''I Live in Grosvenor Square'' is a British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

romance

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed and produced by

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wif ...

. It was the first of Wilcox's "London films" collaboration with his wife, actress Anna Neagle. Her co-stars were Dean Jagger and

Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French Without Tears'', in wh ...

. The plot is set in a context of US-British wartime co-operation, and displays icons of popular music with the purpose of harmonising relationships on both sides of the Atlantic. An edited version was distributed in the United States, with two additional scenes filmed in Hollywood, under the title ''A Yank in London''.

Plot

In the summer of 1943, after he is taken off combat operations for medical reasons, American SSgt John Patterson ( Dean Jagger), an

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War ...

gunner, is billeted in the London home of the Duke of Exmoor ( Robert Morley) in London's

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable ...

. He is befriended by the Duke and British paratrooper Major David Bruce (

). The latter has taken leave from the army to contest a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

in Devonshire. On a weekend visit to the duke's estate near Exmoor in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, Patterson meets the duke's granddaughter, Lady Patricia Fairfax ( Anna Neagle), who is also a corporal in the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

. However, she is David's childhood sweetheart. After a cool beginning, distanced on cultural misunderstandings, they fall in love. David is unaware of what is happening until the final night before the election, when it becomes clear to him during a party on the estate. The next day, the duke learns that his estate has been appropriated by the American army for a base and that David has lost the election. David and Patricia argue, and David plans to return to active service. When Patterson realizes that Pat and David have long expected to marry, he contrives to obtain medical clearance to go back to combat duty. David realises that Pat still loves Patterson and arranges for them to reunite. Returning from a mission with heavy battle damage, Patterson attempts to help his pilot land their

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

at an emergency landing strip at Exmoor, but is killed when the bomber stalls as they manoeuvre to avoid crashing in the village. The plane explodes killing everyone. Ironically it is Pat who takes the message listing the dead. The duke and his family mourn Patterson at a memorial service in the village church, an American flag is presented to be hung in the school. The vicar reads out the names of the crew who died to save the village. David is seen in the co-pilots seat flying with his paratroop unit to parachute into France (implying but not stating that it is

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

). The film ends with a poem by

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

regarding the relationship between the USA and Britain.

Cast

* Anna Neagle as Lady Patricia Fairfax, granddaughter of the Duke of Exmoor *

as Major David Bruce * Dean Jagger as Staff Sergeant John Patterson * Robert Morley as The Duke of Exmoor * Nancy Price as Mrs Wilson * Dame Irene Vanbrugh as Mrs. Mildred Catchpole, cousin of the Duke of Exmoor * Jane Darwell as Mrs Patterson * Elliott Arluck as Sergeant Benjie Greenburg * Walter Hudd as Vicar * Edward Rigby as Innkeeper *

Cecil Ramage Cecil Beresford Ramage, MC (17 January 1895 – 22 February 1988) was a Scottish barrister, actor and Liberal politician. Life Following his education at the Edinburgh Academy, Ramage was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Scots at the o ...

as Trewhewy * Irene Manning as Herself - U.S.O. Singer * Francis Pierlot as Postman * Aubrey Mallalieu as Bates * Michael Shepley as Lieutenant Lutyens Notable supporting players included Charles Victor, Ronald Shiner, Percy Walsh, Brenda Bruce, Shelagh Fraser,

John Slater John Slater may refer to: Business and government *John Slater (industrialist) (1776–1843), (American) father of John Fox Slater, brother and partner of Samuel Slater *John Fox Slater (1815–1884), American philanthropist, son of John Slater ( ...

, Alvar Lidell, David Horne, Robert Farnon and Carroll Gibbons. The Canadian Band of the AEF appears with bandleader/arranger Captain Robert Farnon. They filmed their sequence in late 1944.

Reception

Wilcox later said

was the greatest actor whom he had ever directed "without a doubt". He planned on making more films with Harrison but the actor received a contract offer from 20th Century Fox and left for Hollywood.

Box Office

The film was popular at the British box office. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'' the 'biggest winners' at the box office in 1945 Britain were ''The Seventh Veil'', with "runners up" being (in release order), ''Madonna of the Seven Moons'', ''Old Acquaintance'', ''Frenchman's Creek'', ''Mrs Parkington'', ''Arsenic and Old Lace'', ''Meet Me in St Louis'', ''A Song to Remember'', ''Since You Went Away'', ''Here Come the Waves'', ''Tonight and Every Night'', ''Hollywood Canteen'', ''They Were Sisters'', ''The Princess and the Pirate'', ''The Adventures of Susan'', ''National Velvet'', ''Mrs Skefflington'', ''I Live in Grosvenor Square'', ''Nob Hill'', ''Perfect Strangers'', ''Valley of Decision'', ''Conflict'' and ''Duffy's Tavern''. British "runners up" were ''They Were Sisters'', ''I Live in Grosvenor Square'', ''Perfect Strangers'', ''Madonna of the Seven Moons'', ''Waterloo Road'', ''Blithe Spirit'', ''The Way to the Stars'', ''I'll Be Your Sweetheart'', ''Dead of Night'', ''Waltz Time'' and ''Henry V''.

Critical

Critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', "There is much that is admirable about ''A Yank in London'', and the glimpses of Irene Manning singing for the boys at the Rainbow Corner in Piccadilly will stir memories. But the picture, like the script, is diffuse, and Mr. Wilcox in his direction permits scenes to dissolve in a rambling, confusing style"; while more recently ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

'' called it "An entertaining but overlong romance."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:I Live in Grosvenor Square 1945 films 1940s romantic comedy-drama films 1940s war comedy films 1940s war drama films British romantic comedy-drama films British war comedy films British war drama films British black-and-white films Films directed by Herbert Wilcox British World War II propaganda films 1945 comedy films 1945 drama films 1940s English-language films