At the Villa Rose is a 1930 British mystery film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Norah Baring, Richard Cooper and Northern Irish Actor Austin Trevor.[2] It marked Trevor's screen debut. It was released in the United States under the alternative title of Mystery at the Villa Rose.[3]
| At the Villa Rose | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Leslie S. Hiscott |
| Written by | A.E.W. Mason (novel) Cyril Twyford |
| Produced by | Henry Edwards Julius Hagen |
| Starring | Norah Baring Richard Cooper Austin Trevor |
| Cinematography | Sydney Blythe |
| Music by | John Greenwood |
| Distributed by | Warner Brothers (UK) British International Pictures (US) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes (UK) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80,000[1] |
| Box office | $200,000[1] |
Production
editThe film is based on the 1910 novel At the Villa Rose by A.E.W. Mason[4] and features his fictional detective Inspector Hanaud. It was made at Twickenham Film Studios in St Margarets, Middlesex. A French-language version The Mystery of the Villa Rose was made simultaneously at Twickenham and the production was announced as being the first bilingual film made in Britain.[5]
Cast
edit- Norah Baring as Celia Harland
- Richard Cooper as Mr. Ricardo
- Austin Trevor as Inspector Hanaud
- Barbara Gott as Madame D'Auvray
- Francis Lister as Weathermill
- Amy Brandon Thomas as Mrs Starling
- Violet Farebrother as Helen
- John F. Hamilton as Mr Starling
Critical reception
editThe New York Times wrote, ""Mystery at the Villa Rose," a British audible film of A. E. W. Mason's novel, "At the Villa Rose," which is now at the Cameo, is baffling in more ways than one, for the vocal reproduction often is so "tubby" that it is not always possible to understand what the players are saying. The original story possessed possibilities for quite a good picture, but this screen effort has been handled so amateurishly that one really does not care who poisoned Madame D'Auvray."[6]
References
edit- ^ a b "English Making Money". Variety. 17 September 1930. p. 57.
- ^ "At the Villa Rose (1930)". BFI. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
- ^ "Mystery at the Villa Rose (1930) - Leslie Hiscott - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
- ^ Hall, Mordaunt (2 June 1930). "Mystery at the Villa Rose (1930)". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ^ Richards p.41-42
- ^ Mordaunt Hall (2 June 1930). "Movie Review - THE SCREEN; Other Photo Plays". The New York Times.
Bibliography
edit- Richards, Jeffrey (ed.) The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929-1939. I.B. Tauris, 1998.
External links
edit
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