''The Star Reporter'' is a 1932 British crime drama, directed by

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a seri ...

and starring

Harold French Harold French (23 April 1897 – 19 October 1997) was an English film director, screenwriter and actor. Biography After training at the Italia Conti School, he made his acting debut age 12, in a production of ''The Winter's Tale''. As an ...

and

Garry Marsh Garry Marsh (21 June 1902 – 6 March 1981) was an English stage and film actor. Born Leslie Marsh Gerahty in St Margarets, Surrey, his parents were George and Laura. His elder brothers were the author Digby George Gerahty and the journalist ...

. The screenplay was adapted from a story by popular thriller writer

Philip MacDonald Philip MacDonald (5 November 1900 – 10 December 1980) was a British-born writer of fiction and screenplays, best known for thrillers. Life and work MacDonald was born in London, the son of author Ronald MacDonald and actress Constance Roberts ...

. ''The Star Reporter'' is one of eleven

quota quickies Quota may refer to: Economics * Import quota, a trade restriction on the quantity of goods imported into a country * Market Sharing Quota, an economic system used in Canadian agriculture * Milk quota, a quota on milk production in Europe * Indi ...

directed by Powell between 1931 and 1936 of which no print is known to survive. The film is not held in the

BFI National Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...

, and is classed as "missing, believed lost"."Missing Believed Lost - ''The Star Reporter''
powell-pressburger.org Retrieved 12 August 2010 Powell later recalled that the film was brought in on a budget of £3,700, and that he had rented a hand-held camera for £8 and travelled to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

to film a docking ocean liner for use in an intercut scene. He said "''The Star Reporter'' was fun and I was not ashamed of it". The film was shown in the UK as the support feature to the

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

vehicle '' Platinum Blonde'', and Powell also remembered his amusement when a critic observed sniffily that his film lacked the polish of the main feature, reasoning that this was perhaps to be expected when comparing his budget with the $600,000 which had reportedly been spent on the Harlow picture.

Plot

Major Starr (French) is an ambitious newspaper reporter who has taken undercover employment as chauffeur to Lady Susan Loman (Isla Bevan) in the hope of witnessing high-society goings-on which he can use in a feature article he is planning. Lady Susan's father Lord Longbourne (Spencer Trevor) meanwhile is experiencing financial embarrassment, and is persuaded by professional criminal Mandel (Marsh) to conspire in an insurance scam whereby Mandel will steal a diamond belonging to Lady Susan from the West End jeweller where it is currently on display, Longbourne will claim the cash and Mandel will return the diamond to him for a cut of the proceeds. Mandel steals the diamond in an audacious smash-and-grab raid but the crime is witnessed by Starr and Lady Susan, who happen to be passing at the time. Starr heads off in pursuit of Mandel and corners him on a rooftop. There is a struggle and Mandel falls to his death. With the scam foiled and the diamond retrieved, Starr proposes to Lady Susan, who is happy to accept.

Cast

as Major Starr *

as Mandel *

Isla Bevan Isla Mary Bevan (''née'' Foster; 26 October 1908 – 19 July 1976) was a British stage and film actress from Peckham, London.Spencer Trevor Spencer Trevor (29 May 1875 – 22 May 1945) was a British stage and film actor. He was born as Spencer Trevor Andrews. In 1897 he married the actress Mary Davis (1870–1944) and with her had a son, John Spencer Trevor Andrews (1897–1984); t ...

as Lord Longbourne * Anthony Holles as Bonzo * Noel Dainton as Colonel * Elsa Graves as Oliver * Philip Morant as Jeff

Reception

Surviving contemporary reviews indicate a positive reception for the film. ''Today's Cinema'' assessed it as: "cleverly directed on the lines of swift action, snappy dialogue and varied settings", while the ''

London Evening News The ''London Evening News'' was a newspaper whose first issue was published on 14 August 1855. Usually, when people mention the ''London Evening News'', they are actually referring to '' The Evening News'', published in London from 1881 to 1980, ...

'' reviewer enthused: "'At the end of a long and not very inspiring day of seeing new films, I saw a little picture ''Star Reporter'' which jolted my tired brain into renewed enthusiasm. ''Star Reporter'' packs into three-quarters of an hour as much story as most films that last an hour and a half...(it) tells an exciting crook story with a smoothness of direction and a crispness of acting and cutting which would be a credit to the most ambitious picture." ''Picturegoer Weekly'' predicted, wrongly as it turned out: "It is all very ingenious and is chiefly notable for the introduction of Isla Bevan, a new star, who looks like making good" (Bevan's film career in fact encompassed only five more programmers, and was over by 1936) and added "the picture generally is quite fairly entertaining, if one is not too critical".''Picturegoer Weekly'' review
powell-pressburger.org Retrieved 12 August 2010

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Star Reporter, The 1932 films 1932 crime drama films Films directed by Michael Powell Films by Powell and Pressburger Lost British films British black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films based on British novels British crime drama films 1932 lost films 1930s British films Quota quickies