Clifford Grey Movies
British composer/playwright Clifford Grey was especially active in Hollywood in the years just prior to and following the talkie revolution. Grey's stage play Sunny Days was transformed into the 1927 silent A Kiss in a Taxi. When the movies learned to talk, he provided music and/or lyrics for Lubitsch's Love Parade (1929) and Smiling Lieutenant (1931) and DeMille's Madam Satan (1931). Clifford Grey returned to England in 1932, beginning a long a fruitful screenwriting career with the landmark "spy train" melodrama Rome Express. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Hit the Deck is the second film version of the same-named 1927 hit Broadway musical. Though updated for the 1950s, the basic plot remains the same. Sailors Tony Martin, Vic Damone and Russ Tamblyn spend their entire shore leave in pursuit of three beautiful gals. Martin is "that way" about Ann Miller, Damone is stuck on Jane Powell, and Russ Tamblyn only has eyes for Debbie Reynolds. Some fun is extracted from the fact that Tamblyn is the son of by-the-book admiral Walter Pidgeon. Additional comedy relief is provided by Alan King (the same!) and Henry Slate as a pair of dumb-dumb shore patrolmen. The Vincent Youmans-Leo Robin-Clifford Grey-Irving Caesar score includes such standards as "Sometimes I'm Happy", "I Know that You Know", and the showstopping "Hallelujah". The 1930 version of Hit the Deck, starring Jack Oakie, was filmed by RKO; that version was purchased by MGM and hasn't been seen publicly in nearly 70 years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Powell, Tony Martin, (more)
- 1945
Sleeping Car to Trieste is a remake of one of the best railroad melodramas of the 1930s, Rome Express. The film's "maguffin" is a diary containing important political information. Stolen from a diplomat in Paris, the diary finds its way on board the Orient Express. Already, the two thieves have double-crossed each other, and among the passengers there are plenty of interested parties-heroes and villains alike-who hope to claim the diary for their own purposes. When one of these parties is murdered, police chief Jolif (Paul Dupuis) takes charge of the case, but there's still many a plot twist to come before the guilty are punished and the innocent rewarded. An inordinate amount of footage is devoted to the wisecrackery of Bonar Colleano, cast as yet another stereotyped American. The climax of Sleeping Car to Trieste is a classic, endlessly imitated by future-and lesser-Orient Express espionagers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Kent, Albert Lieven, (more)
- 1941
In this old-joke-filled farce, a married couple has to put up with an obnoxious mother-in-law whose husband gets caught necking with a young actress, a traveling salesman, and a piano being mistaken in a conversation for an illegitimate child. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1940
Lambeth Walk is the film version of the evergreen West End musical Me and My Girl, which was still being successfully revived into the 1980s. The enormously popular music-hall entertainer Lupino Lane repeats his stage characterization as Bill, a diffident working-class cockney who finds himself heir to a title and a vast estate. Though he now has his pick of England's most gorgeous debutantes, Bill remains faithful to his blue-collar girlfriend Sally (Sally Gray). The film's new title was designed to cash in on a then-popular dance craze, which is performed by the high-kicking Lupino Lane in the course of events. In America, Lambeth Walk was distributed by MGM, whose British Elstree Studios facilities had put the film together in the first place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lupino Lane, Sally Gray, (more)
- 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
North Sea Patrol is a remake of the 1927 film of the same name; both were adapted from Luck of the Navy, a stage play by Mrs. Clifford Mills. Using a few clips of actual battleships for versimilitude, the film concerns a covert plan by an unnamed enemy nation to invade the sacred shores of England. The spies disguise themselves as the household servants of an admiral, so it can be said with some assurance that this is one picture in which the butler did it. Coming to the rescue is the admiral's daughter (Judy Kelly) and her dashing young navy officer beau (Geoffrey Toone). Made just before the outbreak of WW2, North Sea Patrol was promoted as "up to date" entertainment, even though its source material was nearly twenty years old. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geoffrey Toone, Judy Kelly, (more)
- 1939
