Michael Balcon was ever the ambitious producer. In 1934, he decided to make a movie that would play overseas, so he hired a couple of American stars, Constance Cummings and Douglas Montgomery and made a movie about an escaped Prisoner of War falling in love with a poor German girl in this movie. Given the cast and the setting, he hoped this would play in the U.S. and perhaps even Germany.
Unfortunately, this movie did not work out as he had hoped. I attribute it to a schmaltzy story and lack of any distinction other than its stars. This production looks like something that John Stahl might have done at Universal. Neither do the stars offer any particular chemistry in this effort.
Balcon would keep on trying to crack the American market. He would succeed with Hitchcock ... and lose Hitchcock to Hollywood. It would take greater American familiarity with Britain, gained during the Second World War, and a lighter touch for the Ealing comedies to break into the American market: movies that were successful because they were distinctively British... and funny... and were better movies, too.
Unfortunately, this movie did not work out as he had hoped. I attribute it to a schmaltzy story and lack of any distinction other than its stars. This production looks like something that John Stahl might have done at Universal. Neither do the stars offer any particular chemistry in this effort.
Balcon would keep on trying to crack the American market. He would succeed with Hitchcock ... and lose Hitchcock to Hollywood. It would take greater American familiarity with Britain, gained during the Second World War, and a lighter touch for the Ealing comedies to break into the American market: movies that were successful because they were distinctively British... and funny... and were better movies, too.