Hay Petrie
Encyclopedia
Hay Petrie born David Hay Petrie, was a Scottish actor noted for playing eccentric characters, among them Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop
(1935), the McLaggen in The Ghost Goes West
(1935) and Uncle Pumblechook in Great Expectations
(1946).
Hay Petrie went to St Andrew’s Academy, Dundee, and St Andrew’s University, where he first discovered the stage. In 1915 he joined the The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) as a Second Lieutenant. After the war he studied with Rosina Filippi joining the Old Vic Company appearing as “Starveling” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1920. In 1924 Albert de Courville brought Hay Petrie into Vaudeville with The Looking Glass, in which he sang “Oh Shakespeare you’re the best of all but you can’t fill the fourteen shilling stall”. His first film part was Many Waters in 1931. Hay Petrie struggled with alcoholism, but was much loved by audiences and players. He was never more at home than when he was playing parts from the classical theatre, and for many he was the Shakespearian Clown of the early 1920s.
The Old Curiosity Shop
The Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by Charles Dickens. The plot follows the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London....
(1935), the McLaggen in The Ghost Goes West
The Ghost Goes West
The Ghost Goes West is a British romantic comedy/fantasy film starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette, and directed by René Clair, his first English-language film...
(1935) and Uncle Pumblechook in Great Expectations
Great Expectations (1946 film)
Great Expectations is a 1946 British film which won two Academy Awards and was nominated for three others...
(1946).
Hay Petrie went to St Andrew’s Academy, Dundee, and St Andrew’s University, where he first discovered the stage. In 1915 he joined the The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) as a Second Lieutenant. After the war he studied with Rosina Filippi joining the Old Vic Company appearing as “Starveling” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1920. In 1924 Albert de Courville brought Hay Petrie into Vaudeville with The Looking Glass, in which he sang “Oh Shakespeare you’re the best of all but you can’t fill the fourteen shilling stall”. His first film part was Many Waters in 1931. Hay Petrie struggled with alcoholism, but was much loved by audiences and players. He was never more at home than when he was playing parts from the classical theatre, and for many he was the Shakespearian Clown of the early 1920s.
Partial filmography
- Many WatersMany Waters (film)Many Waters is a 1931 British romance film directed by Milton Rosmer and starring Lillian Hall-Davis, Arthur Margetson and Elizabeth Allan. It was based on a play by Leon M. Lion. An elderly couple reminisce about the romantic adventures of their youth...
(1931) - The Lucky NumberThe Lucky NumberThe Lucky Number is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Clifford Mollison, Gordon Harker, Joan Wyndham and Frank Pettingell. A professional footballer attempts to recover a winning pools ticket...
(1932) - The Private Life of Henry VIIIThe Private Life of Henry VIIIThe Private Life of Henry VIII is a 1933 film about Henry VIII, King of England. It was written by Lajos Biró and Arthur Wimperis, and directed by Sir Alexander Korda.Charles Laughton won the 1933 Academy Award as Best Actor for his performance as Henry...
(1933) (uncredited) - Crime on the HillCrime on the HillCrime on the Hill is a 1933 British mystery film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and starring Sally Blane, Nigel Playfair and Lewis Casson. The plot was based on a successful play by Jack de Leon and Jack Celestin...
(1933) - Matinee IdolMatinee Idol (film)Matinee Idol is a 1933 British crime film directed by George King and starring Camilla Horn, Miles Mander and Marguerite Allan. A young actress is suspected of murder when a matinee idol she had prevented seducing her sister is found dead.-Cast:...
(1933) - Blind JusticeBlind Justice (1934 film)Blind Justice is a 1934 British thriller film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and starring Eva Moore, Frank Vosper, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Roger Livesey and John Mills. A woman is blackmailed by a criminal, who has discovered that her brother was shot as a coward during the First World War...
(1934) - The Old Curiosity ShopThe Old Curiosity ShopThe Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by Charles Dickens. The plot follows the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London....
