''Say It with Flowers'' is a 1934 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 John Baxter and starring

Mary Clare Mary Clare Absalom (17 July 1892 – 29 August 1970) was a British actress of stage, film and television. Biography Daughter of George Alfred Absalom, Clare was educated at Wood Green secondary school, first worked in an office but a loan ...

Ben Field Ben Field (1876–1939) was a British actor. Partial filmography * ''Les cloches de Corneville'' (1917) - Iolo * ''The Face at the Window'' (1920) - Peter Pottlebury * ''The Bachelor's Club'' (1921) - Peter Parker * '' Little Miss Nobody'' ...

and

George Carney George Carney (21 November 1887 – 9 December 1947) was a British comedian and film actor. Born in Bristol, he worked in the Liverpool Cotton Exchange, in a furniture business, then in the Belfast shipyards. In 1906 he made his debut stage ...

. The screenplay concerns a group of London shopkeepers who hold a

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

in a local pub to raise money for a woman to visit the seaside for her health. The film is notable for the performances of several real

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 ...

stars

Florrie Forde Flora May Augusta Flannagan ( Flannagan; 16 August 187518 April 1940), known professionally as Florrie Forde, was an Australian popular singer and music hall entertainer. From 1897 she lived and worked in the United Kingdom. She was one of the ...

Charles Coborn Colin Whitton McCallum (4 August 1852 – 23 November 1945), known by his stage name Charles Coborn, was a British music hall singer and comedian. In a long career, Coborn was known largely for two comic songs: "Two Lovely Black Eyes", and " T ...

and

Marie Kendall Marie Kendall (born Mary Ann Florence Holyome; 27 July 1873 – 5 May 1964) was a British music hall comedian and actress who had a successful career spanning 50 years. Biography Kendall was born Mary Ann Florence Holyome on 27 July 1873 in ...

Synopsis

The film is set in a street market in the

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæceli ...

. One of the stallholders, Kate, is a flower seller who many of the leading

stars buy their flowers from. When Kate falls ill and visits the Doctor she is prescribed a stay at the seaside to restore her health. However, she is too ill to work to pay for her visit. Her fellow stallholders rally round, and secretly organise a concert at a nearby pub to help raise the money. They approach all the great musical hall performers (many from the golden era of musical hall) who have used her stall over the years. The concert is successfully staged and Kate is able to head to the seaside.

Cast

Reception

Picturegoer Weekly ''Picturegoer'' was a fan magazine published in the United Kingdom between 1911 and 23 April 1960. Background The magazine was started in 1911 under the name ''The Pictures'' and in 1914 it merged with ''Picturegoer''. Following the merge it was ...

'' reviewed the film favourably observing "there is more entertainment in this unambitous film... than in many alleged super-productions". In his book ''The Age of the Dream Palace''

Jeffrey Richards Jeffrey Richards (born c.1945)Chris Arno"Fast Forward: Jeffrey Richards" ''The Guardian'', 11 January 2005 is a British historian. Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, he is Professor of Cultural History at Lancaster University. A leading cul ...

highlighted the film's genuine sympathy with the lives of the ordinary people it is portraying.Richards p. 300–302

References

External links

Bibliography

* Richards, Jeffrey. ''The Age of the Dream Palace: Cinema and Society in Britain 1930–1939''. Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1984. * Shafer, Stephen C. ''British popular films, 1929–1939: The Cinema of Reassurance''. Routledge. 1997. 1934 films British musical films 1934 musical films 1930s English-language films Films set in London Films directed by John Baxter British black-and-white films 1930s British films {{UK-musical-film-stub