Stanley Lupino, the father of Ida Lupino, had been a big West End star for fifteen years when he made this starring vehicle with Thelma Todd, looking as good as she ever did and falling right in with the comedy of the situation. Lupino, like his cousin Lupino Lane, was a high-energy performer and they not only looked alike, they moved alike, Although Stanley does not run around on the ceilings or make inanimate objects come alive, this movie starts and never stops. Neither are the songs really top-notch, but they are presented very engagingly.
What makes this movie a real find is that Alfred Hitchcock and his writers seem to have cribbed extensively from it for THE 39 STEPS, particularly in the Public House scenes. I wonder where co-writer Launder, who later co-wrote Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES -- pay-off? -- lifted it from.
Director Monty Banks, himself a star of American comedy in the 1920s, can be spotted as the driver of the world's worst taxi. Keep an eye out for this one -- the Library of Congress has just made a new print.
What makes this movie a real find is that Alfred Hitchcock and his writers seem to have cribbed extensively from it for THE 39 STEPS, particularly in the Public House scenes. I wonder where co-writer Launder, who later co-wrote Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES -- pay-off? -- lifted it from.
Director Monty Banks, himself a star of American comedy in the 1920s, can be spotted as the driver of the world's worst taxi. Keep an eye out for this one -- the Library of Congress has just made a new print.