In this comedy, an office clerk marries his secretary on the sly, their secret honeymoon is interrupted when he is sent to give advice to a wealthy client in the country. Although he is there to offer his counsel on matters strictly financial, he soon helps the fellow solve his romantic problems too. As soon as he is finally finished, he returns to his patient bride and they embark upon their long-awaited honeymoon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
American leading lady Marian Marsh plays the title character in the British Girl Thief. Actually, the biggest thing young Juliet (Marsh) steals is the heart of Bill (Anthony Bushell), the best friend of her fiance Allan (Claude Hulbert). It is subsequently a considerable source of discomfort when Bill is asked to serve as best man for Allan and Juliet's wedding. Everything turns out OK when it's revealed that Allan is himself still carrying a torch for an ex-sweetheart. This charming but utterly forgettable frivolity was originally released in England as Love at Second Sight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marian Marsh, Anthony Bushell, (more)
- 1938
When a woman gets money from her guardian, Lupino, to finance her newspaper she accused him of embezzling. Luckily for all involved, everything is straightened out and Lupino marries his secretary while the ward marries Lupino's friend. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1938
The popular 1934 West End musical comedy Yes, Madam was brought to the screen intact in 1938, with five of the original stars coming along for the ride. Bobby Hoyes heads the cast as Bill Quilton, a cheeky young man who will inherit a fortune on the condition that he work as a servant for a month without getting fired. Likewise in line for the inheritance, under the same conditions, is wisecracking Sally Gault (Dinah Churchill, replacing the stage version's Binnie Hale). If they fail to keep their jobs, they'll lose their legacy to scheming Tony Tolliver (Billy Milton) -- who not surprisingly does everything he can to undermine Bill and Sally. Both the play and film versions of Yes, Madam were based on a novel by K. R. G. Browne, previously filmed without music in 1933. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Howes, Diana Churchill, (more)
- 1937
Top British radio stores perform in this musical revue. The many acts are hosted by the popular team of Clamphan & Dwyer and are designed to offer competition for the commercial broadcasts that come in from mainland Europe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
A broken string of pearls provides the basis for this comedy. The pearls are lost by a woman who had borrowed the necklace to wear to a dance. It wouldn't be such a problem had not the pearls been loaned to her husband as security for a business deal. She tries to get them repaired, but they are stolen. Thus begins her frantic search. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this comedy, a young man must give up smokin' and drinkin' if he is to get his large inheritance. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1936
The Queen of Hearts stars Lancashire's own Gracie Fields as Gracie Perkins, a seamstress who is mistaken for a wealthy patroness of the arts. The fun begins when Gracie is approached to back a new stage show. Hoping to crash society -- or at least land a part in the show herself -- she keeps up her masquerade. To absolutely no one's surprise, she's the hit of the show and as icing on the cake ends up winning the heart of leading man Derek Cooper (John Loder). Queen of Hearts was directed by comedian Monty Banks, who happened to be Gracie Fields' brand-new husband. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Loder, Enid Stamp Taylor, (more)
- 1936
A mid-1930s precursor to the 1956 Broadway musical Bells are Ringing, Give Her a Ring concerns a group of melodic telephone operators who get involved in the lives of their clients. One of these is Karen Swenson (Wendy Barrie), whose inability to mind her own business gets her in all sorts of jams. She finally stops butting in when her boss Paul Hedrick (Clifford Mollison) declares his love for her. American musical-comedy favorite Zelma O'Neal, who'd introduced "The Varsity Drag" in the original stage production of Good News, plays the gum-chewing comedy relief. Give Her a Ring is based on a German play titled Fraulein Falsch Verbunden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Barrie, Erik Rhodes, (more)
- 1935
Dandy Dick stars the magnificent Will Hay as supercilious village vicar Rev. Richard Jedd, presently anxious to raise enough money for a new church steeple. Though Jedd draws the line at gambling, he is coerced into risking every penny on a race horse called Dandy Dick. Romance enters the picture when the vicar's daughter Pamela (Nancy Burne) falls in love with wealthy Tony Mardon (Esmond Knight), the horse's part-owner. Based on a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, Dandy Dick incorporates a number of comic highlights that Pinero never dreamed of, including the timorous vicar's first airplane trip. The film was one of several Will Hay vehicles directed by Hollywood's William ("One-Take") Beaudine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Hay, Esmond Knight, (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
