The Water Gipsies (1932)

Jane Bell has lived on an old barge moored in the Thames with her feckless father and sister ever since their mother died, but she would prefer her life to be more like the movies -- ... See full summary »

Director:

Maurice Elvey

Writers:

John Paddy Carstairs, Basil Dean,

Stars:

Ann Todd, Sari Maritza, Ian Hunter

Cast

Cast overview:
Ann Todd	...	Jane Bell
Sari Maritza	...	Lily Bell
Ian Hunter	...	Fred Green
Peter Hannen	...	Bryan
Richard Bird	...	Ernest
Frances Doble	...	Fay
Anthony Ireland	...	Moss
Barbara Gott	...	Mrs. Green
Moore Marriott	...	Mr. Pewtar
Harold Scott	...	Mr. Bell
Charles Garry	...	Mr. Green
Betty Shale	...	Mrs. Higgins

Storyline

Jane Bell has lived on an old barge moored in the Thames with her feckless father and sister ever since their mother died, but she would prefer her life to be more like the movies -- reality is being courted by an inarticulate canal boatman, Fred Green, and cleaning the studio of a local artist, Bryan, on whom she has a hopeless crush that leads her to refuse Fred's offer of marriage. When her father loses his job and her sister takes up with a rich young gambler, she becomes engaged instead to Ernest, whose Communist beliefs represent the only fixed set of ideals in her life. But her position as Bryan's sometime model and muse is too precious to give up, even if he doesn't pay any attention to her... and even if Ernest resents it bitterly...

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Water Gypsies

Company Credits

Production Co:

Associated Talking Pictures (ATP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

todd a.o =todd absolutely orrible

This film was shown as part of the quota quickies season at the NFT.It is a complete and utter mess.Maybe the reason is the number of writers who worked on this including John Paddy Carstairs,Miles Malleson and Alma Reville.Characters seem to come and go throughout this film with little reason.Worst of all is the young Anne Todd.She is woefully miscast in the lead.Sometimes she has a mumerset accent and other times she has a posh Home Counties accent.Little wonder that credited director Maurice Elvey stormed out after differences with Basil Dean leaving him to finish the film.The funny thing is that according to the programme notes the film was well received when it opened.I do not myself believe that this was a true quota quickie in that it runs 76 minutes.Furthermore Dean was expecting the distributors(RKO)Radio to use this as a first feature but they preferred to use this as a support to their Hollywood films,This led to Dean terminating his distribution arrangement with them and forming his own distribution company.I have to say that this is a pretty turgid piece which could easily lose around 20 minutes and still have left the main story intact.The incidental music comes from the RKO hit "Rio Rita".