The Times (09/Nov/1933) - New British films
(c) The Times (09/Nov/1933)
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Gaumont British Picture Corporation Limited, Islington Studios, London, Jessie Matthews, Madeleine Carroll, Maurice Elvey, Victor Saville, Waltzes from Vienna (1934)
NEW BRITISH FILMS
"FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH"
A departure from the conventional film story is said to have been made by Mr. Victor Saville in his latest film Friday the Thirteenth, which has just been completed at the Gaumont-British studios. By using the peculiar resources of the camera, the director has managed to blend together seven different stories.
The stories concern the following passengers involved in a bus accident; — Two detectives in the company of a man they suspect of theft; an actress who has quarrelled with her fiancé and is on her way to the house of a producer of doubtful character; a little henpecked man returning to his wife and wondering how he can explain his late arrival after a romantic adventure ; a blackmailer who has just extracted a cheque from a young couple; the wife of a business man who is hurrying to deliver a message which should have gone off earlier in the day; a clerk on his way home to begin his holidays, for which, unknown to his wife, he has been saving up for a long time; and a young woman who has just brought her nephew to London for the first time.
Work on the production of Princess Charming began on Saturday at the Islington studios. The picture is being directed by Mr. Maurice Elvey and is a musical comedy treated in a novel manner. The principal parts will be played by Miss Evelyn Laye, Miss Yvonne Arnaud, Mr. George Grossmith, Mr. Max Miller, Mr. Francis L. Sullivan, Mr. Gerald Barry, and Mr. Morris Harvey. Waltzes from Vienna, directed by Mr. Alfred Hitchcock, will be completed this month, as well as Jack Ahoy! the new Jack Hulbert film. Herr Conrad Veidt, who is to play the leading part in Jew Suss. a film version of Herr Leon Feuchtwanger's novel, will be directed by Mr. Lothar Mcndes. The Gaumont-British Corporation also announce that arrangements have been made for some of their players, including Miss Jessie Matthews and Miss Madeleine Carroll, to appear in a number of American films.
THE E.M.B. FILM UNIT
Early next month the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit, which has been taken over bv the G.P.O., is sending Mr. Basil Wright, one of its chief producers, to Ceylon. He will be accompanied by an assistant. Mr. Wright is to stay about three months in Ceylon, where he will produce a number of films dealing with the customs and tradition of the island. The films will be completed at the end of next July. The producer is to have a free hand to write his own scripts and to take whatever pictures he considers most suitable.
