Michael Balcon Movies

Lynn has just received his inheritance--a stable of racehorses. The only problem is that his aunt, a staunch opponent to gambling in any form, is apoplectic at the thought of his owning the stable. She wants him to turn it into a home for working women. That's when then con men show up with a wrestling arena to sell. ~ Rovi

Gunrunners who even kill their enemies through the use of train wrecks are being trailed by Yankee detective Lowe and girlfriend Cummings. ~ Rovi

This classic British thriller was one of Alfred Hitchcock's first major international successes, and it introduced a number of the stylistic and thematic elements that became hallmarks of his later work. Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), a Canadian rancher on vacation in England, attends a music hall performance by "Mr. Memory" (Wylie Watson); in the midst of the show, shots ring out and Richard flees the theater. Moments later, a terrified woman (Lucie Mannheim) begs Richard to help her; back at his room, she tells him that she's a British spy whose life has been threatened by international agents waiting outside. Richard is certain that she's mad until she reappears at his door in the morning, near death with a knife in her back, a map in her hand, and muttering something about "39 Steps." Discovering that a group of thugs are indeed waiting outside, Richard slips away and takes the first train to the Scottish town on the dead woman's map. Richard learns that he's now wanted by the police for murder, and he must find a way to clear his name. He begins trying to do so with the help of a woman he meets en route, Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), who serves as his unwitting assistant, even after she tries to turn him in. The 39 Steps was later remade in 1959 and 1978 -- both without Hitchcock's participation. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

British comedy favorite Jack Hulbert is the sole raison d'etre for the existence of the raucous comedy Jack Ahoy. Hulbert plays lowly seaman Jack Ponsonby, who harbors an apparently hopeless love for admiral's daughter Patricia Frazer (Nancy O'Neil). Anxious to prove himself a hero in Patricia's eyes, Jack gets his chance when he does battle against a whole pack of Chinese river bandits. This slapstick climax is matched in silliness only by Hulbert's musical solo "My Hat's on the Side of My Head". Jack Ahoy was scripted by Sidney Gilliat and Leslie Arliss, both of whom quickly went on to bigger and better things. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Leslie Henson stars as Lord Pye, a pompous member in good standing of his local Purity League. Lord Pye would not be so complacently puritanical if he knew that his stepdaughter Benita (Frances Day), whom he has never met, is a saucy cabaret dancer. Briefly stranded in London when he misses his train, His Lordship wanders into the very nitery where his stepdaughter is performing. Still unaware of Benita's identity, he loosens up and begins outrageously (but harmlessly) flirting with the girl. Meanwhile, the new Lady Pye (Marie Lohr), Benita's mother, shows up in London unannounced to visit her daughter. Oh Daddy, indeed! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comedy, a wealthy businessman and his two workers begin scoping out Chinatown for new business opportunities. It is there he learns that his new wife's ex-husband is a blackmailing crook, preparing to victimize him. The businessman decides to destroy the crook before he destroys him. Comic mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This war movie is set on the high-seas during WWI. It chronicles the exploits of a brave English sailor who is captured by a German cruiser. The courageous sailor, the bastard of a RN officer, soon escapes from the German ship. He also steals a rifle. He hides on the shore and begins taking pot-shots at the Germans. Due to his marksmanship, the ship's journey is delayed. While the Germans are hunting for him, the British ships sneak up and sink the enemy boat. Unfortunately the brave sailor is killed. He becomes a hero and the British erect a cross on the highest point on the island to commemorate the young hero. The commander of the British ship is disturbed to discover that the dead hero was the son he denied having. This drama is considered to be a landmark British film; it is the first to utilize the actual Royal Navy and it's ships. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Aldwych Theater farceurs are at it again in Fighting Stock. The punning title refers to a well-stocked rural fishing stream, which sparks a battle royale between two rival groups of fishermen. Brigadier-General Sir Donald Rowley (Tom Walls) gets involved in the fray when he rents a country cottage with his nephew Sydney (Ralph Lynn). While the nephew pitches woo at the local maidens, General Rowley adopts military tactics to reclaim the stream from village squire Duck (J. Robertson Hare). The weapons deployed herein are slapstick, one-liners and outrageous double-takes. The script for Fighting Stock was penned by Aldwych perennial Ben Travers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

British musical comedy star Jack Hulbert plays an amateur sleuth who takes over for the "real" Bulldog Drummond (Atholl Fleming), who is sidelined by an injury. Hulbert's quarry is master criminal Ralph Richardson (who himself played Drummond in a 1934 film). To expedite his scheme to rob the British museum, Richardson kidnaps Hulbert's girl friend Fay Wray (who left Hollywood for England because she was sick of playing damsels in distress!) The film's thrilling conclusion finds Hulbert duking it out with Richardson near the electrified Third Rail of the London Subway. The US version of Bulldog Jack, re-titled Alias Bulldog Drummond, has all the film's comedy scenes removed--inexplicably, since Jack Hulbert is far more effective as a comic than a straight actor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director Dick Lester does an astute job of orchestrating several rock 'n roll and jazz performers in this musical drama oriented to the teen set, but worth watching for anyone who loves the music from this era. The thinly-laid plot centers on two teens in a small town, Helen and Craig (Helen Shapiro and Craig Douglas) who decide to rebel big-time when the stuffy mayor wants to ban jukeboxes, especially the one in the local café -- egad. So the daring duo make their way to a variety of recording studios to round up the likes of Terry Lightfoot and his New Orleans Jazz Band, Chubby Checker, Del Shannon, and many, many others. They want to put on a show that will convince the town and its mayor that this is great music -- audiences are likely to be already convinced. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The first film version of The Man Who Knew too Much proved to be the international "breakthrough" film for British director Alfred Hitchcock, transforming him from merely a talented domestic filmmaker to a worldwide household name. While vacationing in Switzerland, Britons Leslie Banks and Edna Best befriend jovial Frenchman Pierre Fresnay. Not long afterward, Fresnay is murdered. He whispers a secret in Banks' ear before expiring. This is witnessed by several sinister foreign agents, who kidnap Banks' daughter Nova Pilbeam to keep him from revealing what he knows: That a diplomat will be assassinated during a concert at London's Albert Hall. Unable to turn to the police, Banks desperately attempts to rescue his child himself, still hoping to prevent the assassination. The film's now-famous setpieces include the "Siege of Sidney Street" re-creation and the climactic clash of cymbals at Albert Hall, followed by the crucial scream of Edna Best. German film star Peter Lorre made his English-speaking debut in The Man Who Knew Too Much, though he was still monolingual in 1934 and had to learn his lines phonetically. Written by A. R. Rawlinson, Charles Bennett, D.B. Wyndham Lewis, Emlyn Williams and Edwin Greenwood (an impressive lineup for a 75-minute film!), Man Who Knew Too Much was remade by Hitchcock himself in 1956. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This story of espionage in World War I is based on a true story. Marthe McKenna (Madeleine Carroll) is a nurse from Belgium who uses her beauty and charm to serve her native land during the war. McKenna is able to ferret out secret information from German officers and pass it along to Allied intelligence officers with the help of fellow spy Stephan (Herbert Marshall). When the evil Commandant Oberaertz (Conrad Veidt) discovers what McKenna has been doing, she's sentenced to be executed, and Stephan must step in to save her. I Was a Spy was the first American sound feature for German actor Conrad Veidt, who electrified audiences with his performance in the silent classic Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari; Veidt left his homeland when the Nazis began their rise to power, though ironically he was to play a number of Nazi villains during his stay in Hollywood. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi