''Gangway'' is a 1937 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

Sonnie Hale John Robert Hale-Monro (1 May 1902 – 9 June 1959), known as Sonnie Hale, was an English actor, screenwriter, and director. Early life John Robert Hale-Monro was born in Kensington, London, the son of Belle Reynolds and actor Robert Hal ...

and starring

Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, Ma ...

, Barry MacKay,

Nat Pendleton Nathaniel Greene Pendleton (August 9, 1895 – October 12, 1967) was an American Olympic wrestler, film actor, and stage performer. His younger brother, Edmund J. Pendleton (1899-1987), was a well-known music composer and choir maste ...

and

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...

. Its plot involves a young reporter goes

undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

to unmask a gang of criminals who are planning a jewel heist. AKA as Sparkles in Australia and on Australian release 78rpm records. Jessie Matthews was nicknamed SPARKLE in the film.

Plot

Newspaper film critic Pat Wayne (Jessie Matthews) boards an ocean liner to New York to interview glamorous movie star Nedda Beaumont (Olive Blakeney). Once aboard, Pat somehow gets mixed up with a gangster (Nat Pendleton), and a Scotland yard inspector (Barry MacKay), who both mistake her for a female jewel thief called "Sparkle."

Main cast

as Pat Wayne * Barry MacKay as Bob Deering *

as Smiles Hogan *

as Detective Taggett *

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 Nedda Beaumont *

Noel Madison Noel Madison (born Noel Nathaniel Moscovitch; April 30, 1897 – January 6, 1975) was an American character actor in the 1930s and 1940s and appeared in 75 films, often as a gangster. Born in New York City, Madison was the son of actor M ...

as Mike Otterman *

Patrick Ludlow Patrick Ludlow (March 24, 1903 – January 27, 1996) was a British actor predominantly on stage, with his own touring theatre company from 1943. Filmography References External links * * 1903 births 1996 deaths People from Kensing ...

as Carl Freemason * Liane Ordeyne as Greta Brand *

Graham Moffatt Graham Victor Harold Moffatt (6 December 1919 – 2 July 1965) was an English comedic character actor. He is best known for a number of films where he appeared with Will Hay and Moore Marriott as 'Albert': a plump cheekily insolent street-savv ...

as Joe * Danny Green as Shorty *

Edmon Ryan Edmon Ryan Mossbarger (June 5, 1905 — August 4, 1984), known professionally as Edmon Ryan, was an American theater, film, and television actor. A native of Cecilia, Kentucky, he was the son of Isham Edward Mossbarger (1864–1936) and Pearl Sh ...

as Red Mike * Lawrence Anderson as Tracy - Press Agent * Blake Dorn as Benny the Gent *

Peter Gawthorne Peter Gawthorne (1 September 1884 – 17 March 1962) was an Anglo-Irish actor, probably best known for his roles in the films of Will Hay and other popular British comedians of the 1930s and 1940s. Gawthorne was one of Britain's most called-upo ...

as Assistant Commissioner Sir Brian Moore *

Henry Hallett Henry Hallett (1 February 1888 in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England, UK – 24 July 1952) was a British stage and film actor. Filmography * ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' (1932) * '' Jew Süss'' (1934) * ''Tudor Rose'' (1936) * '' Spy of Napol ...

as Smithers - Solicitor * Warren Jenkins as Foreign Dancer *

Michael Rennie Michael Rennie (born Eric Alexander Rennie; 25 August 1909 – 10 June 1971) was a British film, television and stage actor, who had leading roles in a number of Hollywood films, including his portrayal of the space visitor Klaatu in the s ...

as Ship's Officer * Doris Rogers as Mrs. Sherman Van Tuyl

Critical reception

In a contemporary review, ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' wrote, "There is less, and less elaborate, singing and dancing than in previous Jessie Matthews' films, but the slight story is amusingly developed, the dialogue is good, Jessie Matthews herself gives a very good light comedy performance and the film as a whole scores on its comedy, and on its burlesque of American gangsters rather than on its music. Nat Pendleton and Noel Maddison are good as the tough gangsters and Alistair Sim as a very secret detective walks away with the picture in the few short scenes in which he appears. Barry Mackay gives a pleasing light performance and keeps the romance in the right key". Writing for '' Night and Day'' in 1937,

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 ...

gave the film a mixed review, complaining of the "pitiably amateurish direct on and the writing as "hardly distinguished". Greene praised the acting of Sim, but concluded that "the best one can say of ''Gangway'' is that it is better than ale'sprevious picture". (reprinted in: ) More recently, the

BFI Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lot ...

wrote, "it is one of the more enjoyable Matthews vehicles and is fast moving enough to please most audiences."

References

External links

* * 1937 films British musical comedy films 1937 musical comedy films Films directed by Sonnie Hale Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films set in London British films set in New York City Seafaring films British crime comedy films British black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s crime comedy films 1930s British films {{UK-musical-film-stub