I Lived with You
Directed by Maurice Elvey
Written by Ivor Novello, George A. Cooper, and H. Fowler Mear from Novello’s play
1933/UK
Gaumont British Picture Corporation/Twickenham Films/Julius Hagen Productions
First viewing/YouTube
[box] Things which do not require effort of some sort are seldom worth having. – Ivor Novello[/box]
I just loved this Ivor Novello penned British farce.
Gladys Wallis i(Ursula Jeans) s a shopgirl from a lower middle-class family. She goes on an outing to Hampton Court with a girlfriend and gets lost in the Maze. There she meets Felix (Novello), a Russian prince to tells her all about his sad life since the Revolution. Gladys does not believe him until he shows her a pendant given to his mother by the Czar. Felix is homeless and penniless. The royalty-crazed Gladys takes him home and offers him a place to stay.
It turns out that the pendant contains several very valuable diamonds. Felix is soon adopted by the whole family. His money and worldly ways soon turn the household upside down. With 15-year-old Ida Lupino as Gladys’s wild sister and Jack Hawkins as her erstwhile boyfriend.
The plot summary does not do the extreme wit of the screenplay justice. Novello is simply superb – ridiculous and charming at the same time. My only previous acquaintance with the actor-songwriter-playwright was in Hitchcock’s The Lodger. Now I have to seek out some of his other movies. Highly recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyExDa40qk0
Clip
