Ivor Novello Movies

King's Rhapsody was the second screen teaming of beloved British star Anna Neagle and Hollywood's "bad boy" Errol Flynn. Based on a musical play by Ivor Novello, the film casts Flynn as a European prince who falls in love with commoner Neagle. The prince pulls an "Edward VIII" and goes into exile so he may set up house with the woman he loves. When the King dies, Flynn is obliged to return to his throne and marry a hand-picked princess (Patrice Wymore, who was Mrs. Flynn at the time). Years later, the prince, finally free to marry, seeks out Neagle. She still loves him, but sends him on his way, realizing that his true place is with his people. Although Anna Neagle's husband Herbert Wilcox was producer-director of King's Rhapsody, her songs were cut from the final release print, leaving her with literally nothing to do but stand around and look radiant. Perhaps as a result, King's Rhapsody was one of the few Neagle/Wilcox failures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This brief (56-minute) MGM B-picture was adapted from Ivor Novello's play The Truth Game. Naturally, a few plot twists and supporting characters had to be eliminated, but at its base, the film follows the original plotline with reasonable fidelity. Hoping to land wealthy wives, a father-and-son team of sharpsters, Max and Florian Clemington (Robert Cummings and Nigel Bruce), pretend to be members of the landed gentry. Max romances the much-older Lady Joan Culver (Judith Anderson) before finding true love in the form of pretty heiress Martha Gray (Ruth Hussey). Imagine his embarrassment when Max discovers that Martha is as big a phony as he! Because of the 1941 Free and Easy, Buster Keaton's same-named 1930 vehicle had to be retitled Easy Go on television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, "The Rat" is the moniker for a notorious jewel thief whose life suddenly changes when a friend facing life imprisonment asks him to take care of his daughter. She does a good job of helping in the thief's home, but then a woman falls for him and throws her own boy friend out. The jilted lover decides to get revenge, goes to the Rat's home, and attempts to kidnap the young girl, who fights back so hard she kills him. The kindly thief then takes the rap for the murder, but at the last moment in court, the other woman appears and provides him with a real alibi causing the girl to go to prison. Fortunately, in lieu of the circumstances, she is given a light sentence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this romance, a wealthy woman is duped by a charming conductor. Later she ends up using him so she can remain in France. In the end, the sparring partners fall in love for real. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Tarzan, The Ape Man was not only MGM's inaugural "Tarzan" film, but also the first to star former Olympic swimming champ Johnny Weissmuller as The Lord of the Jungle (strange but true: one of the pre-Weissmuller "Tarzan" candidates was Clark Gable!) Utilizing scads of stock footage from MGM's Trader Horn (1931), the film begins with great white hunter James Parker (C. Aubrey Smith) trekking through darkest Africa in search of the legendary Elephant Graveyard. Accompanying Parker is his daughter Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) and her erstwhile beau Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton). The expedition is habitually sabotaged by the ecology-conscious Tarzan, a white man who'd been lost in the jungle years earlier and raised by Apes. Tarzan kidnaps Jane and spirits her away to the treetops, where she gradually overcomes her fear of the Loinclothed One and teaches him to speak English ("Tarzan...Jane", not "Me Tarzan...You Jane" as has often been reported). The perfect gentleman, Tarzan returns Jane to her father and swings off into the distance. When Parker, Jane and Holt are captured by pygmies, Tarzan comes to the rescue, with an entourage of his elephant friends. At fade-out time, Jane has decided to renounce civilization and spend the rest of her life with Tarzan. The only one of the MGM "Tarzans" actually based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs originals, Tarzan the Ape Man proved a surprise hit, spawning an endless parade of sequels and remakes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Belloc-Lowndes' original novel The Lodger, the reclusive young man suspected of being Jack the Ripper turns out to be exactly who he's assumed to be. When Alfred Hitchcock directed the 1926 film version of The Lodger, he was advised that the public would never accept the popular star Ivor Novello as a serial killer, thus the film was given a happy ending. Novello himself wrote the screenplay