''The Public Life of Henry the Ninth'' is a 1935 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Bernard Mainwaring and starring Leonard Henry, Betty Frankiss, and

George Mozart George Mozart (1864–1947) was a British music hall comedian. He began his career at the age of nine playing side-drums at the Theatre Royal, Great Yarmouth and completed more than 70 years as a music-hall entertainer, his last appearance being ...

. This film was the first film made by

Hammer Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic fiction, Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of thes ...

, and was Henry's film debut. It is set largely in the bar of the Henry VIII

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, with the title alluding to the 1933 Oscar-winning film ''

The Private Life of Henry VIII ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' is a 1933 British film directed and co-produced by Alexander Korda and starring Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon and Elsa Lanchester. It was written by Lajos Bíró and Arthur Wimperis for London F ...

''. Originally released in 1935 by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

, it was released again in 1940, this time by Exclusive. It is on the

BFI 75 Most Wanted The BFI 75 Most Wanted is a list compiled in 2010 by the British Film Institute of the most sought-after British feature films not held in the BFI National Archive, and classified as "missing, believed lost". The films chosen range from quota qu ...

list of

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

Cast

* Leonard Henry as Henry * Betty Frankiss as Maggie *

as Draughts Player *

Wally Patch Walter Sydney Vinnicombe (26 September 1888 – 27 October 1970) was an English actor and comedian. He worked in film, television and theatre. Biography Vinnicombe was born in Willesden, Middlesex and began working on the music hall stages in ...

as Landlord * Aileen Latham as Liz * Mae Bacon as Landlady * Herbert Langley as Police Constable * Dorothy Vernon as Mrs. Fickle

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' called Leonard Henry "a likeable character in his first film," and assessed the movie as "good light entertainment without being riotously funny."

References

External links

BFI 75 Most Wanted entry
with extensive notes * 1935 films 1935 comedy films British comedy films Films directed by Bernard Mainwaring Films set in London Lost British films Hammer Film Productions films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films British black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{1930s-UK-comedy-film-stub