''An Englishman's Home'' is a 1940 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Albert de Courville Albert Pierre de Courville (26 March 1887 – 15 March 1960) (born in Croydon, England) was a writer and director of theatrical revues, many of which featured the actress and singer Shirley Kellogg, whom he married in June 1913. Career In abo ...

and starring

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...

Mary Maguire Mary Maguire (born Ellen Theresa Maguire 22 February 1919) was an Australian-born actress who briefly became a Hollywood and British film star in the late 1930s. Early life Maguire was born in Melbourne, Australia, to Michael "Mickey" Magu ...

and

Paul Henreid Paul Henreid (January 10, 1908 – March 29, 1992) was an Austrian-American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for several film roles during the Second World War, including Capt. Karl Marsen in '' Night Train to Mu ...

. It is an adaptation of the 1909 play ''

An Englishman's Home ''An Englishman's Home'' is a threat-of-invasion play by Guy du Maurier, first produced in 1909. The title is a reference to the expression "an Englishman's home is his castle". Play ''An Englishman's Home'' caused a sensation in London when i ...

'' by

Guy du Maurier Guy Louis Busson du Maurier Distinguished Service Order, DSO (18 May 1865, London, England – 9 March 1915, Kemmel, Flanders, Belgium) was an English people, English Officer (armed forces), army officer and playwright. He was the son of the ...

. It was filmed at

Denham Studios Denham Film Studios (''later dubbed Anvil Studios)'' was a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952, founded by Alexander Korda, in Buckinghamshire. Notable films made at Denham include ''Brief Encounter'' and David Lean's ...

outside

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with production commencing in May 1939. The film's sets were designed by the

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

Wilfred Arnold Wilfred Arnold (1903–1970), also known as C. Wilfred Arnold, was a British art director.Ryall p.98 He was a prolific contributor to British films, designing the sets for more than a hundred. His brother Norman Arnold was also an art directo ...

. It was picked up for distribution in the United States by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

who released it in June 1940 under the alternative title ''Mad Men of Europe''.Shull & Wilt p.147

Cast

as Tom Brown *

as Betty Brown *

as Victor Brandt *

Geoffrey Toone Geoffrey Toone (15 November 1910 – 1 June 2005) was an English actor and former matinee idol. He was born in Ireland to English parents. Most of his film roles after the 1930s were in supporting parts, usually as authority figures, though he ...

as Peter Templeton *

Richard Ainley Richard Ainley (22 December 1910 – 18 May 1967) was a British stage and film actor. Biography He was born in Middlesex, England, the son of Henry Ainley and a half-brother of Anthony Ainley. Ainley made his stage debut in 1928, initially usi ...

as Geoffrey Brown *

Desmond Tester Sydney Desmond Tester (17 February 1919 – 31 December 2002) was an English film and television actor, host and executive. He was born in London, England, and started his career as a child actor; among his most notable roles, was that of the il ...

as Billy Brown *

Carl Jaffe Carl Jaffe (21 March 1902 – 12 April 1974) was a German actor. Jaffe trained on the stage in his native Hamburg, Kassel and Wiesbaden before moving to Berlin, where his career began to develop. In 1933 Jaffe changed his stage name to Fran ...

as Martin * Meinhart Maur as Waldo *

Mavis Villiers Mavis Villiers (born Mavis Clare Cooney; 10 December 190923 February 1976) was an Australian-born British actress of stage, film and television. Her parents were John Cooney and Clara Smythe. Her brother, Cecil Cooney, was a camera operator an ...

as Dolly * Mark Lester as Uncle Ben *

Norah Howard Norah Howard (12 December 1900 – 2 May 1968) was a British actress of stage and screen. Biography She was born as Norah Lillian Emily Smeed on 12 December 1900, in Fulham, London, England, her father was Alfred Howard Smeed. She changed her st ...

as Maggie * John Wood as Jimmy

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. *Shull, Michael S. & Wilt, David Edward. ''Hollywood War Films, 1937-1945: An Exhaustive Filmography of American Feature-Length Motion Pictures Relating to World War II''. McFarland, 2015. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

* 1940 films 1940 drama films 1940s English-language films British drama films British black-and-white films 1940s British films Films directed by Albert de Courville Films shot at Denham Film Studios United Artists films British films based on plays Films scored by Louis Levy {{1940s-UK-film-stub