Head over Heels (1937 film)
Head Over Heels is a 1937 British musical film directed by Sonnie Hale and starring Jessie Matthews, Robert Flemyng and Louis Borel.[1] It was released in the U.S. as Head over Heels in Love.[2]
| Head over Heels | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Sonnie Hale |
| Produced by | S.C. Balcon |
| Written by | scenario: Marjorie Gaffney adaptation: Dwight Taylor & Fred Thompson dialogue: Dwight Taylor |
| Based on | play by Francis de Croisset |
| Starring | Jessie Matthews Robert Flemyng Louis Borel Romney Brent |
| Music by | words & music: Mack Gordon & Harry Revel musical director: Louis Levy |
| Cinematography | Glen MacWilliams |
| Edited by | Al Barnes |
Production company | Gaumont British |
| Distributed by | Gaumont British Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Production
The film was made at the Lime Grove Studios in London[3] with sets designed by Alfred Junge. It was based on the play Pierre ou Jack by Francis de Croisset (Paris, 1931).[4]
Plot
In Paris, nightclub entertainer Jeanne (Jessie Matthews) falls in love with her dance partner, the idle, womanising Marcel (Louis Borel). When Marcel runs off with rich and glamorous film star Norma (Helen Whitney Bourne), Jeanne's true love Pierre (Robert Flemyng) comes to her aid, and helps find her work on the radio. After becoming a successful radio star, Jeanne becomes attractive once more to Marcel, but the faithful Pierre cannot risk losing her again.
Cast
- Jessie Matthews as Jeanne Colbert
- Robert Flemyng as Pierre
- Louis Borel as Marcel Larimour
- Romney Brent as Matty
- Whitney Bourne as Norma Langtry
- Paul Leyssac as Max
- Eliot Makeham as Martin
- Fred Duprez as Norma's manager
- Edward Cooper as Charles
Critical reception
Writing for The Spectator in 1937, Graham Greene gave the film a poor review, characterizing it as "a moribund tale of poor young people with ambitions in Parisian garrets". Greene concludes that the film is one of the "worst English film[s] of the quarter".[5]
The Radio Times wrote, "Having made her movie name under the direction of Victor Saville, Jessie Matthews went to work for her four-time co-star and then husband Sonnie Hale, whose first outing behind the camera this was," but concluded, "Hale's inexperience shows away from the musical numbers. But it's engaging enough, and Alfred Junge's sets give the film a sophistication too often missing from British musicals of the period";[6] while Allmovie wrote, "Legendary British musical-comedy favorite Jessie Matthews chalks up another winner."[7]
References
- "BFI | Film & TV Database | HEAD OVER HEELS (1937)". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- "Head over Heels in Love (1937) - Notes - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
- Wood p.90
- "Head over Heels in Love (1937) - Screenplay Info - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
- Greene, Graham (19 March 1937). "Pluck of the Irish/The Sequel to Second Bureau/Thunder in the City/Head Over Heels". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. Oxford University Press. pp. 138–139. ISBN 0192812866.)
- "Head over Heels in Love – review - cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online". Radio Times.
- "Head Over Heels in Love (1937) - Sonnie Hale - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie.
Bibliography
- Low, Rachael. Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
- Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927-1939. British Film Institute, 1986.