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Sidewalks of London (1938)
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Overview
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Release Date:
15 February 1940 (USA)
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Tagline:
When VIVIEN LEIGH swings it...and CHARLES LAUGHTON sings it...WOW! (original ad) more
Plot:
On the sidewalks of the London theater district the buskers (street performers) earn enough coins for a cheap room...
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User Comments:
A neglected treasure
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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 |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
St. Martin's Lane
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Parents Guide:
Runtime:
85 min
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Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
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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).
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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?
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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?
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Movie Connections:
Featured in The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988) (TV)
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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Sidewalks of London (1938)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| Spoilers maybe: A Little Gem for film buffs. | oldsenior |
| Wanna sell me a copy of this one? | amentia |
Recommendations
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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.