''Love on Wheels'' is a 1932 British
musical 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
Victor Saville
Victor Saville (25 September 1895 – 8 May 1979) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954. He also produced 36 films between 1923 and 1962.
Biography
Saville produced his first f ...
and starring
Jack Hulbert
John Norman Hulbert (24 April 189225 March 1978) was a British actor, director, screenwriter and singer, specializing primarily in comedy productions, and often working alongside his wife (Dame) Cicely Courtneidge.
Biography
Born in Ely, Ca ...
,
Gordon Harker
William Gordon Harker (7 August 1885 – 2 March 1967) was an English stage and film actor.
Harker was one of the sons of Sarah Elizabeth Harker, née Hall, (1856–1927), and Joseph Harker (1855–1927), a much admired set painter for the ...
,
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...
and
Leonora Corbett
Leonora Corbett (28 June 1908 – 29 July 1960) was an English actress, noted for her charm and elegance in stage roles, and for a number of films made in the 1930s.
Life and career
Corbett was born in London, the daughter of Richard Ashwin Cor ...
.
Plot
A daily commuter on a
Green Line bus from the suburbs to
Central London Fred Hopkins romantically pursues a fellow passenger Jane with the help of Briggs the
bus conductor. His hopes are thwarted when he is fired from his job at a major
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
. However he is eventually able to return, securing both his dream job as advertising manager in charge of
window dressing and the girl he loves.
Cast
*
Jack Hulbert
John Norman Hulbert (24 April 189225 March 1978) was a British actor, director, screenwriter and singer, specializing primarily in comedy productions, and often working alongside his wife (Dame) Cicely Courtneidge.
Biography
Born in Ely, Ca ...
as Fred Hopkins
*
Leonora Corbett
Leonora Corbett (28 June 1908 – 29 July 1960) was an English actress, noted for her charm and elegance in stage roles, and for a number of films made in the 1930s.
Life and career
Corbett was born in London, the daughter of Richard Ashwin Cor ...
as Jane Russell
*
Gordon Harker
William Gordon Harker (7 August 1885 – 2 March 1967) was an English stage and film actor.
Harker was one of the sons of Sarah Elizabeth Harker, née Hall, (1856–1927), and Joseph Harker (1855–1927), a much admired set painter for the ...
as Briggs
*
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...
as Philpotts
* Tony De Lungo as Bronelli
*
Percy Parsons as American Crook
*
Roland Culver
Roland Joseph Culver, (31 August 1900 – 1 March 1984) was an English stage, film, and television actor.
Life and career
After Highgate School, he joined the Royal Air Force and served as a pilot from 1918 to 1919. After considering other c ...
as Salesman
*
Miles Malleson
William Miles Malleson (25 May 1888 – 15 March 1969) was an English actor and dramatist, particularly remembered for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career he also appeared in cameo roles i ...
as Academy of Music Porter
*
Martita Hunt
Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havi ...
as Piano Demonstrator
* Maria Milza as Mrs Bronelli
Production
The film was made at the
Islington Studios
Islington Studios, often known as Gainsborough Studios, were a British film studio located on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London between 1919 and 1949. The studio ...
of
Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...
. Gainsborough was part of the larger
Gaumont British
The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France.
Film production
Gaumont-British was founded in 18 ...
empire, and specialised in making comedies during the 1930s. Hulbert became one of the studio's top stars during the early 1930s, often appearing with his wife
Cicely Courtneidge
Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge, (1 April 1893 – 26 April 1980) was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West En ...
.
Critical reception
BFI Screenonline called the film a "sublime musical comedy." and ''British Pictures'' called it "one of those charmingly amateurish British musicals the 30s produced so well. It proclaims: we may not have dancers like
Fred and Ginger, or songwriters like
Gershwin or
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, or directors like
Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley (born Berkeley William Enos; November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. Berke ...
, but when it comes to endearing silliness we're world class...Love on Wheels is never going to make the critics Top 100 list, it certainly leaves a smile on your face."
References
External links
*
1932 films
British musical comedy films
1932 musical comedy films
Films directed by Victor Saville
Gainsborough Pictures films
Films set in London
British black-and-white films
Films with screenplays by Franz Schulz
Films with screenplays by Victor Saville
1930s English-language films
1930s British films
English-language musical comedy films
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