Michael and Mary | |
---|---|
Directed by | Victor Saville |
Written by | |
Based on | Michael and Mary by A. A. Milne |
Produced by | Michael Balcon |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Leslie Rowson |
Edited by | Ian Dalrymple |
Music by | Louis Levy |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Ideal Films Universal Pictures (US) |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Michael and Mary is a 1931 British drama film directed by Victor Saville and starring Elizabeth Allan, Edna Best, Frank Lawton, and Herbert Marshall. This was the first of the Edna Best and Herbert Marshall co-starring talkies. It was based on a play of the same name by A.A. Milne. Milne's story was adapted by Lajos Bíró,Robert Stevenson and Angus MacPhail. Produced by Gainsborough Pictures, it was shot at the company's Islington Studios in London. [1] The film's sets were designed by the art director Alex Vetchinsky.
The play was first performed on 13 December 1929 at the Charles Hopkins Theatre in New York. It starred Henry Hull, Edith Barrett and Harry Beresford. It then transferred to the St James's Theatre in London's West End.
A young bride (Edna Best) is deserted by her husband (D. A. Clarke-Smith) but finds happiness with another man (Herbert Marshall). They contract a bigamous marriage for the sake of their child (Frank Lawton).
The first husband turns up and starts black-mailing them. During a quarrel with the second husband, he dies. After some complications, their son learns the truth, but stands by them.
The film was voted the third best British movie of 1932. [2] With a shortened running time of 76 minutes, it was distributed in America by Universal Pictures.
Michael and Mary was presented on Hollywood Sound Stage 20 March 1952. The 30-minute adaptation starred Deborah Kerr and Herbert Marshall. [3]
Ronald Charles Colman was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then emigrating to the United States and having a highly successful Hollywood film career. He starred in silent films and successfully transitioned to sound, aided by a distinctive, pleasing voice. He was most popular during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. He received Oscar nominations for Bulldog Drummond (1929), Condemned (1929) and Random Harvest (1942). Colman starred in several classic films, including A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937) and The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). He also played the starring role in the Technicolor classic Kismet (1944), with Marlene Dietrich, which was nominated for four Academy Awards. In 1947, he won an Academy Award for Best Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the film A Double Life.
Stewart Granger was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.
Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE, was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included The Lady Vanishes (1938), Night Train to Munich (1940), The Man in Grey (1943), and The Wicked Lady (1945). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress for the 1955 film Cast a Dark Shadow. She also starred in the television series Justice (1971–74).
Edna Clara Best was a British actress.
Robert Edward Stevenson was a British-American screenwriter and film director.
The Royal Family is a play written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Its premiere on Broadway was at the Selwyn Theatre on 28 December 1927, where it ran for 345 performances to close in October 1928. It was included in Burns Mantle's The Best Plays of 1927–1928.
Mildred Dorothy Dunnock was an American stage and screen actress. She was nominated twice for an Academy Award for her works in Death of a Salesman (1951) and Baby Doll (1956).
Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall was an English stage, screen, and radio actor who starred in many popular and well-regarded Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. After a successful theatrical career in the United Kingdom and North America, he became an in-demand Hollywood leading man, frequently appearing in romantic melodramas and occasional comedies. In his later years, he turned to character acting.
Margaret Scudamore was an English theatre and film actress who began in ingenue roles before achieving a prolonged career in stage and screen support roles. She and her first husband, Roy Redgrave (1873-1922), are considered to be the first members of the now renowned Redgrave acting dynasty.
Elizabeth Allan was an English stage and film actress who worked in both Britain and Hollywood, where she appeared in 50 films.
Barbara Britton was an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Western film roles opposite Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Gene Autry and for her two-year tenure as inquisitive amateur sleuth Pam North on the television and radio series Mr. and Mrs. North.
Edward Black was a British film producer, best known for being head of production at Gainsborough Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during which time he oversaw production of the Gainsborough melodramas. He also produced such classic films as The Lady Vanishes (1938). Black has been called "one of the unsung heroes of the British film industry" and "one of the greatest figures in British film history, the maker of stars like Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, John Mills and Stewart Granger. He was also one of the very few producers whose films, over a considerable period, made money." In 1946 Mason called Black "the one good production executive" that J. Arthur Rank had. Frank Launder called Black "a great showman and yet he had a great feeling for scripts and spent more time on them than anyone I have ever known. His experimental films used to come off as successful as his others."
Detective Story is a 1949 play in three acts by American playwright Sidney Kingsley. The play opened on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre on March 23, 1949 where it played until the production moved to the Broadhurst Theatre on July 3, 1950. The production closed on August 12, 1950 after 581 performances. The cast notably included Lydia Clarke who won a Theatre World Award for her performance.
Suddenly, It's Spring is a 1947 American comedy film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Paulette Goddard, Fred MacMurray and Macdonald Carey. Some sources list the title without a comma. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
The Calendar is a 1931 British drama film directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Herbert Marshall, Edna Best and Anne Grey. Racehorse owner Anson is swindled by a woman named Wenda and goes up in front of the Jockey Club where he is disqualified on race fixing allegations. He decides to get his own back with the help of Hillcott, an ex-burglar. Jill is the love interest. It was released as Bachelor's Folly in the United States.
Samuel George Herbert Mason was a British film director, producer, stage actor, army officer, presenter of some revues, stage manager, stage director, choreographer, production manager and playwright. He was a recipient of the Military Cross the prestigious award for "gallantry during active operations against the enemy." He received the gallantry award for his part in the Battle of Guillemont where British troops defeated the Germans to take the German stronghold of Guillemont.
The Faithful Heart is a 1932 British drama film directed by Victor Saville and starring Herbert Marshall, Edna Best and Anne Grey. It is based on the 1921 play The Faithful Heart by Monckton Hoffe. It was made at Islington Studios of Gainsborough Pictures in London. The film's sets were designed by Alex Vetchinsky.
Forgotten Faces is a 1936 American drama film directed by Ewald André Dupont and starring Herbert Marshall, Gertrude Michael and James Burke. Marshall and Michael had also starred in Till We Meet Again earlier in 1936.
The Calendar is a 1929 play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. It is a crime thriller set in the world of horse racing world, the sport being among Wallace's interests. The protagonist is a financially struggling racehorse owner with a shady reputation. It premiered at the Palace Theatre in Manchester before transferring to Wyndham's Theatre in the West End.
Michael and Mary is a play by the British author A.A. Milne. It was staged at the Charles Hopkins Theatre in New York City, running for 246 performances between December 1929 and July 1930. It had by then transferred to the St James's Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 159 performances between 1 February and 21 June 1930. The original West End cast included Herbert Marshall, Edna Best, Elizabeth Allan, Frank Lawton, D.A. Clarke-Smith, Reginald Bach, Oliver Wakefield, J. Fisher White, Torin Thatcher, Olwen Brookes and Margaret Scudamore.