(1934) - Moscow NightsMoscow Nights (film)Moscow Nights is a 1935 British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Laurence Olivier, Penelope Dudley-Ward and Harry Baur. During the First World War a wounded Russian officer Captain Ignatoff falls in love with his nurse...
(1935) - The Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes West is a British romantic comedy/fantasy film starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette, and directed by René Clair, his first English-language film...
(1935) - The House of the SpaniardThe House of the SpaniardThe House of the Spaniard is a 1936 British crime film directed by Reginald Denham and starring Allan Jeayes, Peter Haddon and Brigitte Horney. It is set in Lancashire and Spain, during the ongoing Spanish Civil War. It was shot at Ealing Studios in west London, England, and on location in Spain...
(1936) - Knight Without ArmourKnight Without ArmourKnight Without Armour is a 1937 British historical drama film made by London Films and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by Jacques Feyder and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Lajos Biró adapted by Frances Marion from the novel by James Hilton. The music score was by...
(1937) - The Loves of Madame DubarryThe Loves of Madame DubarryThe Loves of Madame Dubarry a.k.a. I Give My Heart is a 1935 British historical film adapted from the stage operetta The DuBarry. Directed by Marcel Varnel, and produced by J. H. Hoffberg Company. It is based on the life of Madame Du Barry....
(1938) - Q PlanesQ PlanesQ Planes, released in the United States by Columbia Pictures as Clouds Over Europe, is a 1939 British spy film directed by Tim Whelan and Arthur B. Woods, starring Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier and Valerie Hobson. It was produced by Irving Asher with Alexander Korda as executive producer...
(1939) - The Spy in BlackThe Spy in BlackThe Spy in Black is a 1939 British film, and the first collaboration between the British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. They were brought together by Alexander Korda to make the World War I spy thriller by Joseph Storer Clouston into a film...
(1939) - The Four FeathersThe Four Feathers (1939 film)The Four Feathers is a 1939 adventure film directed by Zoltan Korda, starring John Clements, Ralph Richardson, June Duprez, C. Aubrey Smith. Set in the 1890s during the reign of Queen Victoria, it tells the story of a man accused of cowardice. It is one of a number of adaptations of the 1902 novel...
(1939) (uncredited) - Jamaica InnJamaica Inn (film)Jamaica Inn is a 1939 film made by Alfred Hitchcock adapted from Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel of the same name, the first of three of du Maurier's works that Hitchcock adapted ....
(1939) - InquestInquest (1939 film)Inquest is a 1939 British crime film directed by Ray Boulting and starring Elizabeth Allan, Herbert Lomas, Hay Petrie and Barbara Everest. A young widow is accused of murder, and enlists the support of a King's Counsel to help prove her innocence...
(1939) - 21 Days21 Days21 Days, also known as 21 Days Together in the U.S., is a 1940 British drama film based on the short play The First and the Last by John Galsworthy. It was directed by Basil Dean and stars Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier and Leslie Banks...
(1940) - Crimes at the Dark HouseCrimes at the Dark HouseCrimes at the Dark House is a British film directed by George King starring Tod Slaughter, Sylvia Marriott and Hilary Eaves. It is loosely based on the novel The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.-Plot summary:...
(1940) - Contraband (1940)
- The Thief of BagdadThe Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)The Thief of Bagdad is a 1940 British fantasy film produced by Alexander Korda, and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with contributions by Korda's brothers Vincent and Zoltán, and William Cameron Menzies...
(1940) - SpellboundSpellbound (1941 film)Spellbound is a 1941 British drama film directed by John Harlow. The film is based on the novel The Necromancer by Robert Hugh Benson. It was also released under the titles of Ghost Story and The Spell of Army Nugent.-Plot:...
(1941)
- The Ghost of St. Michael'sThe Ghost of St. Michael'sThe Ghost of St. Michael’s is a 1941 British comedy-thriller film, produced by Ealing Studios.-Plot:An ineffectual science teacher William Lamb is hired by a school recently transferred because of World War II to the remote Dunbain Castle on the Isle of Skye, Scotland...
