In the Soup

[Meltman]

This comedy from 1936 is one of those occasional masterpieces which Twickenham was capable of turning out from time to time. Starring Ralph Lynn, it tells of a hard-up lawyer who finds it necessary to let his flat, and who stays on as servant to the new tenants. The part of Horace Gillibrand is tailor made for Lynn, and in several scenes he rises to extraordinary comic heights. For instance, at one point, gas for the kitchen oven having run out, he attempts to cook a chicken with an electric iron. The hilarious result rather reminds one of Buster Keaton shuffling wet playing cards in 'The Navigator'. The harder each tries, the more frenetic things become. The film also furnishes Morton Selten with one of his longest film roles as the termagent Abernethy Ruppershaw: his performance as a geriatric lover is a genuine comic delight. Other choice cameos are provided by Olive Sloane and Felix Aylmer who combine with Lynn to make a courtroom scene, where Gillibrand confuses an action for breach of promise of marriage with one for prosecution over a second-hand car, one of the high-spots of British comic cinema of the 1930s. This is definitely a film which deserves to be better known.

[CaptainWaggett]

How might one view this excellent sounding film?

[MrT]

It was shown twice on C4 in the 1990s - I can do a copy on dvd if anyone would like to see it.

MrT