The L-Shaped Room is a 1962 British drama romance film directed by Bryan Forbes, based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Lynne Reid Banks. It tells the story of Jane Fosset, a young French woman, unmarried and pregnant, who moves into a cheap London boarding house, befriending a young man, Toby, in the building. The work is considered part of the kitchen sink realism school of British drama. The film reflected a trend in British films of greater frankness about sex and displays a sympathetic treatment of outsiders "unmarried mothers, lesbian or black" as well as a "largely natural and non-judgmental handling of their problems". As director, Forbes represents "a more romantic, wistful type of realism" than that of Tony Richardson or Lindsay Anderson.
Robert Edward Stevenson was a British-American screenwriter and film director.
Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge, was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End by the age of 16, and was quickly promoted from minor to major roles in his Edwardian musical comedies.
John Norman Hulbert was a British actor, director, screenwriter and singer, specializing primarily in comedy productions, and often working alongside his wife (Dame) Cicely Courtneidge.
Yield to the Night is a 1956 British crime drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Diana Dors. The film is based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Joan Henry.
Robert Courtneidge was a British theatrical manager-producer and playwright. He is best remembered as the co-author of the light opera Tom Jones (1907) and the producer of The Arcadians (1909). He was the father of the actress Cicely Courtneidge, who played in many of his early 20th century productions.
Leslie Arliss was an English screenwriter and director. He is best known for his work on the Gainsborough melodramas directing films such as The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady during the 1940s.
Peter Haddon was an English actor.
William Percy Lipscomb was a British-born Hollywood playwright, screenwriter, producer and director. He died in London in 1958, aged 71.
Idol of Paris is a 1948 film based on the novel Paiva, Queen of Love by Alfred Schirokauer, about a mid-19th century French courtesan Theresa who sleeps her way from poverty to the top of Second Empire society. It was an attempt by its makers to imitate the success of the Gainsborough melodramas.
Not Now, Darling is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Ray Cooney and David Croft and starring Trudi Van Doorn, Leslie Phillips and Julie Ege. It was adapted from the 1967 play of the same title by John Chapman and Ray Cooney. The film is a farce centred on a shop in London that sells fur coats. A loosely related sequel Not Now, Comrade was released in 1976.
Under Your Hat is a 1940 British musical comedy spy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge and Austin Trevor.
Me and Marlborough is a 1935 British comedy film, directed by Victor Saville, and starring Cicely Courtneidge, Tom Walls, Barry MacKay, Peter Gawthorne, Henry Oscar and Cecil Parker.
Jack's the Boy is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, Francis Lister and Peter Gawthorne. It became well known for its song "The Flies Crawled Up the Window", sung by Hulbert, which was released as a record and proved a major hit. The film was released in the U.S. as Night and Day.
Diamond City is a 1949 British drama film directed by David MacDonald and starring David Farrar, Honor Blackman, Diana Dors and Niall MacGinnis.
The Great Game is a 1953 British sports comedy-drama directed by Maurice Elvey and starring James Hayter, Thora Hird and Diana Dors. It was based on a play by Basil Thomas. Many of the scenes were shot at Griffin Park the home of Brentford F.C. Several professional football players made appearances in the film including Tommy Lawton.
Adelphi Films Limited was a British film production company. With its sister company Advance, it produced over 30 films in the 1940s and 1950s and distributed many more. Adelphi linked Gainsborough Pictures and the raw “kitchen sink” dramas of the early 1960s.
Patrick Holt was an English film and television actor.
The Spider's Web is a 1960 British mystery film directed by Godfrey Grayson and starring Glynis Johns, John Justin, Cicely Courtneidge and Jack Hulbert. It is an adaptation of the 1954 play Spider's Web by Agatha Christie, and a rare Technicolor 'A' feature from the Danzigers. It was remade as a television special starring Penelope Keith that was broadcast on 26 December 1982.
Soldiers of the King is a 1933 British historical comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Cicely Courtneidge, Edward Everett Horton and Anthony Bushell. It was Courtneidge's fourth film, and the first she appeared in without her husband Jack Hulbert. Courtneidge plays the matriarch of a music hall family, in a plot that switches between the Victorian era and the 1930s present.
