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The Good Companions (1933 Film)
''The Good Companions'' is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Victor Saville starring Jessie Matthews, John Gielgud and Edmund Gwenn. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by J.B. Priestley. Plot A group of widely divergent characters meet up with a broken-down touring concert-party, throw in their lot with them, and eventually triumph after temporary setbacks. This British musical-comedy follows an unlikely trio as they try to revive the fortunes of the floundering theatrical troupe. School teacher Inigo Jolifant (John Gielgud) with his talent for songwriting, and recently unemployed Jess Oakroyd (Edmund Gwenn) with his theatrical ambitions, together persuade Miss Trant (Mary Glynne), an older single woman looking for adventure, to fund them as they attempt to bring "The Dinky Doos" back into the spotlight. Susie Dean (Jessie Matthews) is a chorus girl who dreams of stardom, and when she's made the new leader of the show, it looks as if her dreams may finally come ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Saville
Victor Saville (25 September 1895 – 8 May 1979) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954. He also produced 36 films between 1923 and 1962. Biography Saville produced his first film, '' Woman to Woman'', with Michael Balcon in 1923, and on the back of its success produced pictures for the veteran director Maurice Elvey, including the classic British silent '' Hindle Wakes'' (1927). His first picture as director was '' The Arcadians'' (1927). In 1929 he and Balcon worked together again on a talkie remake of ''Woman to Woman'' for Balcon's company, Gainsborough Pictures. This time Saville directed it. From 1931, as Gainsborough Pictures and the Gaumont British Picture Corporation joined forces, Saville produced a string of comedies, musicals and dramas for Gainsborough and Gaumont-British, including the popular Jessie Matthews pictures. In 1937, he left to set up his own production company, Victor Saville Productio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the oldest genres in film and it is derived from the classical comedy in theatre. Some of the earliest silent films were comedies, as slapstick comedy often relies on visual depictions, without requiring sound. When sound films became more prevalent during the 1930s, comedy films took another swing, as laughter could result from burlesque situations but also dialogue. Comedy, compared with other film genres, puts much more focus on individual stars, with many former stand-up comics transitioning to the film industry due to their popularity. In '' The Screenwriters Taxonomy'' (2017), Eric R. Williams contends that film genres are fundamentally based upon a film's atmosphere, character, and story. Therefore the labels "drama" and "comedy" ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyril Smith (actor)
Cyril Edward Bruce-Smith (4 April 1892 – 5 March 1963) was a Scottish actor who began his career as a child in 1900 and went on to appear in numerous stage plays as well as over 100 films between 1914 and his death almost 50 years later. The son of Frederick and Elsa Smith; his mother travelled with him on his engagements during his boyhood. Career Smith first became known as a child stage actor in 1900, and by the age of 13 in 1905, he travelled to New York to appear as Cosmo in a production of the J. M. Barrie play ''Alice-Sit-By-The Fire'', opposite Ethel Barrymore; at the time, ''The New York Times'' hailed him as "one of the best-known child actors in England". Smith's film career began in 1914 in the Wilfred Noy-directed ''Old St. Paul's'' and he appeared in almost 20 other silent films of the 1910s and 1920s before making the transition to sound. From the early 1930s until his death, he featured in dozens of films ranging from the quota quickies of the 1930s and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Piper
Frederick Piper (23 September 1902 – 22 September 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Piper studied drama under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Never a leading player, Piper was usually cast in minor, sometimes uncredited, parts although he also appeared in some more substantial supporting roles. Piper never aspired to star-status, but became a recognisable face on the British screen through the sheer volume of films in which he appeared. His credits include a number of films which are considered classics of British cinema, among them five 1930s Alfred Hitchcock films; he also appeared in many Ealing Studios productions, including some of the celebrated Ealing comedies. Stage career Born in London, England in September 1902, Piper worked as a tea merchant before starting his acting career on the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Zucco
George Zucco (11 January 1886 – 27 May 1960) was a British character actor who appeared in plays and 96 films, mostly American-made, during a career spanning over two decades, from the 1920s to 1951. In his films, he often played a suave villain, a member of nobility, or a mad doctor. Early life and family Zucco was born in Manchester, Lancashire, on 11 January 1886. His mother Marian (née Rintoul) ran a dressmaking business; it is claimed she was a former lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, but this is untrue, as the honour was only accessible to titled ladies of high rank (duchesses, marchionesses, countesses, viscountesses, and baronesses). His father, George De Sylla Zucco, was a Greek merchant from Corfu who became a naturalised British subject in 1865. Zucco debuted on the Canadian stage in 1908 in a stock theater company. In 1910, he entered the United States for the first time from Canada, bound for Seattle, Washington, where he soon appeared in plays such as '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Annie Esmond
Annie Esmond (27 September 1873 – 4 January 1945) was a British stage and film actress. Esmond was born in Surrey, England. She made her stage debut in pantomime in Sheffield in 1891 and later appeared on the American as well as British stage for many years before going into silent films and later talkies. She became a prolific supporting actress in films, often playing servants and nannies, as in ''Dear Octopus'' (1943). Selected filmography * '' The Right Element'' (1919) * '' Damaged Goods'' (1919) * '' Possession'' (1919) * ''Unmarried'' (1920) * '' The Tidal Wave'' (1920) * '' Tit for Tat'' (1921) * '' Kipps'' (1921) * '' The Knave of Diamonds'' (1921) * '' The Mystery of Mr. Bernard Brown'' (1921) * '' Innocent'' (1921) * ''Mr. Pim Passes By'' (1921) * '' The Yellow Claw'' (1921) * '' The Recoil'' (1922) * '' The Passionate Friends'' (1922) * '' The Flying Fifty-Five'' (1924) * '' The Sins Ye Do'' (1924) * '' God's Clay'' (1928) * '' After the Verdict'' (1929) * '' Alf' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Hanray
Laurence Hanray ( Lawrence Henry Jacobs; 16 May 1874 – 28 November 1947), sometimes credited as Lawrence Hanray, was a British film and theatre actor born in London, England. He is also credited as the author of several plays and music hall songs. Laurence Hanray was born Lawrence Henry Jacobs in St John's Wood on 16 May 1874, the son of Angelo Jacobs (c. 1851–1910), a glass manufacturer, and Leah (née Nathan; 1850/1851–1946). His father changed his name to Angelo Jacobs Hanray, and with it the family name, after becoming bankrupt in 1897, although Laurence had been using the name Hanray professionally from at least 1892, when he appeared as a member of the Hermann Vezin Theatre Company in supporting roles in ''Hamlet'' and ''Macbeth'' at Her Majesty's Theatre, Dundee. Australian newspapers show he was in Australia and New Zealand from around 1901–04, appearing as Carraway Bones the undertaker in the farce ''Turned Up'' at the Theatre Royal, Perth, in May 1901, and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Pettingell
Frank Edmund George Pettingell (1 January 1891 – 17 February 1966) was an English actor. Pettingell was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and educated at Manchester University. During the First World War he served with the King's Liverpool Regiment. He appeared in such films as the original version of ''Gaslight'' (1940), ''Kipps'' (1941 - as Old Kipps), and ''Becket'' (1964 - as the Bishop of York). His collection of printed and manuscript playscripts - mostly acquired from the son of the comedian Arthur Williams (1844–1915) - is held at the Templeman Library, University of Kent. He also had an extensive collection of serial fiction and penny-dreadfuls, and this can now be found in the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books in Toronto. Collection Pettingell was an avid collector of popular playscripts and other literature which range from the 18th century to the early 20th century. In 1966, the Bodleian Library in Oxford purchased Pettingell’s collection of 800 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Miller (comedian)
