Rent Gracie Fields Collection (1932)
3.3 of 5 from 3 ratings
7h 48min
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- Synopsis:
Gracie Fields was one of Britain's all time greatest stars. Born over a fish and chip shop in Rochdale, Lancashire, Fields' rise to fame was a true rags-to-riches story that culminated with her becoming one of Britain's highest paid performers. With a unique singing voice and boundless charisma, she worked tirelessly to became a star of variety and Music Hall. With the advent of talking pictures, it wasn't long before Fields took the big screen by storm too. Often playing "Our Gracie", a down-to-earth mill-worker with an endless optimism despite all sorts of hardship, Fields provided much needed hope and joy to depression-era audiences. This collection brings together some of Gracie Fields' most successful films from the pinnacle of her popularity. Fields' smash hit debut "Sally In Our Alley" memorably transferred her much-loved stage persona to the screen. "Love, Life And Laughter" and "Looking On The Bright Side" are both bitter-sweet romances. "Queen Of Hearts" and "The Show Goes On" are theatrical stories of singers who find success, each in very different ways. "Sing As We Go" and "Look Up And Laugh" are true gems of Music Hall humour and feel-good entertainment. - Actors:
- Gracie Fields, John Loder, Ivor Barnard, Dorothy Hyson, Stanley Holloway, Frank Pettingell, Ian Hunter, Florence Desmond, Richard Dolman, Julian Rose, Wyn Richmond, Enid Stamp-Taylor, Fred Duprez, Alfred Drayton, Billy Nelson, Florence Harwood, Bettina Montahners, Madeline Seymour, Margaret Yarde, Julie Suedo
- Directors:
- Maurice Elvey, Basil Dean, Graham Cutts, Monty Banks
- Producers:
- Basil Dean
- Writers:
- J.B. Priestley, Robert Edmunds, Brock Williams, Gordon Wellesley, Archie Pitt, Maurice Braddell, Miles Malleson, Charles McEvoy, Basil Dean, Douglas Furber, Clifford Grey
- Studio:
- Optimum
- Genres:
- Comedy, Drama, Music & Musicals, Romance
- Collections:
- Topping the Music Hall Bill
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Reviews (1) of Gracie Fields Collection
NORTHWEST BY NORTHWEST - Gracie Fields Collection review by CH
“Sally.” So much has this song become associated with Gracie Fields's stage appearances that some might be surprised to find that she first sang it near the beginning of her first film, Sally in our Alley (1931) while working in a tough and steaming café – where she also gives vent to “Lancashire Blues” which has a touch of Bessie Smith about it.
The film is about the aftermath of the Great War. She had agreed to marry a soldier (Ian Hunter) who, after battle (filmed with effective stock footage), fears that he will be in no state to be her husband and asks a comrade to inform her that he has died. A slender plot, especially one to sustain a decade over seventy minutes' screen time but it could have easily been the stuff a Jacobean drama. There is something torrid about the doubts, worries, friendships and rivalries in and around this café and pub.
Not whimsical comedy, this shows Gracie Fields able to broach comedy as well as tragedy – and there is raw power to the scene in which she encourages movie-struck Florence Desmond to demonstrate her acting skills by dashing down treasured ornaments from shelves and the mantlepiece.
Written by Miles Malleson and Alma Reville, this is a strange film which, with some adjustment and transposition to Germany, could have been iremembered widely as an expressionist drama. The print survives in very good condition, and only on reflection does one realise that it has made use of few sets. Small wonder that, as the decade went on, she was to be praised by Graham Greene, with whom she became a neighbour on Capri.
A boxed set to explore with relish.
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