The Private Secretary (film)
The Private Secretary | |
---|---|
Original British trade ad | |
Directed by | Henry Edwards |
Produced by | Julius Hagen |
Written by |
George Broadhurst Arthur Macrae H. Fowler Mear |
Based on | The farce by Charles Hawtrey (The Private Secretary) and the book by Von Moser (Der Bibliotheker) |
Starring |
Edward Everett Horton Barry MacKay Judy Gunn Oscar Asche |
Music by | W. L. Trytel (uncredited) |
Cinematography |
Sydney Blythe William Luff |
Production company |
Julius Hagen Productions |
Distributed by | Twickenham Film Distributors Ltd (UK) |
Release dates | September 1935 (UK) |
Running time | 70 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Private Secretary is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Edward Everett Horton, Barry MacKay, Judy Gunn and Oscar Asche.[1] It is an adaptation of the play The Private Secretary by Charles Henry Hawtrey.
Plot
Wealthy Englishman Robert Cattermole returns from a trip to India to discover that instead of achieving success, his beloved nephew Robert has got into such debt that he now disguises himself as a mild-mannered minister to evade his creditors.
Cast
- Edward Everett Horton - Reverend Robert Spalding
- Barry MacKay - Douglas Cattermole
- Judy Gunn - Edith Marsland
- Oscar Asche - Robert Cattermole
- Sydney Fairbrother - Miss Ashford
- Michael Shepley - Henry Marsland
- Alastair Sim - Nebulae
- Aubrey Dexter - Gibson
- O. B. Clarence - Thomas Marsland
- Davina Craig - Annie
Critical reeption
TV Guide felt the comedy of the Victorian farce "didn't translate well into later times. Horton and Sim (in a secondary role) serve as the film's saving graces with some nice comic moments" [2] and Sky Movies agreed, calling the film "a mostly dismal British farce stickily directed by former acting superstar Henry Edwards, but held back from disaster by the pawkily amusing performances of Edward Everett Horton, dithering delightfully in the leading role, and Alastair Sim, offering a lugubrious contribution as Mr Nebulae." [3]
References
- ↑ "The Private Secretary". BFI.
- ↑ "The Private Secretary". TV Guide.
- ↑ "The Private Secretary". Find and Watch.