Jack Buchanan Movies
Scottish-born entertainer Jack Buchanan became caught up in amateur theatricals while he was a London office worker. He made his stage bow in 1911, and his London theatre debut in 1912, but full stardom would have to wait until his long run (beginning in 1915) in the play Tonight's the Night. He entered films with 1917's Auld Lang Syne, playing the sort of sticklike hero that any lesser actor could have portrayed. Buchanan's true celebrity rested on his stage work, notably 1921's Charlot A-Z Revue. The early-talkie hunger for cultured British voices brought Buchanan to Hollywood in 1929, where he appeared opposite Irene Bordoni in Paris (1929), Jeanette MacDonald in Monte Carlo (1930), and just about the entire Warner Bros. contract roster in The Show of Shows (1929). These early films reveal Buchanan to be a dry, debonair tie-and-tail type not far removed from the stage persona of Clifton Webb or Fred Astaire - except that Buchanan's charm did not transfer as well to the screen. Back in England, Buchanan tackled his first directing job with Yes Mr. Brown (1931) and in 1933 he built the Leicester Square Theatre. Relaxing sufficiently before the cameras to become an agreeable screen personality, Buchanan starred in the 1934 British production of Brewster's Millions, and costarred with Maurice Chevalier, whose style was similar to Buchanan's, in Break the News (1937). American film audiences did not see Buchanan again until 1953, when he was cast as the impresario Cordova in the Fred Astaire vehicle The Band Wagon (1953). Among the treasured musical moments in this delightful film was Triplets, wherein the Astaire, Buchanan and Nanette Fabray were decked out in baby bonnets. It would be nice to record Band Wagon as Buchanan's final appearance before his death in 1957; alas, Buchanan was subsequently and unhappily cast in the misfire farce Le Carnets Du Major Thompson, a.k.a. The French They Are a Funny Race (1957) - also the swan song of once-great director Preston Sturges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1956
Les Carnets du Major Thompson was the final film effort of producer-director-writer Preston Sturges. Once a Hollywood wunderkind of the 1940s, Sturges had fallen on hard times in the 1950s, and was forced to finance and film his last picture in France. Jack Buchanan plays the title character, a crusty, middle-aged British widow who falls in love with, then marries, alluring Frenchwoman Martine (Martine Carol). The scandal of near-international dimensions erupts, culminating in a comic contretemps over whether Major and Mrs. Thompson's child will be brought up as a proper Englishman or a "swinging" Frenchman. Sturges struggles manfully to recapture the satiric spirit of his earlier classics (The Palm Beach Story, Miracle of Morgan's Creek et. al.), but it is clear that he has lost his touch. Les Carnets du Major Thompson is better known by its American title, The French They are a Funny Race. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martine Carol, Jack Buchanan, (more)
- 1955
Not quite a full-fledged musical, As Long as They're Happy can be described as a romantic comedy with song-and-dance interludes. Adapted from the London stage hit of the same name, the film stars Jack Buchanan as stockbroker John Bentley, whose household is thrown into a tizzy when popular singing star Bobby Denver (Jerry Wayne) visits his home. Bentley's three daughters Gwen (Janette Scott), Pat (Jeannie Carson) and Corinne (Susan Stephen) are immediately smitten by Bobby, though each reacts to his presence in a different manner. Mrs. Bentley (Brenda de Banzie), hoping to loosen up her staid hubby, pretends to be likewise enamored with the singer. The film did the most amount of good for recording artist Jeannie Carson, who landed her own American TV sitcom as a result of her appearance herein. Also well cast in As Long as They're Happy are sex-symbol Diana Dors in an extended cameo role, and "Carry On" regular Joan Sims as a comic maid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Janette Scott, (more)
- 1955
In this romantic comedy, a womanizing uncle tells the story of his good-hearted but fickle niece, whose tendency to always champion the underdog causes her endless romantic woes. It all begins when she breaks up with her fiance on the eve of their wedding so she can marry and help out a half-starved aspiring playwright. With her moral support and his talent, the playwright makes it big. Unfortunately, her old fiance shows up. He has lost his fortune and must flee the police. The tender-hearted lass, unable to resist a hard-luck story, then falls for her former love until he is proven innocent. It is at that point that the niece chooses her man once and for all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynis Johns, Jack Buchanan, (more)
