Margaret Vyner Movies

The producers of Quartet and Trio concluded their cycle with this omnibus film, which features three stories based, as in the previous film, on tales by W. Somerset Maugham. "The Ant and the Grasshopper" concerns Tom Ramsey (Nigel Patrick), a fiscally unstable young man who is constantly borrowing money from his brother George (Roland Culver). Eventually, George falls on hard times and is forced to sell the family estate, just as Tom marries a wealthy woman and is in a position to purchase it. In "Winter Cruise," Miss Reid (Kay Walsh) is an aging spinster taking a voyage aboard a cargo ship. She has little to do but engage the others on board in conversation, which the passengers find so annoying that they arrange a ship-board romance for her with Pierre (Jacques Francois), a porter, in the hopes that it will keep her quiet. And "Gigolo and Gigolette" features Glynis Johns as Stella Cotman, whose husband Syd (Terence Morgan) earns his living as a performer in a high-wire act. Stella is terribly worried that Syd's risky profession will lead to his death, so she takes their life's savings to a casino in hopes of winning enough that he can retire. However, her plan hardly goes as she hoped. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an amnesiac gardener, who lost his memory after he was buried alive during WW I, works for a wealthy man whose son is about to marry an actress. When he is accused of stealing, the honest gardener becomes so upset that his memory returns. He then remembers that he is a wealthy military officer. He also realizes that the actress is none other than his own daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Monica Dickens' novel One Pair of Feet was the source of the sociological drama The Lamp Still Burns. Like the original novel, the film is a plea for better conditions in English hospitals-and, more specifically, for better treatment of England's selfless nurses. Rosamund John is a tower of strength as Hilary Clarke, a young woman who sacrifices all in pursuit of a nursing career. The many trials and tribulations facing Hilary in her daily work are amplified in wartime, when she and her colleagues are forced to work under appalling conditions in air raid shelters, subway cars and amidst the rubble of bombed-out buildings. The Lamp Still Burns was produced by actor Leslie Howard, who was killed in the service of his country not long after the film was released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally released in England in 1941 as This Man is Dangerous, The Patient Vanishes was distributed in the US in 1947 to capitalize on the burgeoning popularity of James Mason. The story concerns the friendly rivalry between private detective Mick Cardby (Mason) and his father, Scotland Yard inspector Cardby (Gordon McLeod). Both father and son work shoulder to shoulder to rescue the kidnapped daughter (Barbara James) of a wealthy industrialist. In "Bulldog Drummond" fashion, the girl had been abducted while a patient at a somewhat shady hospital, leading the detectives to interrogate several suspicious-looking medical types. What romance there is can be found in the bantering relationship between Mick Cardby and his secretary Mollie (Margaret Vyner). Though no evidence exists to support this theory, it's possible that The Patient Vanishes had been intended as the first in a series of "Ellery Queen"-style mysteries starring Mason and McLeod. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The irrepressible Jessie Matthews heads the cast of the buoyant musical Sailing Along. Matthews plays Kay Martin, a popular British music-hall performer. At the height of her stardom, Kay gives it all up for the love of handsome Steve Barnes (Barry McKay). But before she makes this momentous decision, the audience is treated to three lively tunes: "My River", "Your Heart Skips a Beat" and "Trusting My Luck". Sailing Along was directed by Sonnie Hale, who from 1931 to 1944 was the husband of star Matthews; the film was also the last of the Hale-Matthews collaborations under the Gaumont-British banner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When his Hollywood starring career dried up in the mid-1930s, matinee idol Charles Farrell headed to England, where he played newspaper reporter Brian Gaunt in the fast-paced meller Midnight Menace. The storyline acknowledges the fact that Television was firmly established in England in 1937, with the BBC beaming out programs on a regular schedule. On this occasion, however, a TV device is being used for nefarious purposes by a gang of foreign munitions manufacturers, operating out of a stationery shop in Soho. Head villain Peters (Fritz Kortner) intends to destroy a London disarmament conference in a midnight air raid, all the while posing as the head of a pacifistic organization. The fearless Brian Gaunt gets wind of this scheme and races against time to avert disaster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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