''Plunder'' is a 1931 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 and starring

Tom Walls Thomas Kirby Walls (18 February 1883 – 27 November 1949) was an English stage and film actor, producer and director, best known for presenting and co-starring in the Aldwych farces in the 1920s and for starring in and directing the film adapt ...

. It also features

Ralph Lynn Ralph Clifford Lynn (8 March 1882 – 8 August 1962) was an English actor who had a 60-year career, and is best remembered for playing comedy parts in the Aldwych farces first on stage and then in film. Lynn became an actor at the age of 18 ...

Winifred Shotter Winifred Florence Shotter (5 November 1904 – 4 April 1996) was an English actress best known for her appearances in the Aldwych farces of the 1920s and early 1930s. Initially a singer and dancer in the ensembles of musical comedies, Shotte ...

and

Robertson Hare John Robertson Hare, OBE (17 December 1891 – 25 January 1979) was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by more recent audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the popular BBC sitcom, ''All Ga ...

. It was based on the original stage farce of the same title, and was the second in a series of film adaptations of

Aldwych farces The Aldwych farces were a series of twelve stage farces presented at the Aldwych Theatre, London, nearly continuously from 1923 to 1933. All but three of them were written by Ben Travers. They incorporate and develop British low comedy styles, ...

Ben Travers Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is best remembered for his long-running series of farces first staged in the ...

, adapted in this case by

W. P. Lipscomb William Percy Lipscomb (born 1887 in Merton, Surrey, England, died 25 July 1958) was a British-born Hollywood playwright, screenwriter, producer and director. He died in London in 1958, aged 71. Career Lipscomb edited a brewery magazine and wrot ...

, and was a major critical and commercial success helping to cement Walls's position as one of the leading stars of British cinema.McFarlane p.21-22 It was made at British and Dominion's Elstree Studios. The film's sets were designed by the art director Lawrence P. Williams.

Cast

as Darcy Tuck *

as Freddie Malone *

as Joan Hewlett *

as Oswald Veal * Doreen Bendix as Prudence Malone * Gordon James as Simon Veal *

Ethel Coleridge Ethel Coleridge (14 January 1883 – 15 August 1976) was an English actress, best known for her roles in the original Aldwych farces in the 1920s and 1930s. Life and career Coleridge was born Ethel Coleridge Tucker in South Molton, Devonshire, ...

as Mrs Orlock * Hubert Waring as Inspector Sibley *

Mary Brough Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

as Mrs Hewlett

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * McFarlane, Brian. ''Cinema of Britain and Ireland''. Wallflower Press, 2005. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

* 1931 films 1931 comedy films Films directed by Tom Walls British comedy films Films set in England British films based on plays British black-and-white films British and Dominions Studios films Films shot at Imperial Studios, Elstree 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{1930s-UK-comedy-film-stub