Rookery Nook (film)
Rookery Nook is a 1930 film farce, directed by Tom Walls, with a script by Ben Travers. It is a screen adaptation of the original 1926 Aldwych farce of the same title. The film was known in the U.S. as One Embarrassing Night.[3]
| Rookery Nook | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Sheet music for featured song | |
| Directed by | Tom Walls |
| Written by | W. P. Lipscomb Ben Travers |
| Based on | the farce by Ben Travers |
| Produced by | Herbert Wilcox |
| Starring | Tom Walls Ralph Lynn Winifred Shotter Mary Brough |
| Cinematography | Bernard Knowles William Shenton |
| Edited by | Maclean Rogers (uncredited) |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Woolf & Freedman Film Service (UK) MGM (US) |
Release dates | 11 February 1930 (London) (UK) 21 June 1930 (US) |
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £14,000[1] or $270,000[2] |
| Box office | £150,000 (England)[1] or $550,000 (UK)[2] |
The film was very successful at the box office and led to a series of filmed farces.[1][4]
Synopsis
Rhoda Marley seeks refuge overnight from a tyrannical stepfather in the house of Gerald Popkiss. He is alone there, as his wife is away; fearing a scandal he attempts to conceal Rhoda's presence from nosy domestic staff and his in-laws, with the help of his cousin Clive. Eventually all is explained, Gerald and his wife are reconciled, and Clive pairs off with Rhoda.
Cast
- Gerald Popkiss – Ralph Lynn*
- Clive Popkiss – Tom Walls*
- Rhoda Marley – Winifred Shotter*
- Mrs Leverett – Mary Brough*
- Harold Twine – Robertson Hare*
- Gertrude Twine – Ethel Coleridge*
- Putz – Griffith Humphreys*
- Poppy Dickey – Doreen Bendix
- Clara Popkiss – Margot Grahame
- Source: British Film Institute[5]
Cast members marked * were the creators of the roles in the original stage production.[6]
Production
The film was one of a very small number of productions made by Herbert Wilcox's British and Dominions Film Corporation in association with His Master's Voice ("The Gramophone Company", later EMI).[7] The film used the cast of the original stage production.[8] HMV terminated its association with British & Dominions in 1931 out of concern that the company's participation in producing comedy films such as Rookery Nook and Splinters would demean its corporate image, of which it was very protective during the early days of the Great Depression.
Reception
Rookery Nook was voted the best British movie of 1930.[9]
According to one report, it was the most popular British film in Britain over the previous five years.[10]
Notes
- Wilcox, Herbert (1967). Twenty Five Thousand Sunsets. South Brunswick. p. 88.
- "English Making Money". Variety. 17 September 1930. p. 57.
- Ben Travers. "One Embarrassing Night (1930) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- "DIRECTOR-PLAYERS". The West Australian. Vol. L, no. 9, 834. Western Australia. 5 January 1934. p. 3. Retrieved 27 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Rookery Nook", British Film Institute, accessed 14 February 2013.
- "Aldwych Theatre – Rookery Nook", The Times, 1 July 1926, p. 14.
- "SCREEN GOSSIP". Western Mail. Vol. XLIV, no. 2, 273. Western Australia. 5 September 1929. p. 7. Retrieved 27 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- "MOVING PICTURES". The Australasian. Vol. CXXVIII, no. 4, 246. Victoria, Australia. 24 May 1930. p. 15 (METROPOLITAN EDITION). Retrieved 27 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Sunshine Susie", The Daily News, 19 August 1933, p. 19
- "THE MOVIE WORLD". Bowen Independent. Vol. 26, no. 2195. Queensland, Australia. 6 December 1930. p. 7. Retrieved 27 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
External links
- Rookery Nook at IMDb