Storm in a Teacup

Vivien Leigh, Rex Harrison, Cecil Parker, and Sara Allgood star in "Storm in a Teacup." Parker plays Gow, an arrogant Scotsman running for public office. As he is being interviewed by reporter Frank Burdon(Harrison), he is approached by a local woman (Allgood) who is near hysterics about her dog being put down because she hasn't paid the license. While talking on one side of his mouth stating that he is for the people, Gow roundly throws her out. Affronted, Burdon turns the incident into something akin to what Watergate was in the '70s. Leigh plays his daughter, who just happens to have fallen in love with Burdon.

Excellent acting sparks this fast-moving comedy - in a run of the mill ingénue role, the beautiful Leigh sparkles, and a very young Harrison does a marvelous job as a determined reporter. Parker plays a pompous man with guts beautifully, and Allgood in her usual role as a low-class woman, is great. Kudos to Patsy the dog, who is the storm in the teacup.

Really worth seeing for the very young Leigh and Harrison.

I agree with most of the other reviews, but there's lots more brilliance that has not been mentioned. James Bridie take a very funny swipe at American 1930's slang (the new maid and a funny reply by the Lord Judge).

I don't think of this as being at all Capra-like. None of his films has this kind of snappy, clever satirical dialog.

I've come to really consider this film of the best British comedies of the 1930's.

The current (2013) DVD issue is part of "The Vivien Leigh Anniversary Collection" and is a really great print. Buy it and you'll see!

I agree with the previous reviewer that this British film is an attempt by them to produce a Frank Capra like populist comedy. Certainly Cecil Parker as the town provost could easily have fit into a Capra film, a Mr. Potter from Scotland. Rex Harrison could easily be James Stewart, standing up for good.

Cecil Parker is the provost (Mayor?) of a small Scottish town called Baikie way in the rural north. Parker's an efficient manager who's come to the attention of party bigwigs who want to run him in a bi-election for an open seat in Parliament.

Parker is also a fatuous, arrogant oaf with the public relations sense of an ostrich. While being interviewed by reporter Rex Harrison, Sara Allgood who's a poor widow who can't afford the money for a dog license has her dog taken by Parker's police to be put to death as a stray. As she's begging, he throws her into the street.

Harrison who was going to do a puff piece as we would now call it, is outraged enough to write what occurred.

Complicating things is the fact that Harrison's fallen big time for Parker's daughter, Vivien Leigh. This was an early film for both and the megastardom that was destined for both is apparent.

Of course being the oaf he is with his ego out of joint, Parker keeps escalating this storm in a teacup until it's a nationwide issue. But the ending couldn't have been better done by Frank Capra himself.

Lots of laughs in this one and check out the scene where the dogs invade Parker's house. Could have been done as a short subject in and of itself.

Why isn't this excellent comedy better known? More to the point, why is it so consistently misinterpreted? Most commentators view it as an amusing piece of froth about the provost of a small Scottish town (Cecil Parker) ordering that a dog be put down because its owner cannot pay for its licence. There's Vivien Leigh as the provost's daughter and Rex Harrison on top form as the journalist who makes the silly story national news. It's all very funny and delightfully played by all concerned. But underlying this story (adapted from a German play by James Bridie) is a subtle satire of dictatorship as was then current in Germany and Italy. Parker's role is very clearly based on Hitler, a times quite unsettlingly so, and it is in the bold but successfully intermingling of whimsy with dictatorial manners that the film gains its particular power. Cute it may seem to be, but Victor Saville was a wise and quite a subversive soul, and you'll find few other films from this period that so ably blend the dark with the light. Take a look at it again and see what I mean!

When a young reporter, Frank Burdon (Rex Harrison), is given an assignment to interview a rather nasty and self-important local politician, it turns out to be very unpleasant. Although Provost Gow (Cecil Parker)* wants to run for parliament, he does a horrible job of impressing the reporter. This is because during the interview, Gow and Burden are interrupted by a local woman (Sara Allgood) who is begging the Provost to help her. Instead of helping, Provost Gow is completely unsympathetic and cruel--and vows to have the old lady's dog put to sleep!! Burdon is horrified and angry--how dare this local political boss mistreat his constituents like this! So he does what any honest reporter would do--he publishes the truth! This is a serious problem, though, as the paper was backing the Provost AND the Provost wasn't about to back down. Another problem is that Burdon soon falls in love with the Provost's daughter (Vivian Leigh)--and this relationship is surely doomed! This is a delightful film--sort of like a droll and British version of a screwball comedy. The dialog is GREAT and Harrison is at his best. It also helped that Cecil Parker was WONDERFUL as the buffoon politician. All in all, a great little film.

*Speaking of Parker, he looked, sounded and acted almost exactly like David Horton (David Waldhorn). The likeness of the two characters is amazing.