''The Good Companions'' is a 1933 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Victor Saville Victor Saville (25 September 1895 – 8 May 1979) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954. He also produced 36 films between 1923 and 1962. Biography Saville produced his first f ...

starring

Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, Ma ...

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

and

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...

. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by

J.B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

Plot

A group of widely divergent characters meet up with a broken-down touring concert-party, throw in their lot with them, and eventually triumph after temporary setbacks. This British musical-comedy follows an unlikely trio as they try to revive the fortunes of the floundering theatrical troupe. School teacher Inigo Jolifant (

) with his talent for songwriting, and recently unemployed Jess Oakroyd (

) with his theatrical ambitions, together persuade Miss Trant (

Mary Glynne Mary Glynne (born Mary Aitken; 25 January 1895 – 19 September 1954) was a British actress. Biography Glynne was born Mary Aitken in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. She started her career in 1908, in a stage play called ''The Da ...

), an older single woman looking for adventure, to fund them as they attempt to bring "The Dinky Doos" back into the spotlight. Susie Dean (

) is a chorus girl who dreams of stardom, and when she's made the new leader of the show, it looks as if her dreams may finally come true.

Cast

as Susie Dean *

as Jess Oakroyd *

as Inigo Jollifant *

as Miss Elizabeth Trant *

Percy Parsons Edward Percy Parsons (1878–1944) was an American actor and singer who worked largely in the British film industry. Selected filmography * ''Suspense (1930 film), Suspense'' (1930) * ''Beyond the Cities'' (1930) * ''Creeping Shadows'' (1931) * ' ...

as Morton Mitcham *

Alec Fraser Alec Fraser ( Fraser-Smith; 16 February 1884 – 20 June 1956) was a British actor. Alec Fraser was born Alec Fraser-Smith in Cupar, Scotland. He died on 20 June 1956, aged 72, in London. His sister was actress/singer Agnes Fraser.Stone, Da ...

as Doctor Hugh MacFarlane * Max Miller as Millbrau * A. W. Baskcomb as Jimmy * Florence Gregson as Mrs. Oakroyd *

Frank Pettingell Frank Edmund George Pettingell (1 January 1891 – 17 February 1966) was an English actor. Pettingell was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and educated at Manchester University. During the First World War he served with the King's Liverpool Re ...

as Sam Oglethorpe *

Laurence Hanray Laurence Hanray ( Lawrence Henry Jacobs; 16 May 1874 – 28 November 1947), sometimes credited as Lawrence Hanray, was a British film and theatre actor born in London, England. He is also credited as the author of several plays and music hall s ...

as Mr. Tarvin *

Annie Esmond Annie Esmond (27 September 1873 – 4 January 1945) was a British stage and film actress. Esmond was born in Surrey, England. She made her stage debut in pantomime in Sheffield in 1891 and later appeared on the American as well as British stage ...

as Mrs. Tarvin *

George Zucco George Zucco (11 January 1886 – 27 May 1960) was a British character actor who appeared in plays and 96 films, mostly American-made, during a career spanning over two decades, from the 1920s to 1951. In his films, he often played a suave ...

as Fauntley *

Frederick Piper Frederick Piper (23 September 1902 – 22 September 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Piper studied drama under Elsie Fogerty at the ...

as Ted Oglethorpe *

Cyril Smith Sir Cyril Richard Smith (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010) was a prominent British politician who after his death was revealed to have been a prolific serial sex offender against children. A member of the Liberal Party, he was Member of ...

as Leonard Oakroyd * Tom Shale as Gatford Hotel landlord *

Dennis Hoey Dennis Hoey (born Samuel David Hyams, 30 March 1893 – 25 July 1960) was a British film and stage actor, best known for playing Inspector Lestrade in six films of Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. Early life Hoey was born Samuel David ...

