''The Queen's Affair'' 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

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox Order of the British Empire, CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and film director, director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best know ...

and starring

Anna Neagle Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox (''née'' Robertson; 20 October 1904 – 3 June 1986), known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer. She was a successful box-office draw in the British cinema ...

Fernand Gravey Fernand Gravey (25 December 1905 in Ixelles (Belgium) – 2 November 1970 in Paris, France),Death certificate # 8/445/1970 also known as Fernand Gravet in the United States, was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who ap ...

Muriel Aked Muriel Aked (9 November 1883 – 21 March 1955) was an English film actress. Early life, family and education Aked was born in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England to George Henry Aked and his wife Emma (née Bairstow). She was a student ...

and Edward Chapman. An

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

President falls in love with the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

whom he had previously deposed.BFI.org
/ref> It was also released as ''Queen's Affair'' and ''Runaway Queen''. It was made at British and Dominion Elstree Studios. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Lawrence P. Williams Lawrence P. Williams (10 August 1905 – 8 October 1996) was a British motion picture art director. He was born in Slough, Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire). Filmography * ''So Well Remembered'' (1947) * ''Brief Encounter'' (1945) (as L.P. Willia ...

. Gowns were designed by

Doris Zinkeisen Doris Clare Zinkeisen (31 July 1898 – 3 January 1991) was a Scottish theatrical stage and costume designer, painter, commercial artist, and writer. She was best known for her work in theatrical design. Early life Doris Zinkeisen was born in C ...

Plot

Poor New York shop girl Nadina (Anna Neagle) receives unexpected news of an inheritance, and learns she is next in line to be queen of an Eastern European country. On her arrival in

Ruritania Ruritania is a fictional country, originally located in central Europe as a setting for novels by Anthony Hope, such as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1894). Nowadays the term connotes a quaint minor European country, or is used as a placeholder name f ...

, a revolution is in progress, and only minutes before her coronation, Nadina is forced into exile. She flees to Paris with her nurse (Muriel Aked), and then travels on to Switzerland. There Nadina encounters the Ruritanian revolutionary leader Carl (Fernand Gravey), recuperating from the trials of revolution, and the couple unexpectedly fall in love. When the revolution collapses in Ruritania, they return and marry, thus forming a constitutional monarchy supported by all the people.

Cast

as Queen Nadina *

as Carl *

as Marie Soubrekoff *

Miles Malleson William Miles Malleson (25 May 1888 – 15 March 1969) was an English actor and dramatist, particularly remembered for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career he also appeared in cameo roles i ...

as The Chancellor *

Gibb McLaughlin George McLoughlin (19 July 1879 – 30 June 1961), known professionally as Gibb McLaughlin, was an English film and stage actor. Early days McLaughlin was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England in 1879. For about 10 years he was a sale ...

as General Korensky * Michael Hogan as The Leader * Stuart Robertson as Revolutionary *

Hay Petrie David Hay Petrie (16 July 1895 – 30 July 1948) was a Scottish actor noted for playing eccentric characters, among them Quilp in ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' (1934), the McLaggen in ''The Ghost Goes West'' (1935) and Uncle Pumblechook in '' Great ...

as Revolutionary *

Reginald Purdell Reginald Purdell (4 November 1896 – 22 April 1953) was an English actor and screenwriter who appeared in over 40 films between 1930 and 1951. During the same period he also contributed to the screenplays of 15 feature films, such as '' Th ...

as Soldier * Edward Chapman as Soldier *

Clifford Heatherley Clifford Heatherley Lamb (8 October 1888 in Preston, Lancashire – 15 September 1937 in London) was an English stage and film actor. Filmography * ''Henry VIII'' (1911) * ''Bleak House'' (1920) * ''The Tavern Knight'' (1920) * '' The Myst ...

as Diplomat * David Burns as Manager *

Trefor Jones Trefor may refer to: People Given name Trefor * Trefor Evans (born 1947), former Wales international rugby union player * Trefor Jenkins (born 1932), Welsh-born South African human geneticist * Trefor Richard Morgan (1914–1970), Welsh nation ...

as Singer *

Arthur Chesney Arthur William Kellaway (21 November 1881 – 27 August 1949), known as Arthur Chesney, was an English character actor who worked on stage and screen. Biography He was born 21 November 1881 in Hampstead, London, the son of John and Catherine Ke ...

Dino Galvani Dino Galvani (born Candido Galvanoni; 27 October 189014 September 1960) was an Italian-British actor, who made his career in Britain on stage and radio and in films. He is remembered for his role in the popular BBC radio comedy series ''ITMA'' fr ...

Herbert Langley Herbert Langley (1888–1967) was a well-known early twentieth-century English opera singer (baritone) who later also played leading acting roles in a number of British silent films; and then smaller roles with the arrival of sound. He was the fat ...

* Helen Mardi *

Tarva Penna __NOTOC__ Tarva may refer to: Places Estonia * Tarva, Põhja-Pärnumaa Parish, a village in Põhja-Pärnumaa Parish in Pärnu County, Estonia * Tarva, Lääneranna Parish, a village in Lääneranna Parish in Pärnu County, Estonia Norway * Tarva ( ...

Critical reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' wrote, "This average musical features a good star turn by Neagle, but the whole film looks awfully dated."

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

* * 1934 films British musical films 1930s English-language films 1934 musical films Operetta films Films based on operettas Films directed by Herbert Wilcox Films set in Europe British black-and-white films British and Dominions Studios films Films shot at Imperial Studios, Elstree 1930s British films English-language musical films {{UK-musical-film-stub