Lloyds of London

In response to ADAMSHL's comment on LLoyd's insuring slave ships-In one scene when the insurers were in deep trouble, Blake was asked if he would insure a slave ship and he curtly said no! to emphasize the director's view of that practice.

It is a pleasant change to watch a movie that flows through the acting and dialog rather than sound effects and extreme graphics. I could even understand all the actors voices in spite of 60 yr old audio technology. Most present day English movies have horrible sound and many words are lost because of the actors elocution.

The main value of this movie is not a history lesson in politics but one in the lives of those who lived in that period and their environment, clothing, etc.

Hollywood takes many liberties when combining History and the real life of great Englishmen. In this sea epic, based on an original story by Curtis Kenyon, the movie is called " Lloyd of London. " Combining the navel exploits of Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) with that of the Insurance Market, Lloyds of London (1688-1900). This is a fictional account of two boys Jonathan Blake (Freddie Bartholomew and Tyrone Power) and Horatio Nelson (Douglas Scott and John Burton) growing up through the ages culminating during the Napoleonic Wars. Realizing that wealth and snobbery go hand in hand, Blake is determined to become an integral part of English aristocracy and influence, while Nelson raises through the naval ranks to achieve notoriety against the French. The movie makes much between men at sea and the financial power in England, so too between lovers both unrequited and not. George Saunders plays Lord Everett Stacy the principal foil which Powers had to contend with. An interesting contest between loyalty and love and which becomes more adroit when it comes to dealing with life. Tyrone is superb and the cast makes this movie a good candidate to become a Classic among Black and White films. ****

A bright young lad goes to work at LLOYD'S OF London, the famous insurance house. He grows up to become a power in the institution, with much adventure & financial intrigue along the way, but love continues to elude him...

This lavish film is great fun to watch for two primary reasons: some very good acting & the history of Lloyd's, preeminent in its field, which it details. 20th Century Fox obviously spent a pretty penny on the production values, and it shows.

Freddie Bartholomew has top billing and effortlessly steals the first half hour of the film. When his character grows up, Master Bartholomew is sorely missed. He turns into Tyrone Power, who is billed fourth. This was the film that made Power a star, and he's quite effective in the role, if you overlook the American accent.

An excellent supporting cast lends a hand: wonderful old Sir Guy Standing as Power's mentor at Lloyd's - this powerful actor would soon have his life cut short by a rattlesnake bite; Una O'Connor as Bartholomew's harridan aunt; Montagu Love as a duplicitous pirate; obese Robert Greig as the jocular First Lord of the Admiralty; E. E. Clive as a dyspeptic magistrate; oily George Sanders as a noble cad; and marvelous old Sir C. Aubrey Smith as a flirtatious peer.

The romantic subplot is ludicrous: Power moons over beautiful, married Madeleine Carroll for 20 years, while pert barmaid Virginia Field pines for him; none of them so much as gain a wrinkle or an extra ounce during this time.

The film earns high marks in its generally faithful depiction of the history both of Lloyd's, and of Horatio Nelson.

In retelling this piece of history, the writers left out one item. Between 1688 and 1807 one of the prime sources of Lloyd's of London's revenue was by insuring ships engaging in slave trading.* This enabled Britian to establish itself very rapidly as the chief slave trading center in the Atlantic.

British ships carried more than three and a quarter million humans into slavery. This shocking statistic casts a deep pall on Lloyd's of London. It may be have been an embarrassment to the writers to include this in their screenplay; still a fact of this magnitude can be considered a sad omission.

The rest of the film is well presented with beautiful acting and production values. Both Bartholomew and Power are excellent, as are Carroll and Sanders. _______________ *According to Wikipedia Enclycopedia "Lloyds in London...was a popular place for ship owners...especially those involved in the slave trade....Historian Eric Williams notes 'Lloyds insured slaves and slave ships...and quickly obtained a monopoly on maritime insurance related to the slave trade and maintained it up through the early 19th century.' "

Lloyd's of London is a very enjoyable piece of entertainment.With those actors involved I wasn't surprised.Tyrone Power delivers a good early performance,but the acting honors go to George Sanders as a despicable regency cad.Madeleine Carroll is a radiant heroine. The story is only mildly engaging but one gets caught up in the beauty of the sets and the good direction of Henry King,who makes this picture flow easily. I hope this title will be available on DVD soon along with other Tyrone Power titles. He did a lot of very entertaining movies in the three decades he was active. So watch this one in good faith, you won't be disappointed.