''Wedding Rehearsal'' is a 1932 British
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film directed by
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)[Roland Young
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...](_blank)
as a bachelor forced to seek a wife.
Plot
"Reggie", the carefree
Marquis
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
of Buckminster, is happy to serve as
best man
A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...
at his friends' weddings, but loathes the idea of getting married himself. However, his grandmother, the Dowager Marchioness of Buckminster, is impatient for him to have children and gives him an ultimatum: find a wife or she will cut off his allowance. She gives him a list of half a dozen or so candidates she has handpicked. At the head of the list are the twin daughters of the Earl of Stokeshire, Lady Mary Rose and Lady Rose Mary. Observing his discomfort with interest is the Marchioness's secretary and companion, Miss Hutchinson (
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...
in her first credited role).
Reggie had been seeing a beautiful married woman, Mrs. Dryden, but faced with poverty, he gives in. He flips a coin to decide between the twins, but finds (to his relief) that both already have beaus, "Bimbo" and "Tootles". However, the young ladies have been reluctant to approach their status-conscious father, as their sweethearts are commoners. Reggie comes up with the idea to save himself from marriage by getting all his grandmother's candidates engaged, starting with the twins. He helps the two couples by leaking the story of their engagements to the press, forcing the earl to (reluctantly) accept the situation. The guests spend the days leading up to the dual wedding at the earl's country estate, affording Reggie the opportunity to successfully play matchmaker for the rest of the women on his list.
One night, he finds Miss Hutchinson alone and crying; he guesses she is having romantic problems of her own and advises her to look her man straight in the eye and have it out. Later, she takes his advice...and confronts him. Reggie then discovers he is not so opposed to marriage after all. All is complete when the marchioness herself accepts the proposal of a longtime admirer, Major Harry Roxbury.
Cast
*
Roland Young
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
as Marquis of Buckminster
*
George Grossmith, Jr.
George Grossmith Jr. (11 May 1874 – 6 June 1935) was an English actor, theatre producer and manager, director, playwright and songwriter, best remembered for his work in and with Edwardian musical comedies. Grossmith was also an important inn ...
as Earl of Stokeshire
*
John Loder as "Bimbo"
*
Wendy Barrie
Wendy Barrie (born Marguerite Wendy Jenkins; 18 April 1912 – 2 February 1978) was a British-American film and television actress.
Early life
Barrie was born in London to English parents. Her father, Francis Charles John Graigoe Jenkin KC ...
as Lady Mary Rose
*
Joan Gardner as Lady Rose Mary
*
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...
as Miss Hutchinson
*
Helen Maud Holt
Helen Maud Holt (5 October 1863 – 7 August 1937), professionally known as Mrs Beerbohm Tree and later Lady Tree, was an English actress. She was the wife of the actor Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and the mother of Viola Tree, Felicity Tree and I ...
(Lady Tree) as Countess of Stokeshire
*
Kate Cutler
Kate Ellen Louisa Cutler (14 August 1864 – 14 May 1955) was an English singer and actress, known in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an ''ingénue'' in musical comedies, and later as a character actress in comic and dramatic ...
as Dowager Marchioness of Buckminster
*
Maurice Evans as "Tootles"
*
Morton Selten
Morton Selten (6 January 1860 – 27 July 1939) was a British stage and film actor. He was occasionally credited as Morton Selton.
Biography
At birth, Selten was given the name Morton Richard Stubbs and claimed as the son of Morton Stubbs, a ...
as Major Harry Roxbury
*
Edmund Breon
Edmund Breon (born Iver Edmund de Breon MacLaverty; 12 December 1882 – 24 June 1953) was a Scottish film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1907 and 1952.
Life and career
Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Br ...
as Lord Fleet
*
Laurence Hanray
Laurence Hanray ( Lawrence Henry Jacobs; 16 May 1874 – 28 November 1947), sometimes credited as Lawrence Hanray, was a British film and theatre actor born in London, England. He is also credited as the author of several plays and music hall s ...
as News Editor
*
Diana Napier
Alice Mary Wolkowicki (née Ellis, formerly Mulcaster and Tauber; 31 January 1905 – 12 March 1982), known professionally as Diana Napier, was an English film actress. as Mrs. Dryden
References
External links
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{{Alexander Korda
1932 films
British black-and-white films
Films directed by Alexander Korda
London Films films
1930s romantic comedy-drama films
Films produced by Alexander Korda
British romantic comedy-drama films
1932 comedy films
1932 drama films
1930s British films