Anna Neagle

[drednm]

Curious as to what (if anything) you all think of Anna Neagle, a British film star of the 30s, 40s, 50s usually with director husband Herbert Wilcox (something like 37 films together). She made a handful of films in US in late 30s and early 40s but mostly worked in UK where she was a major box office star for decades. Kind of like Ann Todd, Neagle seemed to be ageless.

As a musical star she perhaps can't compare with Hollywood talent, but along with this, Neagle made an amazing number of dramatic films. Of the few I've seen, I was quite impressed with the Cavalcade-like Courtneys of Curzon Street and Elizabeth of Ladymead. She was also teamed with Michael Wilding in confections like Spring in Park Lane and Maytime in Mayfair.

Most of her films are not available on DVD or if they are, they appear to be PAL and Region 2.

[Ray Faiola]

I like her very much. She's very natural and very charming. I have prints of IRENE, SUNNY, WINGS AND THE WOMAN, YELLOW CANARY and LET'S MAKE UP (the B&W US release of LILACS IN THE SPRING with Errol Flynn).

She obviously felt very comfortable being directed by hubby Wilcox.

[didi-5]

I like her too. She was frothy and funny and rather musically gifted. The Yellow Canary, Odette, Maytime in Mayfair, Sunny and Lilacs in the Spring are my particular favourites. I also saw her on stage as Mrs Higgins in My Fair Lady where she positively shone!

[moviepas]

Anna Neagle(Florence Majorie Robertson, 1904-1986, 81yrs) was a stage performer with dancing roles before she went into films and did not marry Wilcox until 1943. She appeared in Australia in the stage musical Charlie Girl with local talent. Her husband(who had made & lost fortunes, had a early hours studio fire mid-1930s which involved famed-Technicolor cameraman, the recently late Jack Cardiff, who worked there, passing film elements out the window during the fire). The Wilcoxes appeared before the mike during the Aussie tour at Melbourne Radio 3AW during a mid-morning talkback program. Wilcox announced he was looking for his 1928 silent film, Dawn, which was the silent version of Nurse Edith Cavell(Neagle) which he also produced. I believe it has since been found. He made available the then recently found Technicolor opus, Sixty Glorious Years(1938). The elements were found in a British film lab. Wilcox presented a Sunday Charity performance of the film in Melbourne(at a live theater, I think). Sunday was normally a no show day in Australia at the time except events like this.

Previously, in 1937, Wilcox had made Victoria The Great also with Neagle. Both are on DVD from UK & I have them. Previously Neagle had made Nell Gynn(1934) which has been on DVD for a few years and is a good film.

She made two films in the musical like I don't know the existence of: Goodnight, Vienna(1932) with dancer/singer Jack Buchanan & Little Damozel(1933).

All those pre-war films were made for Wilcox's British & Dominions Studio in the Elstree complex of studios. AKA as B&D.

The US films were made for RKO release whilst they stayed there during the early days of the 1939-45 war but she was back in Britain for They Flew Alone(1942) based on the life of femal flyer Amy Johnson. This film was recently made available on DVD in UK at 95mins(PAL-speed?) but has the US title on the film as Wings & the Woman. This is where I am not sure. Because RKO released this film in USA as Wings & the Woman but it was also heavily edited & some dialog finish mid-sentence according to a review. The original US release is listed as 94mins. In other parts 103-104mins is listed. That it has the RKO titles makes me suspicious about the print used. IMDB does not mention the US title which would be unusual.

A recent Vera Lynn box)UK Columbia) set of her three films has one film with the US title on it and, I believe, contains that shorter version of the film. Alexander Korda's British Lady Hamilton seems only to survive with the US title card of That Hamilton Woman.

Lilacs in the Spring continues the titling theme such as Spring in Park Lane, Courtneys of Curzon Street. It is part color & has a guy playing Jack L Warner in Hollywood. Available for some time from a now defunct UK distributor of various DVDs and licensee on a good number, I recently got around to getting it from a successor to that company. I liked the film but can't interest too many Flynn collectors in it.

In early days pre-1948 packages to TV in Australia, the Michael Wilding/Anna Neagle romances were on Aussie TV but have been scarce ever since & I thought they should have been available by now. The RKO Hollywood produced titles have been played often over the years but I am not sure if color sequences were in the copies used.

Anna Neagle was also in the first filmed version of Noel Coward's Bittersweet(1930) which I had on 16mm film but not sure if I still do. A wellknown British Dance band was used for this film, Lew Stone with Al Bowlly on guitar and you do see Bowlly's hands in a sequence(near the start?).

Wilcox also made a film around 1930 called Greek Street(a wellknown street near film company offices in Soho) which was, actually, about Italians in the area. I had or have a 16mm copy of this film thru the former Thunderbird films. Not seen this or Bitter Sweet on any DVD legal or not.

[drednm]

A ton of info.... thanks so much....

I've seen Neagle's remake of Irene with Ray Milland. I think it was on TCM. I always thought that during the brief Hollywood period she would film remakes of Marilyn Miller films Sally and Sunny.

I've not seen Victoria the Great, which apparently was a big hit.

She seems at her best with Michael Wilding. They were a genuinely terrific team which probably contains his best work as a romantic yet comic lead.

Interesting about Neagle is that she apparently made several films in which she played a series of characters, like Elizabeth of Ladymead andPiccadilly Incident. She really gets to show her range as an actress.

[George O'Brien]

Knowing she was a big star in Britain, I was expecting someone like Margaret Lockwood or Gracie Fields. But "Irene"(1940) was a pleasant surprise. I was quite impressed with her. She was beautiful, could act both comedy and drama, and could sing very well.

The only other film of hers I have seen is "I Live in Grosvenor Square", a wartime love triangle film with Rex Harrison and Dean Jagger(in a rare romantic lead). She was superb. And the film a fascinating look at British life as American forces gathered in Britain for the Normandy invasion.

I remember reading that early in her career she had been billed as "Ann Eagle", which amused me to no end: reminding me of John Cleese's "Ann Elk" in Python days.