Service for Ladies

Alexander Korda's first British film is a typical escapist depression-era fantasy set in the lap of luxury in which the action moves from London to the Austrian Tyrol and back again without ever leaving the studio.

Kings travel incognito, the hero promptly falls in love with a girl he just happened to be standing next to while waiting for a taxi (although the Hays Office would have soon taken issue with him simultaneously juggling her with the high maintainance mistress he already has), and the difference between wearing black tie and white tie is considered important enough for characters to remark upon at one point.

Max Tracey (Leslie Howard) is a superb head waiter. He works at the finest restaurant and is beloved by the rich as well as royalty. However, he also knows that no matter how much these folks adore him and look to him, he still will never be one of them. Ironically, when he goes on vacation and is mistaken for a prince traveling incognito! And, to make matters interesting, a lovely young countess falls for her and he rebuffs her advances. She thinks it's because this 'prince' thinks he's above her....whereas in reality he realizes a commoner has little chance with a countess. What's to come of all this? See the film.

This clever film gently pokes fun at the British class system and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It never is a laugh out loud film....more one that makes you think. I noticed some found it slow and tough viewing....I found it clever and engaging....with a lovely performance by Howard.

Service For Ladies is an early film by producer Alexander Korda in Great Britain before he started his London Film Company. This one was made under the auspices of Paramount Pictures shot over on the other side of the pond and released in America and in the United Kingdom under their white mountain banner.

I'm not sure how well it did here because it deals with the European concept of class distinctions. Not that we don't have it here, but in America it usually involves money. Over there it's titles.

Leslie Howard plays the head waiter at a posh London night spot where Morton Selten and daughter Elizabeth Allan are dining out. One look at her and he chases her to the continent when he hears she's going to a resort. And she gets it in her head that Howard is some kind of royalty. After all there is a king from some unnamed country vacationing there who knows Howard who is played by George Grossmith. Of course the king's dined at Howard restaurant before.

Service For Ladies is kind of a Cinderella story in reverse where the boy is the one who gets the magical evening. Howard plays the role with his usual charm. I'm sure it did well over in Europe, I can't see it having much of a market in Depression America. Still it's a nice dated antique of a film.

Hungarian-born director/producer Sir Alexander Korda was responsible for bringing what had once been the provincial English cinema into world prominence through a series of spectacular pre-World War II films -–among them "Thief of Bagdad," "Rembrandt,""Four Feathers," "Drums," and "The Private Life of Henry VIII." Their exceptional performances and lavish production values were even the envy of the grand Hollywood studios. In later years as head of his own international company, London Films, Korda only produced, but here in this stylish 1931 film made in the early days of sound and on-the-cheap at the Paramount British studios, he chose to direct as well. Ironically, the film stars that quintessential Englishman, London-born Leslie Howard, whose parents were also Hungarian expatriates settled in the UK. Perhaps because the film was written by the two of Korda's fellow countrymen, script by Lajos Biro from a story by Ernest Vajda, there is a naughty continental touch to this film, more Lubitsch and Molnar than British, with suave Howard pursuing or being pursued by two sexy English beauties, Elizabeth Allen and Benita Hume. (The latter was to marry Ronald Coleman and George Sanders.) Keep an eye out for the future Lady Korda, the gorgeous Anglo-Indian actress Merle Oberon, seen here as only an extra.

There is not a whole lot of story or plot, but the cast members are uniformly talented and their characters are generally likable.

That plus the production values and the interesting look at England, and especially London, in the early 1930s make "Service for Ladies" a pleasant entertainment.

I saw this on Turner Classic Movies and, as I have found with so many English movies on TCM, the sound was rather garbled and hard to understand.

Perhaps it's just the age of the film -- I mean, surely it's not the age of the ears.

Regardless, "Service for Ladies" is fun, definitely watchable.