Guy Newall Movies

In this drama a Detroit secretary working at a small school finds herself inheriting $500 upon her principal's death. She decides to use the money for a London vacation. Unfortunately, the new principal fires her for insisting on time off. She goes to England anyway where she finds her impoverished relatives who believe that she is a wealthy heiress. When it appears that she is too cheap to help them, they become quite nasty to her. Fortunately, in the end, they discover the truth, and somehow all financial turmoil is settled and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The "Admiral" of the title is played by Edmund Gwenn, as twinkly and lovable as he was thirteen years later in Miracle on 34th Street. The Admiral's secret is a large cache of jewels, which he has "borrowed" from a gang of thieves. Abraham Sofaer plays Don Pablo y Gonzales, who will go to any length to retrieve the gems. The reason it takes 71 minutes for this to unfold is that both hero and villains are hopeless bumblers. The Admiral's Secret was based on a play by Cyril Campion and Edward Dignon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama a Chinese mandarin admits that he stole a secret treaty. He does this to protect the true thief who is his friend's wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Boat From Shanghai may be an unprepossessing title, but at least it's better than the film's original cognomen, Chin Chin Chinaman. Leon M. Lion plays The Mandarin, a Charlie Chanish oriental sleuth, while Elizabeth Allan co-stars as his assistant, The Countess. Infiltrating an aristocratic Chinese family, Lion and Allan search for a gang of jewel thieves. If you're looking for political correctness, skip this one; otherwise, it's fun in a mindless sort of way. The British The Boat From Shanghai was based on a popular stage play by Percy Walsh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A spiteful, young noblewoman, married to a prominent lord attempts to ruin the life of the highly-principled chauffeur who spurned her philandering advances. This is one of Sir Laurence Olivier's film appearances. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The British Road to Fortune is a cheap "quota quickie," and never pretends to be anything else. The villain spends most of the picture trying to get his lunchhooks on an unspoiled sylvan glade, in order to mine its tin deposits. This sparks a feud between the would-be miner and the landowner, whose niece, naturally, is in love with the miner's nephew. Rather than rely on any subtle or witty method to dispose of the bad guy, the screenwriters summarily toss the old coot off the side of a cliff. Reviewers were of the opinion that Road to Fortune was completed in about 10 days; they were merely being generous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This earliest film version of Arnold Ridley's popular theatrical comedy-mystery The Ghost Train was lensed in Germany by a British cast and crew. Guy Newall stars as "silly ass" Teddy Deakin, one of several railroad passengers marooned in a remote train depot. Adding to the passengers' discomfort is the apparent presence of a "ghost train," which runs along an abandoned rail line, bringing sudden death in its wake. It turns out that the ghost train is a hoax, perpetrated by a gang of gunrunners to cover up their activities. But the seemingly ineffectual Teddy Deakin offers a few surprises of his own before the villains are thwarted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This heavy-handed, English-made drama (adapted from the novel by E.E. Mills Young) depended far too much on its title cards to advance the plot. Pamela and Herbert Arnott (Ivy Duke and Julian Royce) have been happily married for six years. Then it turns out that they aren't really married at all -- Arnott is still wed to his first wife, who refused to give him a divorce. Although he tells Pamela that she is the only woman he has ever loved, she refuses to forgive him and only stays for the children's sake. The couple's relationship becomes so strained that Arnott begins a flirtation with the governess and when he disappears, Pamela assumes that the two of them have run off together. But George Dare, an admirer of Pamela's (Guy Newall, who also directed), finds out that Arnott has fallen seriously ill and is in the hospital. Since she has discovered that his first wife has died, Pamela goes to him, and they get legally married at last. Dare, who has lost Pamela by revealing the whereabouts of Arnott, moves on. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Guy Newall both starred in and co-directed the British Garden of Resurrection. The film details the trials and tribulations of half-caste Clarissa, played by Ivy Duke. After enduring tragedies and setbacks that would have killed a lesser person, Clarissa achieves a happy-ever-after denouement. The male sex doesn't come off very well in this one; in fact, except for the standardized ending, the film might have passed muster as a pioneering feminist tract. The Garden of Resurrection was based on a novel by E. Temple Thurston. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide