''Shooting Stars'' is a 1927 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among oth ...

and

A. V. Bramble Albert Victor Bramble (1884–1963) was an English actor and film director. He began his acting career on the stage. He started acting in films in 1913 and subsequently turned to directing and producing films. He died on 17 May 1963. Filmogra ...

and starring

Annette Benson Annette Benson (1895–1965) was a British film actress. She was a leading lady of British silent films of the 1920s, appearing in ''Confetti'' with Jack Buchanan and ''Downhill'' with Ivor Novello. She also featured in several French and German ...

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...

and

Wally Patch Walter Sydney Vinnicombe (26 September 1888 – 27 October 1970) was an English actor and comedian. He worked in film, television and theatre. Biography Vinnicombe was born in Willesden, Middlesex and began working on the music hall stages in ...

. The screenplay concerns a starlet who plots an escape to Hollywood.

Premise

At Zenith Studios, a starlet plots an escape to Hollywood with her lover and the murder of her superfluous husband.

Cast

as Mae Feather *

as Julian Gordon *

Donald Calthrop Donald Esme Clayton Calthrop (11 April 1888 – 15 July 1940) was an English stage and film actor. Born in London, Calthrop was educated at St Paul's School and made his first stage appearance at eighteen years of age at the Comedy Theatr ...

as Andy Wilkes *

as Property Man * David Brooks as Turner * Ella Daincourt as Asphodel Smythe, Journalist *

Chili Bouchier Chili Bouchier (born Dorothy Irene Boucher; 12 September 1909 – 9 September 1999) was an English film actress who achieved success during the silent film era, and went on to many screen appearances with the advent of sound films, before progre ...

as Winnie, Bathing Beauty * Tubby Phillips as Fatty * Ian Wilson as Reporter *

Judd Green Judd Green (also credited as R. Judd Green; 1866–1932) was a British film actor of the silent era. He was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire in 1866 and made his first screen appearance in 1914. Selected filmography * '' The Third String'' (1914) ...

as Lighting Man * Jack Rawl as Hero

Production

It was Asquith's first film as a director. It was made at

Cricklewood Studios Cricklewood Studios, also known as the Stoll Film Studios, were British film studios located in Cricklewood, London which operated from 1920 to 1938. Run by Sir Oswald Stoll as the principal base for his newly formed Stoll Pictures, which als ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

for British Instructional Films. The novelisation of the film was written by the popular novelist E. Charles Vivian.''Shooting Stars. From the film by Anthony Asquith''. Adaptation by E. C. Vivian. Hurst & Blackett, London, 1928.

Restoration

''Shooting Stars'' was restored in 2015 by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

with a new score by John Altman. The new print premiered as the Archive Gala of the 2015

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...

References

External links

* * 1927 films British silent feature films 1927 drama films Films directed by Anthony Asquith Films directed by A. V. Bramble British black-and-white films Films shot at Cricklewood Studios British drama films Films set in London 1927 directorial debut films 1920s British films Silent drama films 1920s English-language films {{1920s-UK-film-stub