During the Second World War, a special constable and former solicitor is called upon to defend his son who is accused of the theft of a car
09-07-1940
1h 9m
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HELLA
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Herbert Mason
Writers:
Brock Williams, John Dighton
Production:
Warner Bros. First National
Key Crew
Director of Photography:
Basil Emmott
Locations and Languages
Country:
US; GB
Filming:
GB
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Edward Chapman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Edward Chapman (13 October 1901 - 9 August 1977) was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. Wilfred Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s.
Chapman was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. On leaving school he became a bank clerk but later began his stage career with Ben Greet's Company in June 1924 at the Repertory Theatre, Nottingham, playing Gecko in George du Maurier's Trilby. He made his first London stage appearance at the Court Theatre in August 1925 playing the Rev Septimus Tudor in The Farmer's Wife. Among dozens of stage roles that followed, he played Bonaparte to Margaret Rawlings's Josephine in Napoleon at the Embassy Theatre in September 1934. In 1928 he attracted the attention of Alfred Hitchcock, who gave him the role of "The Paycock" in the 1930 film, Juno and the Paycock. In the same year he also made an appearance in Caste (of which no prints are known to exist). He had a role in The Citadel in 1938 and appeared alongside George Formby in the Ealing Studios comedy Turned Out Nice Again in 1941.
During the Second World War he took a break from acting and joined the Royal Air Force. After training he was posted to 129 (Mysore) Squadron as an intelligence officer. This Spitfire squadron was based at Westhampnett and Debden. The squadron was heavily engaged in combat during this period and many of Chapman's fellow squadron mates were killed in action.
Chapman first starred alongside Wisdom in 1957's Just My Luck in the role of Mr. Stoneway, but the next year in The Square Peg he appeared as Mr. Grimsdale for the first time opposite Wisdom's character of Norman Pitkin. In 1960 he and Wisdom acted together again in The Bulldog Breed, playing the roles of Mr. Philpots and Norman Puckle - Mr. Grimsdale and Pitkin in all but name. Wisdom appeared alone as Norman Pitkin in On the Beat in 1962, while Chapman branched out, starring in the Danish folktale Venus fra Vestø, but Grimsdale and Pitkin were reunited for 1963's A Stitch in Time. Their final performance together was in The Early Bird in 1965, Wisdom's first film in colour. In all, he appeared alongside Norman Wisdom in five films.
After Sir John Gielgud was arrested for "persistently importuning male persons for immoral purposes", Chapman started a petition to force him to resign from Equity. Sir Laurence Olivier reportedly threw Chapman out of his dressing room when he solicited his signature for the petition.
From 1965 Chapman played mostly characters roles on television. His final role was as Mr. Callon for nine episodes of the BBC's seafaring melodrama The Onedin Line between 1971 and 1972. Chapman died of a heart attack in Brighton, East Sussex, England at the age of 75.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Edward Chapman, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
A distinguished stage and film actress Jane Baxter was one of the most glamorous performers on the London stage. Winston Churchill, an ardent fan, once described her as, "that charming lady who grace personifies all that is best in British womanhood". Her stage career spanned half a century and she is best remembered for her role in "Dial M For Murder", in which she co-starred with Michael Redgrave. Redgrave said that she was "every undergraduate's ideal of an English rose".
Born Fedora Kathleen Alice Forde in Germany, she came to London as a child and studied acting at the Italia Conti Stage School. She made her West End debut at the age of 13 in the musical comedy "Love's Prisoner". On the advice of the playwright J.M. Barrie, she changed her name to Jane Baxter and, in 1938, played the lead in the hit comedy "A Damsel in Distress".
Several other West End shows followed as well as films such as We Live Again (1934), with Fredric March and The Clairvoyant (1935), with Claude Rains and, in 1935, she joined the repertory company at the Liverpool Playhouse where the leading actor was Michael Redgrave. He viewed her arrival "with some alarm", expecting "a spoilt and temperamental film star". Instead, he found "a delightful actress". Baxter eventually became godmother to Redgrave's daughter, the future actress Vanessa Redgrave.
She had success again in London in 1937 with "George and Margaret", which ran for two years and, on Broadway, she co-starred with John Gielgud and Margaret Rutherford in "The Importance of Being Earnest", in which she played "Cicely Cardew".
She continued to make films and appear on stage throughout the 1960s and her final London stage role was in John Mortimer's "A Voyage Round My Father", in which she starred opposite Michael Redgrave. Her last stage role was at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley in 1978 in the thriller "Assault", in which she appeared with Richard Todd. In 1992, she made a guest appearance - to a standing ovation - at the London Palladium in "A Tribute to Evelyn Laye". In her will, she requested that there be no memorial service for her but just a gathering of friends at her local church in Wimbledon, South London. Film director Bryan Forbes gave the address
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mary Clare (17 July 1892 – 29 August 1970) was a British actress of stage, film and television. In films, she was mainly a character actress, in later life often portraying mature ladies who had strength of character or were autocratic. She appeared in two of the British-made Alfred Hitchcock films, Young and Innocent (1937) and The Lady Vanishes (1938).
Glynis Johns (October 5, 1923 - January 4, 2024) was a South African-born British actress, dancer, musician and singer. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, while her parents were on tour, she is best known for originating the role of Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music on Broadway, for which she won a Tony Award, and for playing Winifred Banks in Walt Disney's musical motion picture Mary Poppins. In 2020, with the death of Olivia de Havilland, Johns became the oldest living Academy Award-nominee in any acting category.
In both roles, Johns sang songs written specifically for her, including "Send in the Clowns", composed by Stephen Sondheim, and "Sister Suffragette", written by the Sherman Brothers.
Johns was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the 1960 film The Sundowners. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood and class years of British cinema. She is known for the breathy quality of her husky voice and her upbeat persona.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Glynis Johns, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Muriel George was an English singer and film actress who appeared in 55 films between 1932 and 1955, as well as on the variety stage and on radio with her second husband Ernest Butcher.