Sidewalks of London (1938)

Director:

Tim Whelan

Writers:

Bartlett Cormack (writer)
Clemence Dane (writer)

Release Date:

15 February 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

When VIVIEN LEIGH swings it...and CHARLES LAUGHTON sings it...WOW! (original ad)

Plot:

On the sidewalks of the London theater district the buskers (street performers) earn enough coins for a cheap room...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman

Cast

Charles Laughton	...	Charles Staggers
Vivien Leigh	...	Liberty 'Libby'
Rex Harrison	...	Harley Prentiss
Larry Adler	...	Constantine Dan
Tyrone Guthrie	...	Gentry
Maire O'Neill	...	Mrs. Such
Gus McNaughton	...	Arthur Smith
Polly Ward	...	Frankie
Basil Gill	...	Magistrate
Helen Haye	...	Selina
David Burns	...	Hackett
Phyllis Stanley	...	Della
Edward Lexy	...	Mr. Such
Clare Greet	...	Old Maud
Alf Goddard	...	Doggie

Also Known As:

St. Martin's Lane

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Mayflower Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Made in London just before England's entrance into the Second World War, this film was co-produced by a refugee from Hitler - the great German producer of "Metropolis" and many other classic UFA films - 'Eric Pommer'. It was directed by an American from Hollywood, Tim Whelan, and features another American, the great harmonica virtuoso, 'Larry Adler', who was to return to live in exile in England after the war when he was blacklisted in the U.S. Adler went on write and play the score for the classic English comedy Genevieve (1953). The role of the tall busker Gentry is played by Tyrone Guthrie who would be knighted and would one day become Artistic Director of Canada's Stratford Festival and founder of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. The film is edited by Robert Hamer who would go on to direct the Ealing Studio comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949).

Quotes:

Charles Staggers: I want to marry you! Will you get that?
Liberty 'Libby': What!
Charles Staggers: That's it!
Liberty 'Libby': Marry you, Joe? Have you gone out of your mind? I mean you had better look in the frying pan, hadn't you?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988) (TV)

A neglected treasure

This is a wonderful story of love, ambition and sacrifice among the buskers (street performers) of London. Everybody's good, but Laughton and Leigh will stay in your mind and your heart long after you've seen this great film.

Laughton's performance should be studied by every acting student. He gives us a Charlie Staggers who is funny, resourceful, honest and pathetic and with a great capacity to love and do right by others. He is a simple and good man with a deep soul, and his audition in the theatre at the climax of the picture is both sad and uplifting.

Viven Leigh demonstrates a great talent and the characteristics that made her so successful the following year as Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind." In this film she begins as a self righteous and petty thief and by the end she has grown to become a highly successful but humbled actress. Leigh carries this change superbly and makes it completely believable. By any measure it is a great performance.

"Sidewalks of London" is also very well written, directed and edited. I rank this as one of the best English language films of the 1930s.