Margaret Rutherford Movies
Rutherford was a bulky, eccentric comedic supporting player of British films and plays. Following a number of years spent as a speech and piano teacher, she trained at the Old Vic and debuted onstage in 1925, when she was in her 30s; it was 1933 before she appeared in London. Rutherford began appearing in films in 1936 and went on to have a sporadically busy screen career through the late '60s, meanwhile continuing her illustrious stage career. She is best remembered as Miss Marple, the little old lady detective of Agatha Christie novels, in four films made in the '60s. For her work in The V.I.P.s (1963) she won a "Best Supporting Actress" Oscar. In 1967 Rutherford became a Dame of the British Empire. She was married to actor Stringer Davis, with whom she appeared in several films; one of their children was writer Gordon Langley Hall, who underwent a sex-change operation in 1968 and later wrote a biography of Rutherford under the name "Dawn Langley Hall." She wrote an autobiography, Margaret Rutherford (1972). ~ All Movie Guide- 1936
In this drama, a deliciously nasty villain endeavors to steal a successful shipping firm from an honest man. To get the company and gather information, the villain employs a talented mimic who begins dating the daughter of the company president. He succeeds and causes the president to take his own life to save his company. Later the villain tries to kill the mimic, but fortunately, the mimic survives, goes to the police, gets the crook arrested, and proves himself worthy of his lady's love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ricardo Cortez, Sally Eilers, (more)
- 1936
Although Neil Grant's stage play Dusty Ermine enjoyed a 250-performance run in London, screenwriters Du Garde Peach and Michael Hankinson could not resist the temptation to "improve" the play for its 1936 film version. Surprisingly, the film actually did turn out to be better than the play, no small thanks to its star, the ever-delightful Roland Young. The story concerns a master forger named Jim Kent (Young) and his equally larcenous nephew Gilbert (Arthur Macrae). Upon discovering that Gilbert has followed in his crooked footsteps, Jim determines that the boy shall turn honest, and to that end he takes the blame when Gilbert is arrested in the company of an international counterfeiting gang. But Gilbert has no intention of going straight and continues manufacturing "funny money." Realizing at long last that Jim is not the culprit -- after all, he's safely behind bars -- the police track down Gilbert, rescuing him from an Alpine avalanche and finally convincing him to pursue a less-risky occupation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Squire, Jane Baxter, (more)
- 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)
- 1937
A young woman, desiring to be wealthy, attempts to smuggle French jewels into America. When her boat docks, she is immediately caught by a US customs agent who convinces her to return the jewels to France. If she does that, he will not arrest her. Unfortunately, before she can get back she is accosted by three different groups of criminals who are all after the gems. One of the groups is headed by Pola, a Chicago gangster. He gets murdered. The film climaxes with a prolonged shoot-out aboard the ship. Justice prevails. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
British author W.W. Jacobs, whose love of the sea and seafarers permeated everything he wrote, was responsible for the story upon which Beauty and the Barge was based. Judy Gunn plays the headstrong daughter of an Army officer who runs away from home. She is later adopted by bargeman Gordon Harker. A very young Jack Hawkins portrays a handsome lieutenant (or "leff-tenant", if you prefer) who signs on as a common seaman on Harker's barge in hopes of winning Hawkins' love. Beauty and the Barge also features the unforgettable Margaret Rutherford, doing pretty much what she'd been still doing in movies nearly thirty years later-shamelessly stealing every scene she's in. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1941
The old reliable plot device known as premarital hanky-panky was the basis of the Esther McCracken stage play Quiet Wedding. The film version, scripted by Terence Rattigan and Anton de Grunewald, tones down some of the more censorable elements of the play, though not enough to completely mollify American censors. Margaret Lockwood stars as bride-to-be Janet Royd, who is driven crazy by the well-meaning interference of friends and family in the hours prior to her wedding. Sensing that she'll never have a moment alone with her fiance Dallas Chaytor (Derek Farr) even after they're married. Janet agrees to slip away with Dallas the night before the Big Event for a few hours of uninterrupted bliss. Nothing much really happens, at least not on screen, but the censors weren't able to blot out the gleam in the groom's eye-or the bride's, for that matter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Derek Farr, (more)
- 1941
