''No Monkey Business'' is a 1935 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
Marcel Varnel
Marcel Varnel (16 October 1892 – 13 July 1947) was French film director, notably however for his career in the United States and England as a director of plays and films
Biography
He was born Marcel Hyacinthe le Bozec in Paris, France.
Va ...
and starring
Gene Gerrard
Gene Gerrard (31 August 1892 – 1 June 1971) was an English film and stage actor, and occasional film director. He starred in light musical comedies but returned to his stage career by the 1930s.
He was born Eugene O'Sullivan and began as ...
,
June Clyde
June Clyde (born Ina Parton, December 2, 1909 – October 1, 1987) was an American actress, singer and dancer known for roles in such pre-Code films as '' A Strange Adventure'' (1932) and ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1933).
Early years
June Cly ...
and
Renée Houston
Renée Houston (born Katherina Rita Murphy Gribbin; 24 July 1902 – 9 February 1980) was a Scottish comedy actress and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles.
Biography
Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, into a theatrical family ...
.
BFI.org
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Synopsis
After a music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
performer has his performing partner, an ape
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...
, confiscated by his financial creditors he persuades his assistant to dress up and impersonate the animal so that he can continue his act. However a series of embarrassments arise when they are invited to stay at a country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
by a young woman who wishes to demonstrate to her father her theory that apes are as intelligent as people.
Production
The film was made by the independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
company Radius Productions at the British and Dominion Studios at Elstree.
Cast
References
Bibliography
* Sutton, David R. ''A chorus of raspberries: British film comedy 1929–1939''. University of Exeter Press, 2000.
External links
*
1935 films
1935 comedy films
British black-and-white films
British comedy films
1930s English-language films
Films about apes
Films about entertainers
Films directed by Marcel Varnel
Films scored by Benjamin Frankel
Films set in country houses
Films set in England
Films shot at Imperial Studios, Elstree
Films with screenplays by Joe May
1930s British films
{{1930s-UK-comedy-film-stub