for the 1932 non-Hitchcock talkie version of The Lodger, which, though updated from the novel's 19th century setting, retains its original shocker climax. Well received at the time of its release but rarely seen in recent years, the 1932 Lodger can be regarded as a serviceable bridge between the 1926 Hitchcock silent and the definitive 1944 20th Century-Fox remake starring Laird Cregar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a blind musician enters his newest composition in a competition and wins. At least he thinks he wins. His loving wife cannot bear to tell him the truth. Fortunately, a kindly neighbor helps out and hands the musician a big check so he thinks he won. When the man discovers the truth, he immediately begins suspecting his wife of cheating and leaves her. After his tunes become popular the humbled fellow returns and peace is restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Downhill is an apt title for this disappointing Alfred Hitchcock silent feature. Ivor Novello plays the black sheep of a prosperous family, whose life begins its downward spiral when he is expelled from school after shielding a friend from punishment. Following several desultory adventures, Novello weds faithless actress Isabel Jeans, who divests him of what little money he has and runs off with another man. Only when he is at his lowest is Novello forgiven by his family. Downhill has in recent years gained a negative fame thanks to one of its most treacly dialogue subtitles: after being cashiered from school, the hero asks "Does that mean, sir, that I shall not be able to play with the Old Boys?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While the silent The Lodger was not director Alfred Hitchcock's first film, it was the first to truly deserve the designation "A Hitchcock Picture". British matinee idol Ivor Novello plays Jonathan Drew, a quiet, secretive young man who rents a room in a London boarding house. Drew's arrival coincides with the reign of Terror orchestrated by Jack the Ripper. As the film progresses, circumstantial evidence begins to mount, pointing to Drew as the selfsame Ripper. In addition to Novello's 1932 remake, The Lodger was remade in 1944 with Laird Cregar, then again in 1953 as Man in the Attic, with Jack Palance as Jonathan Drew. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Too long by at least 3 reels, D. W. Griffith's The White Rose is nonetheless one of the best and most accomplished of the director's "pastoral" films. Mae Marsh plays a virginal young lass of modest means who pretends to be more worldly than she actually is. Aristocratic divinity student Ivor Novello, who feels he must learn more about life in order to be an effective minister, accepts Mae's pose at face value and has an affair with the girl. Tortured by guilt, Novello bids goodbye to Mae and returns home to his childhood sweetheart Carol Dempster. When Mae discovers she is pregnant, she is cast out by her family and neighbors. She is given comfort and shelter by a sympathetic black family, who look after her as she brings her child into the world. Confronted by evidence of his indiscretion, Novello, by now a respected clergyman, gives up his calling-and his fiancee-to do right by Mae. Meanwhile, Carol finds happiness in the arms of businessman Neil Hamilton. The White Rose represented something of a comeback for the extraordinarily gifted Mae Marsh, whose talents had previously been squandered in a series of cheap, unimportant vehicles. The script was by someone named Irene Sinclair-who, under scrutiny, turned out to be D. W. Griffith himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This was the first time William Balfe's popular romantic opera was filmed. Although other operas made successful transitions to the silent screen (Carmen was one of them), this one did not have enough action to overcome the absence of its songs. Thaddeus (Ivor Novello) saves the life of a little girl. Her father, Count Arnheim (Henry Vibart), hosts a dinner with Thaddeus as guest of honor. But one of Thaddeus' Gypsy compatriots, Devilshoof (C. Aubrey Smith), kidnaps the child. The girl, Arline (Gladys Cooper), grows up in the Gypsy camp and Thaddeus, who is really a royal of Polish descent, falls in love with her. This angers the Gypsy Queen (Constance Collier) and she tries to thwart the romance. When Arline is reunited with her father, she and Thaddeus are separated, but eventually the Count gives the couple his blessings. This doesn't sound like it would ever form the basis for a Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy picture but -- as the comic duo's fans all know -- that's what it became in 1936. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide