''After the Ball'' is a 1957 British
biographical film
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...
directed by
Compton Bennett
Herbert William Compton Bennett (15 January 1900 – 11 August 1974), better known as Compton Bennett, was an England, English film director, writer and producer. He is perhaps best known for directing the 1945 film ''The Seventh Veil'' and the ...
and starring
Pat Kirkwood,
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...
and Jerry Stovin.
It portrays the life of the stage performer
Vesta Tilley
Matilda Alice Powles, Lady de Frece (13May 186416September 1952) was an English music hall performer. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era. Her career lasted from 1869 until 19 ...
. It was made at
Beaconsfield Studios
Beaconsfield Film Studios is a British television and film studio in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. The studios were operational as a production site for films in 1922, and continued producing films - and, later, TV shows - until the 1960s. B ...
with sets designed by the
art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
Norman G. Arnold.
Cast
*
Pat Kirkwood as
Vesta Tilley
Matilda Alice Powles, Lady de Frece (13May 186416September 1952) was an English music hall performer. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era. Her career lasted from 1869 until 19 ...
*
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...
as
Walter de Frece
Sir Abraham Walter de Frece (7 October 1870 – 7 January 1935) was a British theatre impresario, and later Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1920 to 1931. His wife was the celebrated male impersonato ...
*Jerry Stovin as Frank Tanhill
*
Jerry Verno
Jerry Verno (26 July 1895 – 29 June 1975) was a British film actor. He appeared in 39 films between 1931 and 1966, including five films directed by Michael Powell, and two with Alfred Hitchcock.
He was born in London.
As well as appearing ...
as Harry Ball
*
Clive Morton
Clive Morton (16 March 1904 – 24 September 1975) was an English actor best known for playing upper class Englishmen, he made many screen appearances, especially on television. In 1955, he appeared in Laurence Olivier's '' Richard III'' and is ...
as Henry de Frece
*
Marjorie Rhodes
Marjorie Rhodes (9 April 1897 – 4 July 1979) was a British actress. She was born Millicent Wise in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire.
One of her better-known roles was as Lucy Fitton, the mother in Bill Naughton's play '' All in Good Time''. Sh ...
as Bessie
*
Leonard Sachs
Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor.
Life and career
Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated to ...
as Richard Warner
*
Ballard Berkeley
Ballard Blascheck (6 August 1904 – 16 January 1988), known professionally as Ballard Berkeley, was an English actor of stage and screen. He is best remembered for playing Major Gowen in the British television sitcom ''Fawlty Towers''.
Life an ...
as Andrews
*
June Clyde
June Clyde (born Ina Parton, December 2, 1909 – October 1, 1987) was an American actress, singer and dancer known for roles in such pre-Code films as ''A Strange Adventure'' (1932) and ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1933).
Early years
June Clyd ...
as Lottie Gibson
*
Charles Victor
Charles Victor (10 February 1896 – 23 December 1965) was a British actor who appeared in many film and television roles between 1931 and 1965. He was born Charles Victor Harvey.
Born in Southport, Lancashire, England, Victor was a fourth ...
as Stagehand
*
Tom Gill as Manager
* Peter Carlisle as
Oscar Hammerstein
*
George Margo
George Margo (1915 – 2002) was an American actor who appeared mainly in British films and television shows.
Selected filmography
* ''Circle of Danger'' (1951) - Sim (uncredited)
* '' Hell Is Sold Out'' (1951) - American Soldier at Cafe
* ''The R ...
as Tony Pastor
* Mark Baker as
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.
Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
* Terry Cooke as Dan Leno Jr
* Barbara Roscoe as Patricia
* Margaret Sawyer as Little Tilley
Critical reception
''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' gave the film two out of four stars, and wrote, "(Pat) Kirkwood puts zest into the rousing music-hall numbers that made Tilley an enduring star, but the script trudges on and the wait between musical moments may not be worth the reward. It's incomprehensible how director Compton Bennett and writers Hubert Gregg and Peter Blackmore could have made such a yawn out of such a good true story."
References
External links
*
*
1957 films
British biographical drama films
Films directed by Compton Bennett
Films produced by Peter Rogers
1950s biographical drama films
Films set in London
Films set in the 1880s
Films set in the 1890s
Films set in the 1900s
Films set in the 1910s
Films set in the 1920s
British historical musical films
1950s historical films
1950s musical drama films
British musical drama films
Films shot at Beaconsfield Studios
1957 drama films
Biographical films about entertainers
1950s English-language films
1950s British films
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