Based on a stage play by M. J. Farrell and John Perry, Spring Meeting stars Enid-Stamp Taylor and Michael Wilding as Tiny and Tony Stamp-Collier, mother and son. Tiny is a wealthy British courtesan who hopes to arrange a profitable marriage for son Tony. The logical choice for a bride is beautiful but stuffy Joan Furze (played by Winston Churchill's daughter Sarah), but Tony insolently falls in love with Joan's fun-loving younger sister Baby (Nova Pilbeam). The film is stolen by Margaret Rutherford as an easily outraged maiden aunt and Henry Edwards as a miserly uncle. And in the tradition of British drawing-room comedies, the most admirable character in the story is family butler James (Basil Sydney), who solves everyone's problems just before the final-act curtain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Enid Stamp Taylor, Michael Wilding, Sr., (more)
- 1943
Demi-Paradise stars Laurence Olivier as a Russian inventor (accent and all). In Europe to promote his new propeller device, Olivier is put off by English customs and manners-or, rather, the lack of the latter. No one in 1939 England trusts a foreigner, least of all one of those shifty "Reds", but when Russia and England become allies against the Nazis, the previously persona non grata Olivier is welcomed with open arms. Penelope Dudley Ward co-stars as Olivier's previously suspicious landlady, who ends up falling in love with him. Demi-Paradise was made before the comic quaintness that afflicted Olivier's later performances set in, thus his Russian portrayal is straightforward and most convincing. The film was released in the US as Adventure for Two. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Olivier, Marjorie Fielding, (more)
- 1944
The Yellow Canary was one of several wartime collaborations between British producer-director Herbert Wilcox and Hollywood's RKO Radio Pictures. The film stars Wilcox's wife Anna Neagle as pretty aristocrat Sally Maitland. Having alienated many of her friends with her prewar Nazi sympathies, Sally continues hobnobbing with the Third Reich once war has been declared. Actually, her pro-German activities are a sham; she's actually working hand and glove with the British government to smash an Axis spy ring in Canada. Along for the ride is British intelligence officer Jim Garrick (Richard Greene), who ultimately falls in love with Sally. There's a "mystery" angle to the plotline of The Yellow Canary, but it is largely ignored when the story takes a melodramatic turn in the last few reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Neagle, Richard Greene, (more)
- 1944
English without Tears is a gentle satire of the temporary relaxation of class barriers in wartime England. Michael Wilding portrays the faithful family butler to a fabulously wealthy household. Each member of the family greets the news of upcoming world conflict with a different reaction, the most altruistic of which is that of the daughter (Penelope Dudley Ward), who joins the home service. When the butler rises to the army rank of lieutenant, the daughter sees him in a whole new light and falls in love with her onetime employee. There's little in this frivolous film that hasn't been done elsewhere, except perhaps for the opening-scene romantic complications in Geneva, which set the stage for the film's finale. English without Tears was released in the US in 1948 as Her Man Gilbey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Wilding, Sr., Lilli Palmer, (more)
The Noel Coward/David Lean combination which turned out such dramas as Brief Encounter and This Happy Breed sets its sights on the viewer's funny bone with Blithe Spirit. Rex Harrison plays a novelist, newly married to straight-laced Constance Cummings. Via a seance, Harrison accidentally summons the spirit of his first wife, Kay Hammond. Believing that Hammond wants to ruin his marriage, Harrison enlists the services of local medium Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford) to exorcise Hammond's spirit. She fails, and in time, Harrison's second wife is killed; now he has two playful spirits on his hands! Technicolor is used throughout Blithe Spirit, with the ghosts' shimmering paleness providing contrast to the plain, everyday colors of Harrison's conservative country home. Blithe Spirit was later transformed into the Broadway musical High Spirits, with the original script bent out of shape to turn the character of Madame Arcati (played by Beatrice Lillie) into the leading role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, (more)
- 1947
This romantic comedy is set in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. It tells the story of a professional duelist who is hired by politicians to insult and challenge an important senator. He does this by pretending to have a tiff over a young woman whose father runs the local newspaper. Having no idea that it his daughter who is the bone-of-contention in the duel, he dubs the woman "Madame X. " In the end, the duelist and the girl fall in love, but now he must duel with her father, whom he accidentally insulted. To save his honor, and his life, the hero allows the father to nick him during the contest. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Eythe, Stanley Holloway, (more)
- 1947
