The Church Mouse | |
---|---|
Directed by | Monty Banks |
Written by | |
Produced by | Irving Asher |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Basil Emmott |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Brothers |
Release date |
|
Running time | 76 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Church Mouse is a 1934 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Laura La Plante, Ian Hunter and Edward Chapman. It was made by the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers at the company's Teddington Studios. [1] It was made as a more expensive production than much of the studio's low-budget quota quickie output.
It is based on a 1928 play by Ladislas Fodor which has been turned into films on several occasions including a 1931 German film Poor as a Church Mouse and the 1932 American production Beauty and the Boss . A bank owner's prim and uptight Secretary suddenly blossoms during a business trip to Paris. [2]
The opening scenes show the historical development of Steele's Bank in London as it adopts first steel pens and then typewriters during the nineteenth century. In 1934 the current head of the bank Jonathan Steele is as technology-obsessed as his predecessors and installs an intercom and constantly flies by plane.
Steele strictly divides his life between work and pleasure. He dismisses a very attractive secretary who is distracting him by trying to seduce him at work, in order that they can become lovers after office hours. This creates a vacancy which a hard-pressed young woman, Betty Miller, who self-describes herself as a "church mouse", fills by showing Steele how super-efficient she is.
Miller rapidly becomes invaluable to Steele, but comes to resent the fact that only sees her as an employee rather than a woman. While in Paris, in order to seal a major business deal she has a major makeover, and suddenly finds herself attracting a great deal of male attention.
Molly Lamont was a South African-British film actress.
Colin Gordon was a British actor. Although primarily a stage actor he made numerous appearances on television and in cinema films, generally in comedies. His stage career was mainly in the West End, but he was seen in the provinces in some touring productions.
Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python is a British television special dedicated to Monty Python, created to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the debut of the comedy group's television series, Monty Python's Flying Circus. Produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for the BBC, it was compiled by renowned British comedy producer John Lloyd and aired on BBC 1 on 18 November 1989.
The Spoilers is a 1955 American Western film directed by Jesse Hibbs and starring Anne Baxter, Jeff Chandler and Rory Calhoun. Set in Nome, Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush, it culminates in a spectacular saloon fistfight between Glennister (Chandler) and McNamara (Calhoun).
Ian Hunter was a Cape Colony-born British actor of stage, film and television.
Edward Chapman was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. William 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.
Man of the Moment is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Laura La Plante and Margaret Lockwood. It was made at Teddington Studios by the British subsidiary of Warner Brothers. The film's art direction was by Peter Proud.
Tilly of Bloomsbury is a 1931 British comedy film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Sydney Howard, Phyllis Konstam, Richard Bird and Edward Chapman. It is based on the play Tilly of Bloomsbury by Ian Hay, previously adapted into a 1921 silent film of the same title It was shot at the Elstree Studios outside London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Clifford Pember. The screenplay concerns a woman who falls in love with an aristocrat.
The Queen's Affair is a 1934 British musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Fernand Gravey, Muriel Aked and Edward Chapman. An Eastern European President falls in love with the Queen whom he had previously deposed. It was also released as Queen's Affair and Runaway Queen.
Mavis Villiers 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 and cinematographer. Her stage name, Villiers, was taken from her maternal grandfather.
Jack of All Trades is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and Jack Hulbert and starring Hulbert, Gina Malo and Robertson Hare. It is based on the 1934 play Youth at the Helm. The film was made at Islington Studios, with sets designed by Alex Vetchinsky.
Money for Nothing is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Seymour Hicks, Betty Stockfeld and Edmund Gwenn. It was produced by British International Pictures and shot at the company's Elstree Studios near London. A French-language remake of the film Love and Luck, also directed by Banks, premiered later in the year.
The Girl in Possession is a 1934 British comedy film starring Laura La Plante and Henry Kendall and directed by Monty Banks, who also wrote the screenplay and featured in the film himself.
Take It from Me is a 1937 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Max Miller, Betty Lynne and Buddy Baer. It is often referred to by its working title, Transatlantic Trouble. Ahead of its opening in Australia, the filmmakers were sued there by a Lady Fairhaven who complained that a character in the film with the same name could be confused for her. The case was settled out of court. Existing cast lists only refer to a "Lady Foxham"; it is possible the offending name was ultimately overdubbed. It is now believed to be a lost film.
Tonight's the Night is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Leslie Fuller, Amy Veness and Charles Farrell. The screenplay concerns a man who is wrongly imprisoned for theft and escapes from jail and tracks down the real culprit. It is also known by the alternative title Tonight's the Night: Pass It On. Leslie Arliss was a co-screenwriter. It was shot at the Elstree Studios of British International Pictures.
The Prude's Fall is a 1925 British silent drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Jane Novak, Julanne Johnston, and Warwick Ward.
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.
Saturday Night Revue is a 1937 British musical film directed by Norman Lee and starring Billy Milton, Sally Gray and John Watt.
Heads We Go is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Constance Cummings, Frank Lawton and Binnie Barnes. It was produced at Elstree Studios by British International Pictures.
Leal Douglas was a British-Australian actress, mainly of the silent film era.