Googie Withers Movies

Accused is a British melodrama starring American actor (and confirmed Anglophile) Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Somewhat incongruously cast as an Apache dancer, Fairbanks and his dance partner/wife Dolores Del Rio headline a Paris musical. Fairbanks becomes the unwilling target for the attentions of performer Florence Desmond (the famed British impressionist, here playing a hateful adventuress). Desmond is later murdered with the dagger used by Fairbanks and his wife in their act, and Dolores is accused of the crime. A florid court trial unmasks the real killer. Zoe Akins, a prominent playwright of the 1920s whose once-celebrated works seem somewhat childish today, was one of the scenarists of Accused. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a bland clerk gets a small wad of cash from an inheritance, he throws all caution to the wind. He quits his job, leaves home, and takes a incredible cruise at sea. Assuming the role of a writer, he attracts women to him on the ship, but his capers also start to attract trouble. ~ All Movie Guide

Though the title might suggest that Bulldog Sees it Through is another entry in the never-ending "Bulldog Drummond" series, this British programmer is instead a comedy-melodrama vehicle for song-and-dance- man Jack Buchanan. Our hero plays the butler to aviator Sebastian Shaw. Smarting over losing his girlfriend to another man, Shaw enlists the aid of Buchanan in proving that his rival in love is a saboteur. Since Buchanan is a British secret agent, the assignment is right up his alley. Bulldog Sees it Through is based on Scissors Cut Paper, a novel by Gerald Fairlie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Australian drama has been adapted from Chekov's Uncle Vanya. It is set in post WW I Australia at a time when the Aussies were getting ready to break away from England. After his father's death, Jack Dickens sacrificed his literary aspirations to run the family farm. He lives in the old farm house with his aged mother and his plain, soft-spoken niece Sally, who was abandoned by her father Alexander Voysey after her mother, Jack's sister, passed away. Sally suffers unrequited love for Max Askey, the local doctor. Jack sends monthly payments to his brother-law Alexander, an aspiring London literary critic. After secretly dishonoring himself in London, Alexander returns to Australia with his lovely and much younger wife, Deborah. Alexander is a wind-bag and it is plain that Deborah is unhappily married. Jack and the doctor are attracted by the comely woman and vie for her attention at the expense of long suffering and ignored Sally. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Having a great deal in common with the plots of later film noir classics, Crown Vs. Stevens was one of five films that Michael Powell directed for producer Irving Asher. Ex-dancer and femme fatale Doris Stevens, in need of money to pay off a loan shark, has married wealthy Arthur Stevens only to discover that he refuses to part with any of his money. Meanwhile, Chris Jensen, an employee of Mr. Stevens', finds himself in some financial difficulties involving an unpaid-for ring. When he visits a pawnbroker, he sees Doris leaving the premises -- and finds the pawnbroker dead. She denies any wrong-doing and uses her wiles to convince him that it would be in both their interests if he did not tell anyone about this. He goes along with her, but when he later learns that Mr. Stevens has suddenly taken ill, he suspects that she may be trying to kill her husband to collect on his insurance. Jensen hurries to his employer's house, hoping to avert another murder. Crown's screenplay was by the prolific Brock Williams, who had earlier worked with Powell on three earlier "quota quickies." ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Dead Men are Dangerous stars Robert Newton as a shabby, unsuccessful writer. Newton is of the opinion that he might improve his chances of selling his work if only he could acquire a better wardrobe. As luck would have it, he stumbles across the immaculately attired corpse of a wealthy man. Newton swiftly switches clothes with the dead man--only to be accused of murder. Released in the US by Monogram, the British Dead Men are Dangerous was based on the H.C. Armstrong novel Hidden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Derby Day is a typically British omnibus feature, delineating the fates of several different people during a single day at the racetrack. Peter Graves (not the American actor of the same name) plays a superficial movie star who has been won in a fan-magazine raffle by housemaid Suzanne Cloutier. Michael Wilding and Anna Neagle play a pair of disconsolates who have recently lost their respective mates in a plane crash. And Googie Withers and John McCallum (who were married in real life) portray a furtive couple whose horrible secret is revealed when they head to the window to collect their winnings. Though we count at least six principle characters in Derby Day, the film was released in the US as Four Against Fate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made for British television, this is a black comedy/drama concerning the exploits of five elderly people whose friendship during one long Christmas holiday is sorely tested. The film features a notable cast of distinguished performers from stage and film. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1929 as S.O.S. (also the title of the Walter Ellis play that is its basis), Her Last Affaire switches the sexes of its leading characters so that the protagonist is now a male, Alan Heriot (Hugh Williams). Heriot is the secretary to Sir Julian Weyre (Francis L. Sullivan) a politician of increasing power and influence; he also has designs on Weyre's daughter (Sophie Stewart), and wishes to marry her. Weyre and his new wife, Lady Avril (Viola Keats), are against the marriage, primarily because Heriot's father was involved in a criminal scandal. As the film unfolds, the viewer comes to doubt the sincerity of Heriot's affection toward the boss' daughter, for he arranges a suspicious assignation at a country inn with Lady Avril. Eventually, however, it becomes clear that he has done so because he knows Lady Avril has information that could clear his family's name, and he is attempting to force her to sign a document to that effect. Unfortunately, while he is trying to persuade her, Lady Avril suffers a heart attack and dies. Panicking, Heriot flees and thus becomes the prime suspect in what is declared to be a murder. With motive and without a valid alibi, things look bleak for the young man, who comes to rely upon a maid at the inn to help him out of this difficult situation. Thought lost for many years, the film was rediscovered and restored in the 1980s. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Barbara Mullen stars as Jeannie, a spirited Scots girl who comes into an inheritance. She heads for her family castle after encountering numerous adventures on a Continental holiday. Jeannie also finds romance in the form of handsome washing machine salesman Stewart Granger, who wins out over the romantic overtures of gigolo Albert Lieven. Based on a play by Aimee Stewart, Jeannie overcame its attenuated budget with a plethora of good cheer, enabling the film to garner good reviews on both sides of the Atlantic (in America, the film was retitled Girl in Distress). The story was musicalized for its 1957 remake, Let's Be Happy, in which the heroine (Vera-Ellen) was changed into an American girl who comes to Scotland, rather than using the Highlands as a starting point. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, an aristocratic fellow encounters opposition from his mother after he falls in love with a lowly waitress. To stop the affair, the meddlesome matriarch gets the girl fired, and then tries bribing her father into helping her bust up the happy couple. Unfortunately, the woman's wealth and power do not interest the simple stevedore. He cares only for his daughter's happiness and therefore helps them in every way he can. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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