''Come Out of the Pantry'' is a 1935 British

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by

Jack Raymond Jack Raymond (1886–1953) was an English actor and film director. Born in Wimborne, Dorset in 1886, he began acting before the First World War in '' A Detective for a Day''. In 1921 he directed his first film and gradually he wound down his a ...

and starring

Jack Buchanan Walter John Buchanan (2 April 1891 – 20 October 1957) was a Scottish theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George G ...

Fay Wray Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian/American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong (1933 film), King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray a ...

James Carew James Usselman (February 5, 1876 – April 4, 1938), known professionally as James Carew, was an American actor who appeared in many films, mainly in Britain. He was born in Goshen, Indiana in 1876 and began work as a clerk in a publishing fir ...

and

Fred Emney Frederick Arthur Round Emney (12 February 1902 – 25 December 1980) was an English character actor and comedian. Emney was born in Prescot, Lancashire,GRO Register of Births Mar 1902 Frederick Arthur R Emney 8b 725 PRESCOT1901 Census: ...

. It is based on a 1916 novel of the same name by

Alice Duer Miller Alice Duer Miller (July 28, 1874 – August 22, 1942) was an American writer whose poetry actively influenced political opinion. Her feminist verses influenced political opinion during the American suffrage movement, and her verse novel ''The W ...

, and features musical numbers by

Al Hoffman Al Hoffman (September 25, 1902 – July 21, 1960) was an American song composer. He was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number-one hits through each decade, many of wh ...

Al Goodhart Al Goodhart (January 26, 1905 – November 30, 1955) a member of ASCAP, was born in New York City and attended DeWitt Clinton High School. During his lifetime he was a radio announcer, vaudeville pianist and special materials writer. He also owned a ...

and

Maurice Sigler Maurice Sigler (November 30, 1901 – February 6, 1961) was an American banjoist and songwriter. Sigler was born in New York City but moved to Birmingham, Alabama at an early age, and received his musical tuition there. In the 1920s, Sigler wa ...

Plot

A British aristocrat, Lord Robert Brent, travels to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to sell some paintings. He deposits the money from the sale in a bank, but when the bank collapses, he finds himself stranded in America with no money and many bills. By chance, Robert meets the old family

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

, Eccles, who is now working in New York for the wealthy Beach-Howard family. Eccles helps Roberts to take up employment as a

footman A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...

in the Beach-Howard household. Robert becomes romantically involved with the young niece, Hilda Beach-Howard. She begins to suspect his true identity. Robert's elder brother arrives in New York to find out what has happened to his sibling. The bank that holds Robert's money reopens, and Robert proposes marriage to Hilda whilst serving dinner. She accepts his proposal.

Cast

as Lord Robert Brent *

as Hilda Beach-Howard *

as Mr Beach-Howard *

as Lord Axminster *

Olive Blakeney Olive Blakeney (August 21, 1894 October 21, 1959) was an American actress. Early years Blakeney was born in Kentucky and attended the Cincinnati School of Expression. Career Blakeney played as a super in visiting stage shows at $1 per perfor ...

as Mrs Beach-Howard *

Kate Cutler Kate Ellen Louisa Cutler (14 August 1864 – 14 May 1955) was an English singer and actress, known in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an ''ingénue'' in musical comedies, and later as a character actress in comic and dramati ...

as Lady Axminster *

Ronald Squire Ronald Launcelot Squire (25 March 1886 – 16 November 1958) was an English character actor. Biography Born in Tiverton, Devon, England, the son of an army officer, Lt.-Col. Frederick Squirl and his Irish-born wife Mary (Ronald's surname 'Sq ...

as Eccles *

Maire O'Neill Maire O'Neill (born Mary Agnes Allgood; 11 January 1886 – 2 November 1952) was an Irish actress of stage and film. She holds a place in theatre history as the first actress to interpret the lead character of Pegeen Mike Flaherty in John Mill ...