Director Anthony Asquith's first postwar effort, While the Sun Shines was based on a play by frequent Asquith collaborator Terence Rattigan. Set in WW2 London, the story revolves around Lady Elizabeth Randall (Barbara White), who is serving her country as an Air Force corporal. While en route to her marriage to the Earl of Harpenden (Ronald Howard, in his screen debut), Lady Elizabeth is wooed a French expatriate named Colbert (Michael Allen) and American lieutenant Joe Mulvaney (the inevitable Bonar Colleano). The resulting series of sexual misunderstandings puts Lady Elizabeth's military career-not to mention her impending marriage-in dire jeopardy. A harmless romantic farce, While the Sun Shines is generally out of favor with Anthony Asquith's many adherents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara White, Ronald Squire, (more)
- 1948
Based on the play by Peter Blackmore, Miranda was the first of two British comedies starring Glynis Johns as a mischievous mermaid. Rescued from a watery grave by the finny-tailed Miranda (Johns), handsome doctor Paul Marten (Griffith Jones) agrees under durress to take his lovely rescuer to London. Hiding her scaly lower extremities with a blanket, Miranda pretends to be a patient in Paul's clinic, much to the discomfort of his jealous spouse Clare (Googie Withers). Along the way, two eligible bachelors (David Tomlinson and John McCallum) fall in love with Miranda-and are they in for a surprise! The irreplaceable Margaret Rutherford is a riot as Miranda's befuddled nurse. Incidentally, David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns were reteamed in 1964 as Mr. and Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynis Johns, Googie Withers, (more)
- 1949
Based on a play by Pepine de Felipe, Her Favorite Husband is a British comedy set in Italy. Housewife Jean Kent is bemused by her husband Robert Beatty, who is not quite himself these days. In truth, he is not himself at all: Jean's husband has been replaced by a lookalike gangster who is plotting a big bank robbery. Once she tumbles to the truth, Kent is alternately repulsed and fascinated by her "new" spouse. Not exactly Shakespeare, Her Favorite Husband is a genial romp distinguished by a sizeable supporting cast of familiar British players. The film was released in the U.S. as The Taming of Dorothy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Kent, Robert Beatty, (more)
- 1949
Passport to Pimlico is one of the most charmingly whimsical Ealing Studios comedies of the late 1940s-early 1950s. As a result of wartime bombing, an ancient parchment is uncovered, proving that the Pimlico section of London belongs to Burgundy, France. Long taken for granted by other Londoners, the tiny Pimlico populace decides to take advantage of its "foreign" status. Affable oaf Stanley Holloway is made head of the new government, whereupon he merrily begins erecting borders and imposing customs duties. The sweetly satirical script of Passport to Pimlico was written by director Henry Cornelius and Ealing stalwart T.E.B. Clarke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Holloway, Betty Warren, (more)
- 1950
A battle of the sexes begins to rage in an isolated private school in this charming British comedy. Just outside of London during World War II, Axis bombing forces the evacuation of a private all-girls school, St. Swithins. Thanks to a bureaucratic mix-up, the girls of St. Swithins and their Headmistress Muriel Whitchurch (Margaret Rutherford) are to be billeted at the nearby Nutborne Boys School. While the students learn to make do with the crowded conditions, Nutborne headmaster Wetherby Pond (Alistair Sim) is less than pleased with the situation, especially after he and Whitchurch begin butting heads over which of them is truly in charge. The Happiest Days Of Your Life was based on a popular stage comedy by playwright John Dighton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Margaret Rutherford, (more)
- 1951
The Magic Box was the English film industry's contribution to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Its all-star cast generously forsook their usual salaries for the privilege of paying tribute to that unsung pioneer of cinema, William Friese-Greene, here played by Robert Donat. Adapted by Eric Ambler from the controversial biography by Ray Allister, Magic Box contends that Friese-Greene was the true father of motion pictures, and not such upstarts as W. K. L. Dickson and Thomas Edison. Told in flashback, the film details Friese-Greene's tireless experiments with the "moving image," leading inexorably to a series of failures and disappoints, as others hog the credit for the protagonist's discoveries. The huge cast includes such British film luminaries as Joyce Grenfell, Miles Malleson, Michael Redgrave, Eric Portman, Emlyn Williams, Richard Attenborough, Peter Ustinov, Cecil Parker, Kay Walsh, and, best of all, Laurence Olivier as the confused bobby who witnesses Friese-Greene's first motion picture demonstration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Donat, Margaret Johnston, (more)
- 1952
