Spring in Park Lane

This is one of my favourite movies of its type. I first saw it when it first appeared (sixty years ago), and I have seen it several times in recent years. It gets better with each viewing. It has a pretty believable plot, very good dialogue, and the characters are great. I wish films like this could still be made. It has, of course, no resemblance to real life today (for which heartfelt thanks), and in fact not much resemblance to the life when it was made, but who can resist the overall pleasant atmosphere? It is sad to relate that the sequel "Maytime in Mayfair" was a complete let-down. I am at a complete loss to understand why this excellent film isn't available on DVD.

This film is pure joy. Back in the nineteen seventies I was a projectionist for several years and I remember my mother encouraging me to watch vintage movies to find out what real acting was about.

This one was one of the earliest I saw and I totally fell in love with it.

Set in London's west end, this is the tale of an impoverished Lord played with enormous charm and wit by Michael Wilding. He and Anna Neagle, his co-star, have great chemistry together, and really all the way through you can see they were made each other. The rest of the cast are all in top form and really this is a movie not to be missed if you love romantic comedies as I do.

What an accomplished team Anna Neagle and Michael Widing were.They must have known each others acting styles intimately.I have them on DVD/video in "The Courtneys of Curzon Street", "Piccadilly Incident" and the subject film.The mode is light romantic comedy a style at which they both excelled so I have rated it 7/10.

An aristocrat, (Michael Wilding), falls out with his dim family and obtains the position of a footman with a posh family who live in Park Lane, an exclusive area of London.Only the butler knows Michael's real identity which he keeps secret but addresses him as "milord" whenever they are alone together.The result is that the Park Lane family are astonished by Michael's savoir-faire and knowledge of the finer things of life.Michael can play the piano well and spot an art forger at 100 paces as well as being charming and witty to the family.Soon he has become irreplaceable as an employee and Anna Neagle (who is the secretary of wealthy Tom Walls) begins to look to Michael for advice on non footman activities.

As time elapses Anna begins to suspect Michael is not all he pretends to be and they arrange a date together on The Serpentine so she can learn more about his background.There is an echo of the scene in "The Merchant of Venice" when Portia has to choose between three suitors.Suitor 1 is a vain self-obsessed actor.Suitor 2 is Michael's dim, boring aristocratic brother (cue comedy of Michael trying to avoid "blowing his cover").Suitor 3, Michael, appears as the poorest suitor but Anna instinctively feels he is the one.I feel sure script writers sometimes borrow and get inspiration from the classics when writing their screenplays.Another of the footman's accomplishments is dancing and the two have a very romantic dreamlike dance together.That's all of the plot I will reveal.This film is readily available so I urge all Wilding/Neagle fans to go out and buy this for their collection.

According to IMDB and TCM, "Spring in Park Lane" made more money than any other British film the year it debuted. In fact, it apparently is one of the highest attended pictures ever in the UK...so it's obvious that the film was very popular...so popular they reunited Michael Wilding and Anna Neagle repeatedly.

The story finds Richard (Wilding) applying for a job as footman for the Howard family. Judy (Neagle) hires him....but soon her uncle (the head of the household) regrets this when Richard informs him he bought a forged painting. After all, what would a footman know of art? What none of them realize is that Richard was once wealthy and sophisticated but recently lost his money and was forced to seek work...and he did know what he was talking about when it came to art. As for Judy, she just knows that Richard is delightful and they are starting to fall in love.

In many ways, this is a lot like "My Man Godfrey"...with a well-bred man arriving in the guise of a servant and helping a family in many ways. But it's not really a comedy like the earlier film...and the emphasis is more on romance. A nice picture..well worth seeing...though not exactly up to the hype surrounding it (few films ever are).

When this film was released this country was in the grip of austerity so the sight of people living seemingly in another world of plenty was very appealing