George Dewhurst Movies
Producer/director/cinematographer/actor George Dewhurst was one of the pioneers of the British film industry. Most of Dewhurst's films from 1905 through 1925 have long since disappeared; those that survive do little to advance his reputation. Though his technique was antiquated, he managed to weather the talkie revolution, directing such amiable efforts as A Sister to Assist 'Er (1931) before his retirement. George Dewhurst deserves at least a footnote in screen history as the man who "discovered" Ronald Colman: impressed by what he saw in an amateur stage production, Dewhurst top-billed the young Colman in the 1917 2-reeler Live Wires and the 1919 feature the The Toilers, neither of which exists today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1948
This comedy offers yet another version of a popular stage play that chronicles the exploits of a tricky old woman who cheats her landlady out of rent and then masquerades as her wealthy sister in order to reclaim the trunk she left behind. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
This comedy, the second film version based on a popular stage play, chronicles the exploits of a tricky old lady who cheats her landlady out of rent and then masquerades as her wealthy sister in order to reclaim the trunk she left behind. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1936
When 2 people plan to meet on a cruise, they send substitutes who end up falling in love with each other in this comedy. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1936
A butler (Claude Dampier) searches for missing heir (Billy Milton) who claims his inheritance and wins the love of a woman June Clyde. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1934
This farfetched British political comedy is set in colonial South Africa. Anticipating the plotline of 1988's Moon Over Parador, loveable lummox Hugh E. Wright is dragooned into posing as the deposed president of a banana republic. Since the president has been targeted for death, poor old Hugh E. must duck, dodge and hide throughout the film's 69 minutes. The film is based on Cyril Campion's play Trust Berkeley, with several wheezy-but-funny music hall interpolations. Adventure Limited was released in the US by Paramount. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1931
Celebrated British music-hall entertainer Lupino Lane was both star and director of No Lady. Lane plays a henpecked husband who gets more than he bargained for when he goes on holiday in Blackpool. Before he can even get his bearings, our hero is mixed up with nest of foreign spies, determined to sabotage a British air show. Virtually every gag in the film was lifted from one of Lane's old 2-reelers, including the ancient wheeze about a Scotchman's purse yielding a moth. Is it any wonder that Lupino Lane eventually abandoned films in favor of "live" performances before large and appreciative crowds? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sara Maritza, Renee Clama, (more)
- 1931
In this comedy, a struggling artist who wants to die puts out a contract on himself, but then receives a large inheritance and doesn't want to die anymore. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1930
The evergreen John le Breton stage farce A Sister to Assist'er was filmed several times over a 20-year period, with each adaptation either directed or co-directed by George Dewhurst. In the first talkie version, Barbara Gott stars as Mrs. May, who hasn't a farthing to her name and is forced to live by her wits. Escaping from her rooming house without paying her rent, Mrs. May concocts a scheme to retrieve her luggage from gimlet-eyed landlady Mrs. McNash (Pollie Emery). Borrowing an expensive wardrobe, our heroine poses as her own wealthy sister, convincing McNash that "the check is in the mail." Naturally, Mrs. May's charade doesn't end here, and before long she's hilariously enmeshed in her own web of deceit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Gott, Pollie Emery, (more)
- 1927
John Le Breton's stage farce A Sister to Assist 'Er must hold some sort of record for film adaptations; at least five versions were produced over a twenty-year period, each version directed by George Dewhurst. Kicked out of her lodgings for nonpayment of rent, Mrs. Millie May (Mary Brough) decides to get even with her landlady. Disguising herself as her own wealthy twin sister, Mrs. May sweeps majestically back into the boarding house. This time, the landlady is the personification of grovelling subservience, waiting on our heroine hand and foot in hopes of a huge cash gratuity. The fun really starts when several other characters descend upon Mrs. May, hoping to benefit from her generosity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1924
When a cab driver finds a fortune in cash in his vehicle, he believes his troubles are over in this mystery with comedy overtones. He and his female accomplice turn an aging mansion into a popular hotel. A robbery is committed by someone who bears the mark of a parrot bite that will implicate the culprit. Irene Rich, Pauline Garron, Guy Newell, and Cecil Morton York co-star with Bromley Davenport, John MacAndrew, and A.B. Imeson. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1923
Felix Steele (Cecil Morton York) is the financially troubled mogul who hires stranger Philip Orne (Stewart Rome) to impersonate the heir to the family fortune. When the crooked executor Denton (Cameron Carr) finds Steele's daughter Mavis (Madge Stuart) is falling for the imposter, he exposes the plan to discredit the family. He brings in an attorney who identifies Philip as the real heir in this routine melodrama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1922
Millie May (Mary Brough) is the impoverished lush who is locked out of her apartment by landlady Mrs. Mull (Pollie Emery) when she can't pay the rent. Millie masquerades as her mythical millionaire sister and fools Mrs. Mull into letting her stay at her "sister's" former residents. Mary Brough stars in this light comedy and reprised her role in a 1927 film version. Her performance rises above the weak material. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1922
In this star-studded British mystery, the title refers to a band of blackmailers who have marked a group of important people for murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Plodding Tim Burton (Jack Devereaux) can't get ahead at the wholesale grocery house where he works as a clerk. He envies Flash Lewis (Henry P. Dixon), a fast-talking salesman who lives up (or down) to his name. Tom marries his sweetheart Frances (Winifred Allen), but she gets impatient with his inability to advance in life. Finally she gets a job of her own and leaves him until he can make good. Tom leaves the grocery house and is rootless for a while, but one day he comes up with a "taste and buy" sales promotion. The idea works, and word filters back to his former employers. His old boss (Barney Gilmore) gives him back his job, and Frances comes back for the requisite happy ending.
~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