One of the most subtle and sophisticated of the musical comedies that came out of MGM's Arthur Freed Unit in the '40s and '50s, The Band Wagon stars Fred Astaire as Tony Hunter, a movie star whose career is in a downturn. Looking for a boost, Tony decides to try starring in a Broadway musical. His friends Lester and Lily Marton (Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray) have written a show they feel would be just right for Tony, and the three team up with Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), a self-styled "genius" director, who gets the idea to turn the play into a revised version of Faust. Cordova's more pretentious ideas don't always sit well with the Martons, and Tony isn't too happy with his leggy co-star, Gaby Gerard (Cyd Charisse), whom he's convinced is too tall (then again, she thinks he's too old). But when the show proves a disaster in out-of-town tryouts, everyone realizes they have to put aside their differences if they want a show that will be on Broadway for longer than four hours. The Band Wagon featured a rare American appearance for British musical star Jack Buchanan, who does a fine soft-shoe with Fred Astaire on "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan." Astaire also shines in the numbers "Shine on Your Shoes" and "The Girl Hunt," a witty Mickey Spillane parody. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, (more)
- 1943
A wealthy, doting father becomes the Broadway producer of a new show in hopes of fulfilling his daughter's aspirations to become a dramatic thespian in this comedy. Unfortunately the pretentiously serious play he chooses is such a stinker that it becomes a hit with the audience who perceives it to be a hilarious comedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
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
- 1939
In this comedy, a battleship captain has a large party to celebrate their next voyage and is dismayed to find that two glamorous women are still aboard after they set sail and cannot turn back. To protect them, and himself, he hides the unwilling stowaways in his quarters. Unfortunately, they are too soon discovered and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1939
What a combination! Break the News boasted the talents of English stage star Jack Buchanan, French entertainer Maurice Chevalier, legendary director Rene Clair, and songwriter Cole Porter. But what should have made for dynamite entertainment, fizzled in the eyes of disappointed contemporary reviewers. Buchanan and Chevalier play a song and dance team that is getting nowhere fast. In an effort to jump-start their flagging careers, the two dream up an elaborate scheme that begins when Buchanan 'mysteriously' vanishes. Soon afterward Chevalier turns himself in, claiming that he killed his partner, fully aware that Buchanan is actually hiding out in a Balkan village and will magically reappear at the crucial moment. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the jailed Chevalier, poor Buchanan has been captured by revolutionaries who have mistaken him for an enemy general. Will he escape in time to save Chevalier from final justice? The film's source material, a novel by Loic de Gouriadic, has been re-filmed several times, most recently as The Art of Love (65) with James Garner and Dick Van Dyke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Jack Buchanan, (more)
- 1939
Dapper musical comedy favorite Jack Buchanan is practically the whole show in The Gang's All Here. Buchanan plays John Forrest, top investigator for the Stamford Insurance Company. Retiring from the firm, Forrest intends to devote the rest of his life to writing detective fiction, but this plan goes out the window when his former employers are robbed of $1,000,000 in jewels belonging to foreign potentate Prince Homouska (Walter Rilla). With the help of his befuddled brother Treadwell (Edward Everett Horton), Forrest follows the trail of clues to American gangster boss Alberni (Jack LaRue), capturing his quarry with a variety of slapsticky subterfuges. Released in the US by PRC Pictures, The Gang's All Here remains one of Jack Buchanan's best-loved vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Googie Withers, (more)
- 1937
In this detective comedy, set in London, an intrepid detective and his wife must discover the criminals behind a series of jewel heists. The two follow the robbers' trail to a barber shop that is the front for a jewel fencing operation. To check it out, the detective literally sticks his neck out and goes in for a shave. It is very nearly his last, but he is saved before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Elsie Randolph, (more)
- 1937
Star Jack Buchanan shared directorial credit with cinematographer Lee Garmes for the breezy British musical comedy The Sky's the Limit. Buchanan and opera star Mara Loseff star as bankrupt couturier Dave Harber and his equally cash-less partner Mme. Isobella. With the spring season approaching, our hero and heroine desperately search for a dress designer who will save their business from ruin. Their prize catch is Teddy Carson (David Hutcheson), who turns out to be more trouble than he's worth. Though the plot is as thin as gossamer, Jack Buchanan carries the picture on sheer charm power. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan
- 1937
