''At the Villa Rose'' is a 1930 British

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

directed by

Leslie S. Hiscott Leslie Stephenson Hiscott (25 July 18943 May 1968) was an English film director and screenwriter who made over sixty films between 1925 and 1956. He was born in London in 1894. He directed ''Alibi'' (1931), the first ever depiction of Hercule ...

and starring

Norah Baring Norah Baring (26 November 1905 – 8 February 1985), born Nora Minnie Baker, was an English stage and film actress most famous on screen for portraying "Diana Baring" in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller ''Murder!'' (1930). She is also known for pla ...

, Richard Cooper and

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

Actor

Austin Trevor Claude Austin Trevor Schilsky (7 October 1897 – 22 January 1978) was an Irish actor who had a long career in film and television. He played the parson in John Galsworthy's ''Escape'' at the world premiere in London's West End in 1926 an ...

. It marked Trevor's screen debut. It was released in the United States under the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the t ...

of ''Mystery at the Villa Rose''.

Production

The film is based on the 1910 novel '' At the Villa Rose'' by

A.E.W. Mason Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (7 May 1865 – 22 November 1948) was an English author and politician. He is best remembered for his 1902 novel of courage and cowardice in wartime, ''The Four Feathers'' and is also known as the creator of Inspecto ...

and features his fictional detective

Inspector Hanaud Inspector Gabriel Hanaud is a fictional French detective depicted in a series of five novels and one novella by the British writer A. E. W. Mason. He has been described as the "first major fiction police detective of the Twentieth Century". B ...

. It was made at

Twickenham Film Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

in St Margarets,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. A French-language version ''

The Mystery of the Villa Rose ''The Mystery of the Villa Rose'' (French: ''Le mystère de la villa rose'') is a 1930 French mystery film directed by René Hervil and Louis Mercanton and starring Léon Mathot, Simone Vaudry, and Louis Baron fils. Production The film is based ...

'' was made simultaneously at Twickenham and the production was announced as being the first

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

film made in Britain.

Cast

as Celia Harland * Richard Cooper as Mr. Ricardo *

Barbara Gott Barbara Gott (1872–1944) was a Scottish stage and film actress. In 1913 she made her West End debut in Stanley Houghton's ''Trust the People''. Partial filmography * ''Betta, the Gipsy'' (1918) * ''The Romance of Lady Hamilton'' (1919) - Mr ...

as Madame D'Auvray *

Francis Lister Francis Lister (2 April 1899 – 28 October 1951) was a British actor. He was married to the actresses Nora Swinburne (1924–32) and Margot Grahame (1934-36). Filmography References External links * * *ThFrancis Lister Collectionis held by ...

as Weathermill *

Amy Brandon Thomas Amy Marguerite Brandon Thomas (9 March 1890 – 6 May 1974) was an English film and stage actress. She was the daughter of the playwright Brandon Thomas. She is also known as Amy Brandon-Thomas. Life and career Amy Brandon Thomas was born in L ...

as Mrs Starling *

Violet Farebrother Violet Farebrother (22 August 1888 – 27 September 1969) was an English actress. She appeared in 25 films between 1911 and 1965, including three films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. She was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, and died in Eastbo ...

as Helen * John F. Hamilton as Mr Starling

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, ""Mystery at the Villa Rose," a British audible film of A. E. W. Mason's novel, "At the Villa Rose," which is now at the Cameo, is baffling in more ways than one, for the vocal reproduction often is so "tubby" that it is not always possible to understand what the players are saying. The original story possessed possibilities for quite a good picture, but this screen effort has been handled so amateurishly that one really does not care who poisoned Madame D'Auvray."

References

Bibliography

* Richards, Jeffrey (ed.) ''The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929-1939''. I.B. Tauris, 1998.

External links

* 1930 films British mystery films 1930 mystery films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Leslie S. Hiscott Films shot at Twickenham Film Studios British multilingual films British black-and-white films 1930 multilingual films 1930s British films {{1930s-UK-film-stub