them; she is eventually taken into custody by the Court of St. James in hopes of reforming her from the influence of her delinquent "family," and Ridd must fight to free the woman he loves. This was the second screen adaptation of the novel by R.D. Blackmore, and the first in the sound era; two more films based on Lorna Doone would follow, in 1951 and 1990. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victoria Hopper, John Loder, (more)