Most of this hectic British comedy takes place in an ancient Scottish castle. The British National Coal Board, following a real-life policy established in the 1940s, wants to annex the castle as a group home for the local miners and their families. Wealthy, much-married American Mrs. Clodfelter Dunne (Barbara Kelly) wants to claim the castle--and its owner, the Earl of Locharne (David Tomlinson)--for herself. Meanwhile, eccentric boarder Miss Nicholson (Margaret Rutherford) is possessed with the notion that the Earl is actually the rightful King of Scotland. The film's deus-ex-machina is a beautiful ghost, played by Patricia Dainton. With all this going on, it is easy to ignore the antiseptic romantic subplot involving Tomlinson and Helen Cherry. Castles in the Air was based on the popular stage play by Alan Melville. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Tomlinson, Helen Cherry, (more)
- 1952
The world of provincial British theatre is given a gentle going over in Curtain Up. Short of funds, a small-town repertory troupe is forced to bow to the whims of wealthy Catherine (Margaret Rutherford), the aunt of the theatre's manager. When Catherine writes a perfectly dreadful play, the actors are compelled to stage the "masterpiece," with hilarious results. Matching Margaret Rutherford scowl for scowl and double-take for double-take is Robert Morley as the troupe's pompous director. The delectable Kay Kendall provides a few sublime moments as the velvet-voiced leading lady. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Morley, Margaret Rutherford, (more)
- 1952
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Anthony Asquith's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's witty play of mistaken identities stars Michael Redgrave as rich bachelor Jack Worthing. Jack's friend is Algernon Moncrieft (Michael Denison), a poor bloke living on credit. Jack refers mysteriously to Algernon about his country retreat, which drives Algernon to distraction, trying to figure out where Jack goes on the weekends. Jack is also in love with Algernon's attractive cousin Gwendolen (Joan Greenwood). He also has a ward, Cecily Cardew (Dorothy Tutin), who lives at the country estate and studies with local spinster Miss Prism (Margaret Rutherford). When Algernon learns of Cecily, he arrives at the country home claiming to be Jack's brother Earnest, knowing Jack had previously regaled Cecily with tales of having to bail the fictitious Earnest out of scrapes so he could sneak out to the city. Having set her eyes on "Earnest" in the flesh after having heard countless tales of his intrigues, Cecily immediately falls in love with Earnest. Meanwhile, Jack comes back to the country dressed in black, determined to announce to the group the demise of the fictional Earnest. As a result, Jack is stupefied when he sees Earnest standing in front of him. Meanwhile, Algernon's aunt, Lady Bracknell (Edith Evans) refuses to grant permission for Jack and Gwendolen's engagement. However, when Lady Bracknell finds out that Algernon is in love with Cecily, she asks Jack for his blessing on their marriage. Of course, Jack won't give his blessing until Lady Bracknell gives her blessing to his proposed marriage to Gwendolen. All is at a standstill until Lady Bracknell recognizes Miss Prism as a governess from the past who holds secrets concerning both Jack and Algernon. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Redgrave, Edith Evans, (more)
- 1952
In this whimsical fantasy, a mild-mannered writer of wild adventure novels for young girls finds himself presented with an intriguing proposition from an elderly fan. She suggests that they conspire together to steal the whiskey formula from the distillers who took it from her family many years ago. They do so, and with the recipe find themselves receiving many partnership offers from distillery's. The writer's partner then insures that he has plenty of young fans to inspire him to keep on writing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Innocents in Paris is a series of anecdotes bundled together by geography. First we see the efforts by British diplomat Alastair Sim to loosen up Soviet-agent Peter Illing long enough to forge an economic plan between Russia and England. Then we watch as dotty artist Margaret Rutherford purchases a copy of the Mona Lisa. Next we see British officer Jimmy Edwards go off on a toot in a Parisian bistro. The next vignette involves impressionable Claire Bloom, who is swept off her feet by a local rake (the human variety, not the garden implement). And so it goes for 102 minutes in the British version of Innocents in Paris, and 93 minutes in the American print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, (more)
Ebullient British music-hall comedian Norman Wisdom made his movie debut in Trouble in Store. The scene is a large department store, where the bumbling Norman (Wisdom) has somehow landed a clerical job. The rest of the film is a series of slapstick catastrophes, some hilarious, others less so. Along the way, Norman saves the store from falling into the clutches of gangsters -- and wins the heroine besides. Wisdom's perennial straight-man Jerry Desmonde has a meaty role, as do British film-faves Margaret Rutherford and Moira Lister. Evidently this film meant a great deal to Norman Wisdom, for in 1992 he titled his autobiography Trouble in Store. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norman Wisdom, Margaret Rutherford, (more)