as Joe Brundit * Richard Dolman as Jerry Jerningham *

Mignon O'Doherty Mignon O'Doherty (1890 – 1961) was an Australian actress who worked in British theatre, film and television. O'Doherty was born in Brisbane, the daughter of Dr. Edward O’Doherty and Isabel Maud French. She was the granddaughter of Young Ir ...

as Mrs. Tipstead * Finlay Currie as Monte Mortimer *

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mili ...

as Albert *

Ivor Barnard Ivor Barnard (13 June 1887 – 30 June 1953) was an English stage, radio and film actor. He was an original member of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he was a notable Shylock and Caliban. He was the original Water Rat in the first L ...

as Eric Tipstead *

Olive Sloane Olive Sloane (16 December 1896 – 28 June 1963) was an English actress whose film career spanned over 40 years from the silent era through to her death. Sloane's career trajectory was unusual in that for most of her professional life she was e ...

as Effie *

Wally Patch Walter Sydney Vinnicombe (26 September 1888 – 27 October 1970) was an English actor and comedian. He worked in film, television and theatre. Biography Vinnicombe was born in Willesden, Middlesex and began working on the music hall stages in ...

as Fred - Driver's Mate *

Barbara Gott Barbara Gott (1872–1944) was a Scottish stage and film actress. In 1913 she made her West End debut in Stanley Houghton's '' Trust the People''. Partial filmography * ''Betta, the Gipsy'' (1918) * '' The Romance of Lady Hamilton'' (1919) - ...

as Big Annie *

Mae Bacon Mae Bacon (1897–1981) was a British actress. She was often credited as Mai Bacon. She was the eldest daughter of Hartley Bacon, who was living in Roundhay, Leeds at the time of The Great War. Early acting career During the early stages of Worl ...

as Gatford Barmaid * Ben Williams as Man Cleaning Windows at Hotel Reception

Production

Gielgud had appeared in the 1931 theatrical version of the novel, written by Priestley, which had run for more than three hundred performances in the West End.

Adele Dixon Adele Dixon (born Adela Helena Dixon; 3 June 1908 – 11 April 1992) was an English actress and singer. She sang at the start of regular broadcasts of the BBC Television Service on 2 November 1936. After an early start as a child actress, an ...

who had played Susie Dean on stage was replaced by Jessie Matthews. It was shot at the

Lime Grove Studios Lime Grove Studios was a film, and later television, studio complex in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The complex was built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, and ...

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Alfred Junge Alfred Junge (29 January 1886, Görlitz, Silesia (now Saxony), Germany – 16 July 1964, London) was a German-born production designer who spent a large part of his career working in the British film industry. Junge had wanted to be an artis ...

while the costumes were by

Gordon Conway Sir Gordon Richard Conway (born 6 July 1938) is an agricultural ecologist and former President of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Royal Geographical Society. He is currently Professor of International Development at Imperial College, Lon ...

Henry Ainley Henry Hinchliffe Ainley (21 August 1879 – 31 October 1945) was an English actor. Life and career Early years Ainley was born in Morley, near Leeds, on 21 August 1879, the only son and eldest child of Richard Ainley (1851–1919), a textile ...

narrated the prologue.

Critical reception

In comparing the film to the book, ''

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 ...

'' critic

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.Time Out'' wrote, "Saville's direction is adequate rather than inspired, but he elicits marvellous performances from his disparate cast. Matthews' portrayal of a bubblingly neurotic soubrette is wonderful, and not surprisingly shot her to stardom. The film does feed on rather than explore the twee camaraderie of the provincial touring company, but an English backstage musical as witty and well-handled as this is something to be thankful for indeed"; and

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

called it "a delightful film. Matthews is given full rein to display her considerable musical and comedic charms; Gielgud is equally humorous and surprising. He even sings!"

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Good Companions, The 1933 films 1933 comedy films British comedy films British black-and-white films Films directed by Victor Saville Films with screenplays by Ian Dalrymple Films based on British novels Films based on works by J. B. Priestley Films set in London Films set in England Films shot at Lime Grove Studios Fox Film films Gainsborough Pictures films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films 1930s British films