as Mrs Gore * Ethel Stewart as Rosie *

Ben Welden Ben Welden (born Benjamin Weinblatt; June 12, 1901 – October 17, 1997) was an American character actor who played a wide variety of Damon Runyon-type gangsters in various movies and television shows. Early years Welden was born in Toledo, O ...

as Tramp * W.T. Ellwanger as Porteous

Production

''Come Out of the Pantry'' was the first British film to star Fay Wray, three years after her appearance in ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'' (1933). She reportedly commented that she felt a certain resentment from the British cast and crew against the presence of an American star. Wray went on to make three more films in Britain, including '' When Knights Were Bold'' (1936), also with Jack Buchanan.

Critical reception

''Come Out of the Pantry'' is one of many comedy films that feature aristocratic protagonists who pose as servants, and comparisons have been drawn with the films ''

In the Soup ''In the Soup'' is a 1992 independent comedy directed by Alexandre Rockwell, and written by Rockwell and Sollace Mitchell (credited as Tim Kissell). It stars Steve Buscemi as Aldolfo Rollo, a self-conscious screenwriter who has written an unfi ...

'' (1936), '' Ball at Savoy'' (1936) and ''

Mr Cinders ''Mr Cinders'' is a 1928 musical with music by Vivian Ellis and Richard Myers and a libretto by Clifford Grey and Greatrex Newman. The story is an inversion of the Cinderella fairy tale with the gender roles reversed. The Prince Charming char ...

'' (1934), a retelling of the classic fairy tale ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

''. The theme of the "aristocrat in disguise" as a member of the lower classes, and the scenario of romance between members of different social classes became popular

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

s in fiction of the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, and ''Come Out of the Pantry'' has also been compared to Jack Buchanan's other films in this genre such as ''

A Man of Mayfair ''A Man of Mayfair'' is a 1932 British musical comedy film directed by Louis Mercanton and starring Jack Buchanan, Joan Barry and Warwick Ward. Production It was made at British and Dominions Elstree Studios by the British subsidiary of Param ...

'' and ''

Goodnight, Vienna ''Goodnight, Vienna'' is a 1932 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Jack Buchanan, Anna Neagle and Gina Malo. Two lovers in Vienna are separated by the First World War, but are later reunited. Based on a radio opere ...

'' (both 1932). Writing for ''The Spectator'' in 1935,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

was critical of the film's portrayal of British social class, and criticised the film as a typical example of the "snobby" and

classist Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense ...

English film whose subtle social humour "would be quite meaningless to any but an English audience". ''

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 ...

'' called it an "entertaining musical."

Songs

The film includes the following songs: *"Everything Stops for Tea", by

and

; Sung by Jack Buchanan *"From One Minute to Another", by Al Hoffman, Al Goodhart and Maurice Sigler A version of "Everything Stops for Tea" was later recorded by blues singer

John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including t ...

on his 1972 album ''

Everything Stops for Tea ''Everything Stops for Tea'' is an album by John Baldry released in May 1972. It was produced by Elton John and Rod Stewart. Elton provides vocal accompaniment on tracks 1, 3-5. Stewart provides vocal accompaniment and plays banjo on track 8. ...

'', produced by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

. The song was later rewritten (except for the chorus) by

chap hop Chap hop is music originating from England that mixes the hip hop genre with elements from the Chappist or steampunk subcultures and stereotypical English obsessions such as cricket, tea, and the weather.Frances RobinsonIn 'Chap-Hop,' Gentlemen ...

artist

Professor Elemental Paul Alborough (born 1 June 1975), professionally known as Professor Elemental, is a steampunk and chap hop musical artist. Career Professor Elemental began his career as Emcee Elemental. The character of Professor Elemental arose from a plann ...

in his 2012 album, ''Father of Invention''.

References

External links

* * {{Jack Raymond 1935 films British musical films 1935 musical films Films directed by Jack Raymond British black-and-white films British and Dominions Studios films Films shot at Imperial Studios, Elstree Films based on works by Alice Duer Miller 1930s English-language films 1930s British films