The Private Secretary (1935 film)
The Private Secretary | |
---|---|
Directed by | Henry Edwards |
Written by | George Broadhurst Arthur Macrae H. Fowler Mear |
Produced by | Julius Hagen |
Starring | Edward Everett Horton Barry MacKay Judy Gunn Oscar Asche |
Cinematography | Sydney Blythe William Luff |
Music by | W.L. Trytel (uncredited) |
Production company | Julius Hagen Productions |
Distributed by | Twickenham Film Distributors Ltd (UK) |
Release date | September 1935 (UK) |
Running time | 70 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Private Secretary is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Edward Everett Horton, Barry MacKay, Judy Gunn and Oscar Asche.[1] It is an adaptation of the play The Private Secretary by Charles Henry Hawtrey. It was made at Twickenham Studios.
Premise
Wealthy Englishman Robert Cattermole returns from a trip to India to discover that instead of achieving success, his beloved nephew Robert has got into such debt that he now disguises himself as a mild-mannered minister to evade his creditors.
Cast
- Edward Everett Horton as Reverend Robert Spalding
- Barry MacKay as Douglas Cattermole
- Judy Gunn as Edith Marsland
- Oscar Asche as Robert Cattermole
- Sydney Fairbrother as Miss Ashford
- Michael Shepley as Henry Marsland
- Alastair Sim as Nebulae
- Aubrey Dexter as Gibson
- O. B. Clarence as Thomas Marsland
- Davina Craig as Annie
Critical reception
TV Guide felt the comedy of the Victorian farce "didn't translate well into later times. Horton and Sim (in a secondary role) serve as the film's saving graces with some nice comic moments",[2] and Sky Movies agreed, calling the film "a mostly dismal British farce stickily directed by former acting superstar Henry Edwards, but held back from disaster by the pawkily amusing performances of Edward Everett Horton, dithering delightfully in the leading role, and Alastair Sim, offering a lugubrious contribution as Mr Nebulae."[3]
References
- ^ "The Private Secretary". BFI.
- ^ "The Private Secretary". TV Guide.
- ^ "The Private Secretary". Find and Watch.