(1941) - Turned Out Nice AgainTurned Out Nice AgainTurned Out Nice Again is a British comedy film starring Lancashire-born George Formby. The film was released in 1941 and filmed at Ealing Studios, London.-Sypnosis:...
(1941) - Cottage to LetCottage to LetCottage to Let is a 1941 spy film starring Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim and John Mills. Set in World War II Scotland, its plot concerns Nazi spies trying to kidnap an inventor.-Plot:...
(1941) - Rush HourRush Hour (1941 film)Rush Hour is a 1941 British Public Information short film made by the wartime Ministry of Information, and designed to pass on an important message to cinemagoers in a humorous manner...
(1941) - Those Kids from TownThose Kids from TownThose Kids from Town is a 1942 British, black-and-white, comedy-drama propaganda film war film, directed by Lance Comfort and starring George Cole, Harry Fowler, Percy Marmont, Ronald Shiner as Mr. Bert Burns and Charles Victor as Harry, the Vicar. It was produced by Richard Vernon and presented by...
(1942) - One of Our Aircraft Is MissingOne of Our Aircraft is MissingOne of Our Aircraft is Missing is a 1942 British war film, the fourth collaboration between the British writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and the first film they made under the banner of The Archers...
(1942) - They Flew AloneThey Flew AloneThey Flew Alone is a 1942 British, black-and-white, biopic, drama, propaganda, war film, directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Robert Newton and Edward Chapman...
(1942) - On ApprovalOn Approval (1944 film)On Approval is a 1944 British comedy film directed by Clive Brook and starring Beatrice Lillie, Clive Brook and Googie Withers. It is based on the play On Approval by Frederick Lonsdale.-Cast:* Beatrice Lillie - Maria Wislack* Clive Brook - George...
(1944) - A Canterbury TaleA Canterbury TaleA Canterbury Tale is a 1944 British film by the film-making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price and Sgt. John Sweet; Esmond Knight provided narration and played several small roles. For the postwar American release, Raymond Massey narrated...
(1944) - Kiss the Bride GoodbyeKiss the Bride GoodbyeKiss the Bride Goodbye is a 1945 British romantic comedy drama, directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Patricia Medina and Jimmy Hanley. The film also features an early role for Jean Simmons, almost two years before she achieved stardom in Great Expectations.-Plot:Factory girl Joan Dodd and Jack...
(1945) - For You AloneFor You AloneFor You Alone is a 1945 British World War II romance melodrama, one of only two films directed by cinematographer Geoffrey Faithfull, starring Lesley Brook, Dinah Sheridan and Jimmy Hanley...
(1945) - The Laughing LadyThe Laughing LadyThe Laughing Lady is a 1946 British musical drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Anne Ziegler, Webster Booth and Francis L. Sullivan. During the French Revolution, a young aristocrat makes a deal with Robespierre that he will locate and steal some diamonds from Britain in order to save...
(1946) - Great ExpectationsGreat Expectations (1946 film)Great Expectations is a 1946 British film which won two Academy Awards and was nominated for three others...
(1946) - Under New ManagementUnder New ManagementUnder New Management is a 1946 British comedy film directed by John E. Blakeley and starring Nat Jackley, Norman Evans and Dan Young. A chimney sweep inherits a hotel and calls on a number of ex-army friends to staff it. It was one of a number of films at the time dealing with the contemporary...
(1946) - The Red Shoes (1948)
- NooseNoose (film)Noose is a British crime film released in 1948. It was directed by Edmond T. Gréville and starred Carole Landis and Derek Farr.-Plot:Set in post Second World War Britain, Noose is the story of black market racketeers who face attempts to bring them to justice by an American fashion journalist, her...
(1948) - The Fallen Idol (1948)
- The Guinea Pig (1948)
- The Queen of SpadesThe Queen of Spades (1949 film)The Queen of Spades is a fantasy-horror film based on a short story of the same name by Alexander Pushkin. It stars Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans and Yvonne Mitchell. A poor Russian officer tries to learn the secret of an aged countess's success at the card table.Despite a limited budget, it was...
(1949)