Thomas Henry Sargent (21 November 1894 – 7 May 1963), known professionally by his stage name Max Miller and billed as The Cheeky Chappie, was an English comedian often considered the greatest stand-up of his generation. He came from humble beginnings and left school at the age of twelve. At the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered for the army. During his time in the forces, he started a troupe concert party. On leaving the army, he took up work as a light comedian, dancer, and singer. He toured extensively, appearing in variety, revues and by the early 1930s reached the top of the bill in the large music halls including the London Palladium. He recorded many songs, some of which he wrote. He appeared frequently on radio and starred in fourteen feature films. He was known for his flamboyant suits, his wicked charm, and his risqué jokes often led to difficulties with the censors. He made his last recording in January 1963 and died four months later. Early years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alec Fraser
Alec Fraser ( Fraser-Smith; 16 February 1884 – 20 June 1956) was a British actor. Alec Fraser was born Alec Fraser-Smith in Cupar, Scotland. He died on 20 June 1956, aged 72, in London. His sister was actress/singer Agnes Fraser.Stone, DavidAgnes Fraser ''Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company'', at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 27 August 2001; accessed 16 June 2020. Selected filmography * '' The Woman with the Fan'' (1921) * ''The Woman of His Dream'' (1921) * '' The Knave of Diamonds'' (1921) * '' The Will'' (1921) * ''The Bonnie Brier Bush'' (1921) * '' Little Brother of God'' (1922) * ''A Gamble in Lives ''A Gamble in Lives'' is a 1920 British silent drama film directed by George Ridgwell and starring Malvina Longfellow, Norman McKinnel and Alec Fraser.Low p.370 It is based on the play ''The Joan Danvers'' by Frank Stayton. Plot An insurance a ...'' (1924) * '' The Lure'' (1933) * '' The Great Defender'' (1934) * '' The Mystery of the Mary Celeste'' (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percy Parsons
Edward Percy Parsons (1878–1944) was an American actor and singer who worked largely in the British film industry. Selected filmography * ''Suspense'' (1930) * ''Beyond the Cities'' (1930) * ''Creeping Shadows'' (1931) * '' Strictly Business'' (1931) * '' Happy Ever After'' (1932) * '' Sleepless Nights'' (1932) * '' The Man from Toronto'' (1933) * '' This Is the Life'' (1933) * '' Red Wagon'' (1933) * '' Red Ensign'' (1934) * '' Princess Charming'' (1934) * ''My Heart is Calling'' (1935) * ''The Big Splash'' (1935) * ''Rhodes of Africa'' (1936) * ''The Gay Adventure'' (1936) * ''Twelve Good Men'' (1936) * '' Strangers on Honeymoon'' (1936) * '' Victoria the Great'' (1937) * '' The Song of the Road'' (1937) * '' Non-Stop New York'' (1937) * ''Said O'Reilly to McNab ''Said O'Reilly to McNab'' is a 1937 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Will Mahoney, Will Fyffe and Ellis Drake. It was made at Islington Studios by Gainsborough Pictures.Wood p.96 The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Glynne
Mary Glynne (born Mary Aitken; 25 January 1895 – 19 September 1954) was a British actress. Biography Glynne was born Mary Aitken in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. She started her career in 1908, in a stage play called ''The Dairymaids'' at the Princes Theatre in Manchester. A month later, she appeared on stage at the Queen's Theatre, London, in the same play. She appeared in numerous stage productions from 1908 to 1954 and in 24 films between 1919 and 1939. Following her appearance in many West End successes, she toured the provinces and, later, South Africa. She was married to Dennis Neilson-Terry, who died in Rhodesia in 1932. Glynne died in London on 19 September 1954. Selected filmography * ''Unmarried'' (1920) * '' The Call of Youth'' (1921) * '' Appearances'' (1921) * '' The Mystery Road'' (1921) * '' The Princess of New York'' (1921) * '' The White Hen'' (1921) * '' Dangerous Lies'' (1921) * ''The Bonnie Brier Bush'' (1921) * ''The Good Companions' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