In this happy musical, two business partners find themselves in all sorts of romantic trouble. One of them is planning to marry his secretary, and the other, who is engaged to an aristocrat, advises him to fire her before proposing. The fellow does, but unfortunately, the distraught secretary, not knowing why she was released, attempts to drown herself in a river. Fortunately the other partner rescues her and takes her back to his apartment to warm up. He begins pouring brandy down her and she gets uproariously drunk. He then takes her to a high-society party where the woman's behavior is so outrageous that her escort's fiancee walks out. In the end, the man ends up proposing to her and happiness somehow ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1936
Adapted from a popular West End stage musical, This'll Make You Whistle has been refashioned as a suitable vehicle for Jack Buchanan. Surprisingly, all of the music has been excised from the film version, denying Buchanan the opportunity to display his considerable singing and dancing skills. No matter: the star is in fine fettle, cast as a playboy who's trying to ditch the blue-nosed guardian of his fiancee (Bobbie Rivers). Somehow this requires our hero to pose as a notorious forger, a masquerade he pulls off all too well. This'll Make You Whistle takes place on the French Riviera, which looks suspiciously like a British seaside resort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Elsie Randolph, (more)
- 1936
After several years in India, Sir Guy De Vere (Jack Buchanan) returns to England where he has inherited his ancestral castle. His snobbish relatives, already disgusted by Sir Guy's cheek irreverence (and his insistence upon chumming around with the "common folk"), plot to wrest control of the estate from him. Among his detractors is his beautiful cousin Lady Rowena (Fay Wray), who yearns for the days of Chivalry, when noblemen behaved like noblemen. After several misfire efforts to prove that he can be as chivalrous as the next fellow, Sir Guy is rendered unconscious by a falling suit-of-armor -- and when he awakens, he finds himself back in the 15th century, "when knights were bold." Naturally, all of his relatives have also been thrust back in time, at which point the film becomes a farcical (and tune-filled) derivation of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, with Sir Guy proving that chivalry ain't all it's cracked up to be. When Knights Were Bold was based on a stage play by Douglas Furber and Austin Parker, and was photographed by future Oscar-winner Freddie Young. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Fay Wray, (more)
- 1935
Brewster's Millions was the fourth film version (and first talkie adaptation) of the war-horse Winchell Smith/Byron Ongley play. This being a British film, it's only logical that popular British musical comedy star Jack Buchanan should portray hero Jack Brewster. Once more, Brewster will inherit his uncle's huge estate only if he's able to spend one million pounds within two months. Our hero invests in several "lost cause" stocks and businesses, only to suffer as each one of his investments makes money. A last-act surprise enables Brewster to come out on top--and to claim as his bride the lovely Nancy O'Neil, who would love him even if he were broke. Brewster's Millions would be remade three more times over the next five decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Lili Damita, (more)
- 1935
Alice Duer Miller's 1921 play Come out of the Kitchen was filmed during the silent era with Marguerite Clark, then musicalized (and Americanized) by Paramount in 1930 as Honey with Nancy Carroll. A second musical version, with brand-new songs, surfaced five years later as Come Out of the Pantry. Flat broke thanks to a series of bad business decisions, Lord Robert Brent (Jack Buchanan) wanders through New York's Central Park, wondering where his next meal is coming from. Here he meets his former butler Eccles (Ronald Squire), who suggests that Lord Brent take a footman's job at the home of millionaire Mr. Beach-Howard (James Carew). This he does, and it isn't long before Lord B. falls in love with Beach-Howard's gorgeous niece Hilda (Fay Wray). The winning Jack Buchanan-Fay Wray combination, which contributed so much to the 1935 comedy thriller Bulldog Jack, is equally effective in this more sentimental effort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Fay Wray, (more)
- 1933
Dapper song-and-dance man Jack Buchanan was both star and director of That's a Good Girl. Hoping to replenish his bank account, Jack Barrows (Buchanan) tries to marry his female cousin off to a wealthy American. This plan is sidetracked when Barrows, wandering backstage at the Milan opera house, is mistaken for a chorus singer and forced onstage, starting an altogether new plot tangent. None of this nonsense dissuades lady detective Joy Dean (Elsie Randolph) from tracking down Barrows on behalf of his creditors. That's a Good Girl is the film version of a popular stage musical which also teamed Jack Buchanan with Elsie Randolph. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Elsie Randolph, (more)
- 1933
This British musical comedy is based on a German play and tells the story of Nicholas Baumann, an ambitious representative of a US company who plies his trade in his native Vienna. When he learns that his American employer, Mr. Brown, is coming to Vienna, Baumann hopes that he will become a partner in the successful company. Just before he comes, Baumann and his wife have a big fight and she leaves him. He then recruits his secretary, Anne Weber, to pose as his wife. Naturally, that is a big mistake and mayhem ensues. In the end, the secretary ends up in the arms of the American while Baumann becomes the new partner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Hartley Power, (more)
- 1932
A general's son, Buchanan, calls off his engagement to countess Bland when he falls in love with flower girl Neagle who becomes an opera singer. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Clive Currie, (more)
- 1931
In this funny romance, a nobleman finds himself infatuated with a show girl and be impersonating a stage hand so he can be near her. He also wants to impress the girl's overprotective mother who does not know that her daughter is a dancer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1930
After the master of sophisticated romantic comedy, Ernst Lubitsch, directed Jeanette MacDonald in the smash hit The Love Parade, they were reunited a year later for this similarly frothy romp. Countess Vera Von Conti (MacDonald) is engaged to marry the dull Prince Otto Von Seibenheim (Claud Allister), whom she doesn't love. At the 11th hour, Vera decides to skip the wedding and instead heads to Monte Carlo, where she visits the casinos and begins losing in a heroic fashion. A handsome stranger spies the beautiful Vera and asks to touch her hair for luck, but instead it's Vera's luck that dramatically improves as she wins back her fortune. Vera immediately offers the man a job as her combination valet and good luck charm, not knowing that he's actually the wealthy and powerful Count Rudolph Falliere (Jack Buchanan). The Count plays along, pretending to be a commoner as he uses his new position with Vera to learn how he can win her heart. As one might expect, MacDonald sings several songs (including "Beyond the Blue Horizon"), and also duets with British music star Jack Buchanan on "Whatever It Is, It's Grand" and "Always in All Ways." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Jeanette MacDonald, (more)
- 1929
Paris served as the talkie debut for French music-hall favorite Irene Bordoni, who though never quite attaining screen stardom remained popular on American radio. Bordoni is cast as Vivienne Rolland, a Parisian chorus girl in love with Massachusetts boy Andrew Sabbot (Jason Robards Sr.) Andrew's snobbish mother Cora (Louise Closser Hale) tries to break up the romance, and it is her scenes which give the film what little life it has. British song-and-dance man Jack Buchanan (remember him in 1953's The Band Wagon?) likewise makes his talking-picture bow as Guy Pennell, the leading man in Vivienne's revue. Four reels of this 10-reel epic were originally lensed in two-color Technicolor. Paris was adapted from the Cole Porter Broadway musical of the same name -- inexplicably minus the Porter songs! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Bordoni, Jack Buchanan, (more)
- 1929
Basically a filmed vaudeville presentation, The Show of Shows was Warner Bros.' entry in the "all star, all talking, all singing and all dancing" sweepstakes of 1929. Though slightly better than MGM's Hollywood Revue of 1929, the Warners entry pales in comparison to Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and Paramount on Parade, due mainly to the film's master of ceremonies, the insufferable Frank Fay. Some of the individual acts seen in Show of Shows were pretty good, notably Winnie Lightner's delightful Singing in the Bathtub (a spoof of Hollywood Revue of 1929's Singin' in the Rain) and John Barrymore's brilliant rendition of Richard III's soliloquy from Shakespeare's Henry VI. Also easy to take was "Floradora Sextette," featuring such luminaries as Myrna Loy, Patsy Ruth Miller and cross-eyed comedian Ben Turpin, and "Eight Sister Acts," including such Hollywood siblings as Dolores and Helene Costello, Sally Blane and Loretta Young and Shirley Mason and Viola Dana (also teamed in this number are Ann Sothern and Marion Byron, who were not sisters). But for the most part, the acts are on a par with "Skull and Crossbones," a boring production number showcasing entertainer Ted Lewis, and "Recitations," a one-joke affair in which three different anecdotes (related by Frank Fay, Louis Fazenda, Lloyd Hamilton and Bea Lillie) are melded into one. Show of Shows was originally released in two-color Technicolor but now exists only in black in white, save for the "Chinese Fantasy" number featuring crooner Nick Lucas and Warner Bros. contractee Myrna Loy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1927
The British Confetti was the first film produced by Teddington Studios under their "quota" arrangement with Hollywood's First National. Musical-comedy favorite Jack Buchanan stars as Count Andrea della Zorro, a fortysomething Spanish aristocrat. In love with Dolores (Annette Benson), the Count allows his head to be turned by teenaged vamp Roxane (Audrey Sayre). This fits into the plans of Roxane's aunt, the Grand Duchess Maxixe (Sydney Fairbrother), who hopes to gain access to the Count's fortune. In the end, the Count returns to Dolores, but not to worry: the Grand Duchess herself falls for a humble confetti-cutter, who turns out to be her childhood sweetheart, and a wealthy one to boot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Buchanan, Annette Benson, (more)
