Frederick Burtwell Movies

An evil guardian plots the murder of his young heiress niece in this Victorian melodrama, also known as Uncle Silas. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Though its title suggests that Gaiety George is yet another vehicle for British comedian George Formby, the film is in fact a biopic. Richard Greene plays Irish theatrical impresario George Howard, whose elaborately staged musical entertainments were highlights of the early 20th century. Wounded during World War I, Howard returns to London and virtually forgotten, compelling him to mount a spectacular comeback. Surprisingly, the weakest element is not its banal plotline but the musical numbers, which are staged with little of the "feel" or energy of the period. Released in the US as Showtime in 1948. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Australian-born comic actor Vic Oliver was usually at his best on-screen when teamed with an unusually talented leading lady. Oliver's vis-a-vis in the British I'll be Your Sweetheart was film favorite Margaret Lockwood. Set in the early 1900s, the film concerns the trials and tribulations of musical-hall diva Edie Story (Lockwood), whose happy-go-lucky partner is one Sam Kahn (Oliver). Halfway through the film, Kahn is shunted to the background when Edie falls in love with aspiring songwriter Bob Fielding, played by up-and-coming Michael Rennie. The outcome of the plot is predicated on a Parliamentary decision which rescued songwriters from being gypped out of their royalties by unscrupulous "pirate" publishers, which happens more than once in the early reels to the luckless Fielding. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an average man of average income finds his life abruptly changed when the securities he purchased from a speculator pan out and he is rich. Unfortunately, the turn out to be securities are worthless and the newly rich man and the speculator lose everything. Unfortunately, by this time, he has developed a taste for the high life and this leads to his making a foolish decision. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this war drama set during WW II, an engineer in a Dutch shipyard assists the Nazis with the construction of two new kinds of submarines and finds himself a social pariah. Even his wife turns against her apparently traitorous husband. During the maiden voyage of one of the subs, the engineer talks high-ranking Nazis into joining him aboard their vessel. The Germans are unaware that the engineer has loaded the hapless vessel with dynamite. As that ship explodes, a group of commandos capture the other sub and smuggle it to England. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A bashful artist finds all kinds of trouble in this comedy. A handyman by profession, the shy fellow loves to paint, but can only paint the heads of his models as he is too embarrassed to render the rest of their nude forms. The portraits are very good, and later, in a commercial art class, other students add bodies to his heads. This gets the handyman in all sorts of hot water with the models when the painting is used as an advertisement for soap. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In ancient Bagdad, the young prince Ahmad (John Justin) is betrayed, deposed, and imprisoned by his vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), an evil and calculating man who is also a master of the Black Arts. But Ahmad is saved from prison, and certain execution, by Abu (Sabu), a young thief who has made his way in life by stealing whatever he needs. Together they escape from Bagdad and make their way to the port city of Basra, where they hope to sign to sail with the renowned sailor Sinbad. But Ahmad chances to catch a glimpse of the daughter (June Duprez) of the Sultan (Miles Malleson, who also co-wrote the screenplay), and falls hopelessly in love with her. Sneaking into the garden where she spends most of her days, she meets him and the two are bound together forever in that moment, he the first man she has ever seen, and she the most beautiful woman he has ever beheld. But no sooner have they declared their love for each other then Jaffar arrives in Basra, seeking the princess' hand in marriage -- and to secure the blessing of her father, a fanatical collector of toys, he offers the aging Sultan a fantastic mechanical flying horse that bears him into the clouds at will. The sultan agrees to the marriage, but the princess flees the city. Abu and Ahmad are captured and before either can tell the sultan of their plight, Jaffar works his magic, leaving Ahmad blind and transforming Abu into a dog -- conditions that will remain until he holds the princess in his arms.
Everything in the movie up to this point has been told in flashback, by Ahmad, as he is lured to the palace of his enemy. Jaffar has captured the princess, but she has fallen into a deep sleep that will not end -- so his doctors assure him -- until she is reunited with Ahmad. He achieves this goal, and the princess awakens, only to be parted from Ahmad again by Jaffar, who sails for Basra with her as his prisoner. But she won't love him, and the kind of love he wants from her can only be given by her, not taken by him. When Ahmad and Abu -- now restored by Jaffar's regaining the princess -- try to follow him, he calls up a storm that sweeps them from the sea. Abu finds himself on a beach alone, and while searching for Ahmad he finds a strange bottle, which he opens, and out comes a real genie (Rex Ingram), hundreds of feet tall. The genie means to kill him, but Abu outwits the genie and secures from him three wishes. Abu must find Ahmad, but to do that he must go to the Palace of the Goddess of Night, half a world away, and steal the All-Seeing Eye. Abu does this, getting past guards, both human and monstrous, and from there it is on to Ahmad. But a misunderstanding between them leaves the two friends separated, Ahmad captured by Jaffar and sentenced -- along with the princess, who will not love Jaffar -- to death. Meanwhile, Abu is stranded countless miles away. And then one desperate act by the boy suddenly sends Abu into a magical, golden kingdom, the Land of Legend, where he is greeted as their new king. The old king (Morton Selten) shows him the symbols of his rule, which include magical arrows forged to destroy injustice. Abu still must save his friend, and to do it commits one last act of theft -- but can he arrive in time? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A Girl Must Live is the philosophy of gold-digging chorus girls Gloria Lind (Renee Houston) and Clytie Devine (Lilli Palmer). Both feel that they could live most comfortably off the money inherited by the Earl of Pangborough (Hugh Sinclair) a handsome but unworldly nobleman. Despite the most strenuous efforts by Gloria and Clytie, it is sweet and demure chorine Leslie James (Margaret Lockwood) who claims the Earl as her husband. Robust comedy relief is provided by the venerable George Robey as a bibulous "sugar daddy". A Girl Must Live was one of three 1939 films directed by Carol Reed, still some distance removed from Odd Man Out, The Third Man and Oliver!. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a performing crack-shot and a blues singer fall in love. When he abandons her, his brother, the target in their act, is there to woo her, even though she is after a wealthy man. The lovesick brother is heartbroken; during a performance he makes a wrong move and is accidently shot by his brother. The crack-shot, thinking he killed his brother, takes aim and kills the singer, and then himself. Unfortunately, his brother was only wounded so it was all for naught. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This 1938 remake of the 1930 British farce Almost a Honeymoon makes a few slight alterations in the text. Originally, a wandering vagrant accidentally found himself sharing a bed with an amorous old crone. In the remake, the hero (popular cockney comedian Tommy Trinder, here making his screen debut) is a man of wealth. His inadvertent bed-mate is an attractive young girl (Linden Travers), who is occupying the hero's sleeping quarters when he stumbles in after a night on the town. Nothing really happens (this is a 1938 film), but you can't censor the gleam in the supporting characters' eyes. Like the first Almost a Honeymoon, the second film is based on a stage play by Walter Ellis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy, a wealthy young man desperately wants to impress his girl friend's powerful father and so convinces the gentleman to invest in a promising new product, "Socko." The only problem is that there is no product, only a catchy name. The young man's problem is solved when he encounters a flower vendor who has a surefire cure for hangovers. He uses this formula for his new product and success ensues until the flower woman's avaricious daughter tries to get her claws into him. Unfortunately for her, he is not at all interested and avoids her in favor of his true love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this offbeat spy drama, an opera diva is suspected of leaking classified information for enemy spies. To see if this is true, a talented policeman is engaged to go undercover as a chorus member. While there, he finds himself the object of another singer's affections. Trouble ensues because the diva also falls for him and the two singers become bitter rivals. Eventually the other singer proves that all suspicions were correct--the prima donna really is a spy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide