''I Lived With You'' is a 1933 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

Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...

and starring Ivor Novello,

Ursula Jeans Ursula Jean McMinn (5 May 1906 – 21 April 1973), better known as Ursula Jeans, was an English film, stage, and television actress. Biography Jeans was born in Simla, British India, to English parents, and brought up and educated in London. S ...

and

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

. It is based on the West End hit play ''I Lived With You'' by Novello.

Plot

Young

Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...

shop girl Gladys Wallis meets penniless Russian Prince Felix Lenieff in the

Hampton Court Maze Hampton Court Maze is a hedge maze at Hampton Court Palace and the oldest surviving hedge maze in Britain. Commissioned by King William III, the maze, which is about one-third of an acre, is planted in a trapezoid shape and was designed by ...

and, learning he has no place to stay, takes him home to live with her family. His presence creates chaos in her family's humble Fulham home. At first the others do not believe he is a prince, but he has a locket that Nicholas II, the last tsar, gave to his now-deceased mother. Gladys's father works in the diamond trade and confirms that the jewels on it are valuable diamonds. Felix does not want to sell them for his own sake, but is persuaded by Mr. Wallis to let him do so, as it will benefit the family.

Cast

* Ivor Novello as Prince Felix Lenieff *

as Gladys Wallis *

as Ada Wallis *

Minnie Rayner Minnie Rayner (2 May 1869 – 13 December 1941) was a British stage and film actress. In 1889, while in South Africa, she acted in the comic opera '' Falka'' as Edwige, the fiery Gipsey girl and sister of the brigand chief. The play was staged ...

as Mrs. Wallis *

Eliot Makeham Harold Elliott Makeham (22 December 1882 – 8 February 1956) was an English film and television actor. Career Makeham was born in London, England. Between 1931 and 1956, Makeham appeared, primarily in character roles, in 115 films and in 1 ...

as Mr. Wallis * Cicely Oates as Flossie Williams *

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...

as Mort ladys's boyfriend* Beryl Harrison as Miss Violet Bradshaw * Douglas Beaumont as Albert Wallis ladys's brother* Molly Fisher as May Sawley (as Mollie Fisher) * Victor Bogetti as Thornton da's boyfriend*

Davina Craig Davina Whitehouse (born Eileen Eliza Smith; 16 December 1912 – 25 December 2002), also known by the stage name Davina Craig before her marriage, was an English-born actress, acclaimed for her roles on stage and film in her native land in the ...

as Maggie * Hannah Jones * Agnes Imlay * Maud Buchanan * Gwen Floyd

Critical reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' wrote, "originally a play by Novello, who transplanted almost the entire cast for the filmed version, the main exception to the stage cast being Lupino, who gave a strong emotional performance." and the '' Radio Times'' wrote, "it's all directed with a teasingly respectable salaciousness by Maurice Elvey, but of much greater interest to most film fans will be the pre-fame performances of Jack Hawkins and Ida Lupino." and ''BBC Wales Arts'' wrote, "this is a riotously funny film and Novello not for the first or last time on screen, operates, tantalisingly, on different layers. He's always aware of his screen spectator in the dark, but don't be misled - this performance doesn't reek of the greasepaint in the least. It's just that Novello has the rare ability to maintain a playful, ironic stance which many critics, even today, seem incapable of appreciating or recognising."

References

Bibliography

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

External links

* 1933 films 1933 romantic comedy films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Maurice Elvey Films shot at Twickenham Film Studios Films set in London British films based on plays British romantic comedy films British black-and-white films 1930s British films {{1930s-UK-comedy-film-stub