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IMDbPro

Little Friend

  • 19341934
  • 1h 25m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
81
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
213,392
54,900
182
Drama
A girl becomes an unwilling witness in her parents' scandalous divorce case.A girl becomes an unwilling witness in her parents' scandalous divorce case.A girl becomes an unwilling witness in her parents' scandalous divorce case.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
81
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
213,392
54,900
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Berthold Viertel
    • Writers
      • Christopher Isherwood(dialogue)
      • Margaret Kennedy(dialogue)
      • Ernst Lothar(novel)
    • Stars
      • Matheson Lang
      • Lydia Sherwood
      • Nova Pilbeam
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Berthold Viertel
    • Writers
      • Christopher Isherwood(dialogue)
      • Margaret Kennedy(dialogue)
      • Ernst Lothar(novel)
    • Stars
      • Matheson Lang
      • Lydia Sherwood
      • Nova Pilbeam
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 6User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • Photos

    Nova Pilbeam in Little Friend (1934)
    Jimmy Hanley and Nova Pilbeam in Little Friend (1934)
    Matheson Lang, Nova Pilbeam, and Lydia Sherwood in Little Friend (1934)
    Little Friend (1934)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Matheson Lang
    Matheson Lang
    • John Hughes
    Lydia Sherwood
    • Helen Hughes
    Nova Pilbeam
    Nova Pilbeam
    • Felicity Hughes
    Arthur Margetson
    Arthur Margetson
    • Hilliard
    Jean Cadell
    Jean Cadell
    • Miss Drew
    Jimmy Hanley
    Jimmy Hanley
    • Leonard Parry
    Gibb McLaughlin
    Gibb McLaughlin
    • Thompson
    Diana Cotton
    • Maud
    Cecil Parker
    Cecil Parker
    • Mason
    Clare Greet
    Clare Greet
    • Mrs. Parry
    Jack Raine
    Jack Raine
    • Jeffries
    Finlay Currie
    Finlay Currie
    • Grove
    Robert Nainby
    • Uncle Ned
    Atholl Fleming
    • Shepherd
    Basil Goth
    • Doctor
    Charles Childerstone
    • Solicitor
    Gerald Kent
    • Butler
    Allan Aynesworth
    • Col. Amberley
    • Director
      • Berthold Viertel
    • Writers
      • Christopher Isherwood(dialogue) (scenario)
      • Margaret Kennedy(dialogue) (scenario)
      • Ernst Lothar(novel)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Christopher Isherwood's adventures while working on this film as one of the screenplay writers became the basis of his novel "Prater Violet" (1945).

    User reviews6

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    Exceptional Film Starring Nova Pilbeam
    Stark and wonderful film about the effects of a divorcing couple on their young teenage child (Nova Pilbeam).

    The film starts with a surreal dream as the child struggles in bed to the sounds of her parents' violent argument in the next room. On the surface everything seems normal but the mother (Lydia Sherwood) is more and more absent from the house, and the father (Matheson Lang) has moved out. She spends most of her time with her governess (Jean Cadell).

    The girl starts to catch on that things are not right when she catches the mother in a series of lies. She's having an affair with a ham actor (Arthur Margetson), who in an attempt to befriend the girl (he calls her his "little friend"), says she may visit him whenever she likes and they'll talk.

    After catching the mother in another lie, the girl races away on her scooter and heads into the main street where sh crashes into a delivery boy (Jimmy Hanley) who becomes her closest friend.

    After a series in incidents, the girl finally runs off to the actor's house where she discovers her mother in his bedroom. After a botched suicide attempt, the girl ends up in court, trying to lie to save her mother's reputation.

    Pilbeam, in her first film, is around 15 (and playing younger) and she's just terrific as the betrayed child. Sherwood and Lang are good at playing the unsympathetic parents. Cadell and Margetson are solid. Jimmy Hanley almost steals the film as the cheerful delivery boy.

    Co-stars include Cecil Parker, Finlay Currie, Clare Greet, and Fritz Kortner as a menacing giant in a grim children's play.

    Pilbeam would of course have her biggest film successes in Hitchcock's YOUNG AND INNOCENT and THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. She remains an intriguing talent of the 30s and 40s, an exceptional young actress who should have been a bigger star.

    The themes and images of nightmare, horror, danger, menace, betrayal, and sorrow are beautifully handled in this very un-Hollywood-like film.
    helpful•13
    0
    • drednm
    • Apr 15, 2012

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 18, 1934 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Raffiche
    • Filming locations
      • Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK
    • Production company
      • Gaumont British Picture Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 25 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • B.A.F. Sound System
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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