''The Compulsory Wife'' is a 1937 British comedy film, directed by

Arthur B. Woods Arthur Bickerstaffe Woods (17 August 1904 – 8 February 1944) was an English film director with 27 credits between 1933 and 1940. Woods' films were mainly quota quickies but were diverse in style, from light comedy and musicals to dark crime ...

and starring Henry Kendall and

Joyce Kirby Joyce Kirby (March 15, 1915 – 1985) was a British actress. On stage from childhood and a dancer in Cochrane shows, she appeared in several British films of the 1930s. Selected filmography * ''The Midshipmaid'' (1932) * ''A Safe Propositio ...

. The film was a

quota quickie The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 ('' 17 & 18 Geo. V'') was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received Royal Assent on 20 December 1927 and came into force on 1 April 1928. D ...

production with a plot dealing with the farcical complications arising when a pair of strangers have to spend a night alone together in a country cottage when their hosts are detained in town. Overnight all their luggage is stolen by a burglar, leaving them with nothing but their nightclothes. Then the next morning their hosts and the other guests start arriving. It is now classed as a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

.Missing Believed Lost
British Pictures Article Archive.

Cast

* Henry Kendall'' as Rupert Sinclair *

as Bobbie Carr * George Merritt as Thackeray * Margaret Yarde as Mrs. Thackeray * Robert Hale as Craven *

Agnes Lauchlan Agnes Lauchlan (10 February 1905 – 28 August 1993) was a British stage, film and television actress. Agnes Mary Lauchlan, was born on 10 February 1905 in Putney, London, to Henry D. Lauchlan, a surgeon, and his Scottish-born wife Minnie. She ...

as Mrs. Craven

References

External links

*
''The Compulsory Wife''
at BFI Film & TV Database 1937 films 1937 comedy films Films directed by Arthur B. Woods Lost British films British black-and-white films British comedy films 1937 lost films 1930s English-language films Lost comedy films 1930s British films {{1930s-UK-comedy-film-stub