''Find the Lady'' is a 1936 British
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 ol ...
directed by Roland Grillette and starring
Jack Melford
John Kenneth George Melford Smith (5 September 1899 – 22 October 1972) was a British stage, film and television actor.
Biography
Melford was the younger brother of screenwriter and film director Austin Melford. On stage from the age of 12, ...
,
Althea Henley
Althea Henley (July 23, 1911 – April 25, 1996) was an American film actress and dancer. She appeared in approximately 15 films between 1930 and 1936.
Career
Born in Egypt, Pennsylvania in 1911, Henley was the second of four children. She was t ...
and
George Sanders
George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...
. Its plot involves an American
confidence trickster
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...
who pretends to be a
spiritual healer
Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into a patient and effect positive results. Practitioners use a number of names including various synonyms for ...
. The film was made at
Wembley Studios
Fountain Studios was an independently owned television studio in Wembley Park, northwest London. The company was last part of the Avesco Group plc.
Several companies owned the site before it was bought by Fountain in 1993. Originally a film st ...
as a
quota quickie
The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 ('' 17 & 18 Geo. V'') was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received Royal Assent on 20 December 1927 and came into force on 1 April 1928.
D ...
by the British subsidiary of
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
.
[Wood p.90] The sets were designed by
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 ...
William Hemsley.
Cast
*
Jack Melford
John Kenneth George Melford Smith (5 September 1899 – 22 October 1972) was a British stage, film and television actor.
Biography
Melford was the younger brother of screenwriter and film director Austin Melford. On stage from the age of 12, ...
as Schemer Doyle
*
Althea Henley
Althea Henley (July 23, 1911 – April 25, 1996) was an American film actress and dancer. She appeared in approximately 15 films between 1930 and 1936.
Career
Born in Egypt, Pennsylvania in 1911, Henley was the second of four children. She was t ...
as Venus Doyle
*
George Sanders
George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...
as Curly Randall
*
Viola Compton
Viola Maud Compton–Mackenzie (26 November 1886 – 7 April 1971), known as Viola Compton, was an English film actress. Born in Fulham, London, she was the second of three siblings born to the actors Edward Compton and Virginia Frances Batem ...
as Lady Waldron
* Violet Loxley as Wilma Waldron
*
Ben Williams as uncredited
References
Bibliography
* Chibnall, Steve. ''Quota Quickies: The British of the British 'B' Film''. British Film Institute, 2007.
* Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
* Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.
External links
*
1936 films
1936 comedy films
British comedy films
British films based on plays
Films shot at Wembley Studios
20th Century Fox films
Films with screenplays by Edward Dryhurst
Quota quickies
British black-and-white films
1930s English-language films
1930s British films
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