''Lady in Danger'' is a 1934 British

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Tom Walls Thomas Kirby Walls (18 February 1883 – 27 November 1949) was an English stage and film actor, producer and director, best known for presenting and co-starring in the Aldwych farces in the 1920s and for starring in and directing the film adapt ...

and starring Walls,

Yvonne Arnaud Germaine Yvonne Arnaud (20 December 1890 – 20 September 1958) was a French-born pianist, singer and actress, who was well known for her career in Britain, as well as her native land. After beginning a career as a concert pianist as a child, Ar ...

and

Anne Grey Anne Grey (born Aileen Stephen Ewing; 6 March 1907 – 3 April 1987) was an English actress, who appeared in 44 films between 1928 and 1939, including some Hollywood films during the late 1930s. She was educated at Lausanne and King's College L ...

. The screenplay was by

Ben Travers Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is most notable for his long-running series of farces first staged in the 19 ...

Plot

In the mythical European country of Ardenberg, General Dittling (Leon M. Lion) stages a military coup. His supporters believe that he will set up a republic but it is actually his desire to restore the monarchy. Therefore, he persuades British businessman Richard Dexter (Tom Walls) to escort the Queen (Yvonne Arnaud) to the safety of England. Once there his relations with the Queen are farcically misconstrued, when his fiancée Lydia (Anne Gray) arrives unannounced. After many adventures, the King (Hugh Wakefield), who has fled to Paris, is reunited with his wife.

Cast

– Richard Dexter *

– Queen of Ardenberg *

– Lydia *

Leon M. Lion Leon Marks Lion (12 March 1879 – 28 March 1947) was an English stage and film actor, playwright, theatrical director and producer. He starred in Joseph Jefferson Farjeon's 1925 hit play '' Number 17'' as well as its subsequent 1932 film adapta ...

– Dittling *

Hugh Wakefield Hugh Wakefield (10 November 1888 – 5 December 1971) was an English film actor, who played supporting roles. He was often seen wearing a monocle. Hugh Claude Wakefield was born in Wanstead, Essex. He also had a distinguished stage career, whic ...

– King *

Marie Lohr Marie Kate Wouldes Lohr (28 July 1890 – 21 January 1975) was an Australian-born actress, active on stage and in film in Britain. During a career of more than 60 years she created roles in plays by, among others, Bernard Shaw, J. M. Barrie, ...

– Lady Brockley *

Alfred Drayton Alfred Drayton (1 November 1881 – 26 April 1949) was a British stage and film actor. Drayton worked in a brewery when he was 18 but having a good deal of amateur dramatics experience decided to go on stage. His first appearance on stage was '' ...

– Quill *

Leonora Corbett Leonora Corbett (28 June 1908 – 29 July 1960) was an English actress, noted for her charm and elegance in stage roles, and for a number of films made in the 1930s. Life and career Corbett was born in London, the daughter of Richard Ashwin Cor ...

– Marcelle * O. B. Clarence -Nelson *

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe; 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between 1 ...

– Piker *

Harold Warrender Harold John Warrender (15 November 1903 – 6 May 1953) was a British stage, film and television actor, and radio presenter. His father was Sir George Warrender, 7th Baronet. His mother was Lady Ethel Maud Ashley Cooper, a singer and patron ...

– Clive *

Hubert Harben Leonard Hubert S Harben (12 July 1878 – 24 August 1941) was an English stage and film actor. He was married to the actress Mary Jerrold and father of celebrity chef Philip Harben. Selected filmography * '' Mr. Pim Passes By'' (1921) * '' Ev ...

– Matterby * Charles Lefeaux – Hotel Manager * Dorothy Galbraith – Mrs. Quill * Jane Cornell – Shop Assistant *

Mervyn Johns David Mervyn Johns (18 February 18996 September 1992) was a Welsh stage, film and television actor who became a fixture of British films during the Second World War. Johns appeared extensively on screen and stage with over 100 credits between 1 ...

– Reporter

Critical reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' described the film as "a vague comedy that refuses to commit itself to a romance between the leads" ; while

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

called it an "airy comedy-melodrama...the farcical possibilities of Lady in Danger are played to the hilt, and the rest is good semi-clean fun."

Life imitates art

''Lady in Danger'' was released in 1934, two years before the beginning of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. However, there are some intriguing parallels between the movie and the later civil war, particularly the similarities between the fictional General Dittling and the real-life Generalissimo

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

. During the war, Franco was part of the

Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups The Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (, CEDA) was a Spanish right-wing political party in the Second Spanish Republic. A Catholic conservative force, it was the political heir to Ángel Herrera Oria's Acción Popular and defined ...

. He later became the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

ial ruler of Spain. In 1969, in a surprise move, the monarchist-leaning Franco designated Prince

Juan Carlos de Borbón Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until his abdication on 19 June 2014. In Sp ...

as his successor. When Franco died in 1975, he was indeed succeeded by the prince as King Juan Carlos I.

References

Bibliography

* Sutton, David R. ''A chorus of raspberries: British film comedy 1929-1939''. University of Exeter Press, 2000.

External links

* 1934 films 1930s comedy thriller films Films directed by Tom Walls British comedy thriller films Films scored by Jack Beaver Films about coups d'état British black-and-white films 1934 comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films English-language comedy thriller films {{1930s-UK-comedy-film-stub