Lilian Harvey, the toast of two continents, is her usual radiant self in Invitation to the Waltz. Harvey plays Jenny Peachey (honest!), a Drury Lane ballerina during the Napoleonic Wars. Swept off her slippers by the handsome Duke of Wurtemberg (Harold Warrender), Jenny gives up her dancing career to become the Duke's mistress. As the war between England and France intensifies, our heroine uses her influence to persuade the Duke to sign a treaty with England, thereby helping to bring about the downfall of Napoleon (Esme Percy). Through it all, Jenny is worshipped from afar by handsome lieutenant Carl (Carl Esmond). Magnificently produced, Invitation to the Waltz was a lighthearted follow-up to Lillian Harvey's more serious "ballerina sacrifices all" opus, Schwartze Rosen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lilian Harvey, Wnedy Toye, (more)
- 1935
Charing Cross Road is a London thoroughfare where several theatrical boarding houses have set up shop. Each one of these establishments is chock full of show-biz hopefuls, wannabes, has-beens and never-weres. John Mills and June Clyde play Tony and Pam, "at liberty" vaudevillians who arrive in London on the lookout for their Big Chance. In danger of developing a swelled head, Tony is chastened by an elderly trouper (Derek Oldham) who tells him the sad story of a once-great entertainer who hit the skids. Based on a BBC radio play, Charing Cross Road enjoyed a built-in fan following even before the cameras turned. Among the film's many pleasures is the presence of musical-comedy favorite Belle Baker as "herself," and a very young Coral Browne as a haughty aristocrat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, June Clyde, (more)
- 1935
Mimi is based on Murger's La Vie de Boheme, with operatic snatches from Puccini's La Boheme occasionally thrown in. The very healthy-looking Gertrude Lawrence seems an odd casting choice for the consumptive Mimi, whose tragic romance with starving artist Rodolfe (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) in Paris' Latin Quarter provides the film's dramatic thrust. Director Paul Stein has spared nothing to make the film as historically accurate as possible; unfortunately, Stein has also robbed the story of much of its vitality in the process. Fans of Gertrude Lawrence couldn't have been happy that her singing was confined to only one tune, and a forgettable one at that. Originally released at 98 minutes, Mimi is currently available only in its 62-minute American release version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gertrude Lawrence, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., (more)
- 1935
A Student's Romance was based on the operetta I Lost My Heart in Heidelburg, which in turn owed a lot to that old chestnut The Student Prince. In 1825, impoverished composer Max (Patric Knowles) enrolls at Heidelburg University. Local girl Veronika (Carol Goodner) falls in love with Max, helping him to finance his education and clear his debts. Alas, Veronika is left out in the cold when Max becomes enamored with gorgeous tourist Helene (Grete Natzler). Little does he know that Helene is the daughter of the Grand Duke (Ivan Simpson), meaning of course that their romance is doomed to disappointment. Leading lady Grete Natzler later changed her screen name to Della Lynd, and under that cognomen co-starred with Laurel & Hardy in Swiss Miss (1938). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grete Natzler, Patric Knowles, (more)
- 1935
World-renowned operatic tenor Richard Tauber not only starred in Heart's Desire, but also wrote most of the songs. Tauber is cast as Joseph Steidler, a popular but relatively unknown Vienesse beer-garden singer. Discovered by a show-biz entrepreneur, Steidler is suddenly catapulted to fame and fortune. Alas, in the process he loses his sweetheart Anna (Kathleen Kelly) tossing her aside in favor of glamorous socialite Frances (Leona Wilson). By the time Steidler learns that he's out of his depth in High Society, it's almost too late. Filmed in 1935, Heart's Desire made it to American shores in 1937. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Tauber, Leonora Corbett, (more)
- 1935
Sir Francis Drake (Lang), first English circumnavigator of the globe, is featured in this exciting adventure with his amazing defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and a romance between the dashing sailor and a lady-in-waiting for Queen Elizabeth (Baxter). ~ All Movie Guide
