Elstree Calling
Encyclopedia
Elstree Calling is a film
directed by Andre Charlot
, Jack Hulbert
, Paul Murray, and Alfred Hitchcock
at Elstree Studios
. The film, referred to as "A Cine-Radio Revue" in its original publicity, is a lavish musical film
revue
and was Britain's answer to the Hollywood revues which had been produced by the major studios in the United States, such as Paramount on Parade
(1930) and Hollywood Review of 1929. The revue has a slim storyline about it being a television
broadcast. The film consists of 19 comedy and music vignettes
linked by running jokes of an aspiring Shakespearean
actor and technical problems with a viewer's TV set.
Hitchcock's contribution was the comic linking segments about a man trying to "tune in" the revue on his television set, but always failing to get the picture for long because of his needless tinkering. (In the UK, John Logie Baird
's work in mechanical television
in the 1920s made television a topical subject at the time.) In imitation of the lavish use of Technicolor
by Hollywood studios at that time, two sequences of the film were photographed using the Pathécolor
stencil
colour process.
In their book Film's musical moment, Ian Conrich and Estella Tincknell write:
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Andre Charlot
André Charlot
André Eugene Maurice Charlot was a French impresario known primarily for the highly successful musical revues he staged in London between 1912 and 1937...
, Jack Hulbert
Jack Hulbert
John Norman "Jack" Hulbert was a British actor, specialising primarily in comedy productions.-Biography:Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, he was the elder and more successful brother of Claude. He was educated at Cambridge and appeared in many shows and revues, mainly with the Cambridge Footlights. He...
, Paul Murray, and Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
at Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
. The film, referred to as "A Cine-Radio Revue" in its original publicity, is a lavish musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
and was Britain's answer to the Hollywood revues which had been produced by the major studios in the United States, such as Paramount on Parade
Paramount on Parade
Paramount on Parade is a all-star revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Victor Heerman, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H...
(1930) and Hollywood Review of 1929. The revue has a slim storyline about it being a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcast. The film consists of 19 comedy and music vignettes
Vignette (literature)
In theatrical script writing, sketch stories, and poetry, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting and sometimes an object...
linked by running jokes of an aspiring Shakespearean
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
actor and technical problems with a viewer's TV set.
Hitchcock's contribution was the comic linking segments about a man trying to "tune in" the revue on his television set, but always failing to get the picture for long because of his needless tinkering. (In the UK, John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird FRSE was a Scottish engineer and inventor of the world's first practical, publicly demonstrated television system, and also the world's first fully electronic colour television tube...
's work in mechanical television
Mechanical television
Mechanical television was a broadcast television system that used mechanical or electromechanical devices to capture and display video images. However, the images themselves were usually transmitted electronically and via radio waves...
in the 1920s made television a topical subject at the time.) In imitation of the lavish use of Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
by Hollywood studios at that time, two sequences of the film were photographed using the Pathécolor
Pathécolor
Pathécolor, later renamed Pathéchrome, was an early manual stencil-based film tinting process for movies developed by Pathé in the early 20th century...
stencil
Stencil
A stencil is a thin sheet of material, such as paper, plastic, or metal, with letters or a design cut from it, used to produce the letters or design on an underlying surface by applying pigment through the cut-out holes in the material. The key advantage of a stencil is that it can be reused to...
colour process.
In their book Film's musical moment, Ian Conrich and Estella Tincknell write:
- "The British equivalent of Hollywood's all-star revues was Elstree Calling (1930), produced by British International Pictures (BIP), which consisted mainly of musical and comedy items from stage shows of the day introduced by compare Tommy HandleyTommy HandleyThomas Reginald "Tommy" Handley was a British comedian, mainly known for the BBC radio programme ITMA . He was born at Toxteth Park, Liverpool in Lancashire....
. Lacking the lavish production values and visual spectacle of its Hollywood equivalents, Elstree Calling is now something of a curio item interesting chiefly for two reasons: Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
(then contracted to BIP) was one of several directors employed on the production; and the film is quite possibly the first ever to refer directly to television (the linking narrative concerns a television broadcast of the revue, some six years before the BBC began regular television transmissions)."
Cast
- Teddy BrownTeddy BrownTeddy Brown was an American entertainer who spent the latter part of his life performing in Britain. He was born Abraham Himmelbrand in 1900, and first played in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, but moved to the field of popular music in the 1920s.He was noted for his rotund appearance,...
- Helen Burnell
- Donald CalthropDonald CalthropDonald Calthrop was an English stage and film actor. He starred as the title character in the hit musical The Boy in 1917. He then appeared in 63 films between 1916 and 1940, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.He was born in London and died in Eton from a heart attack.He was the...
- Bobbie Comber
- Cicely CourtneidgeCicely CourtneidgeDame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge DBE was an English actress and comedienne. The daughter of the producer Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End, by the age of 16, and was quickly promoted from minor to major roles in his Edwardian musical comedies.After the...
- The 3 Eddies
- Will FyffeWill FyffeWill Fyffe was a major star of the 1930s and 1940s, a star of stage, screen and shellac.Fyffe made his debut in his father's stock company at the age of six...
- Tommy HandleyTommy HandleyThomas Reginald "Tommy" Handley was a British comedian, mainly known for the BBC radio programme ITMA . He was born at Toxteth Park, Liverpool in Lancashire....
- Gordon HarkerGordon HarkerGordon Harker was an English film actor. He appeared in 68 films between 1921 and 1959, including three films directed by Alfred Hitchcock and a cameo appearance in Elstree Calling , a revue film co-directed by Hitchcock...
- Jack HulbertJack HulbertJohn Norman "Jack" Hulbert was a British actor, specialising primarily in comedy productions.-Biography:Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, he was the elder and more successful brother of Claude. He was educated at Cambridge and appeared in many shows and revues, mainly with the Cambridge Footlights. He...
- Hannah Jones
- John LongdenJohn LongdenJohn Longden was a West Indian-born English film actor. He appeared in 84 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.-Biography:...
- Ivor McLaren
- Lily MorrisLily MorrisLily Morris , born Lilles Mary Crosby, was an English music hall performer, who specialized in comedic singing....
- Nathan Shacknovsky
- John Stuart
- Jameson ThomasJameson ThomasJameson Thomas was an English film actor. He appeared in 82 films between 1923 and 1939.He was born in London and died in Sierra Madre, California, it is said from Tuberculosis....
- Anna May WongAnna May WongAnna May Wong was an American actress, the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American to become an international star...