Maytime in Mayfair

A piece of froth from post war Britain. Its chief interest nowadays is that it is so evocative of the gentitlity and manners which used to be an integral part of British life and now isn't. It is never a good idea for a successful series to grow self-indulgent as the Neagle/Wilcox series was by this time. At one stage Wilding describes the leading lady as "putting one in mind of Anna Neagle" and elsewhere Graves is divested of a "Michael Wilding Fan Club" card by the policeman. However it is well photographed, the dance numbers still stand up well and all in all it is a nice way to pass a couple of hours.

I first saw this film over 25 years ago on British TV and have only just caught up with it again last week on a DVD copy bought off ebay. I had remembered the musical sequences, the colour and the gorgeous fashion plate poses and clothes but the plot is weaker than the earlier Anna Neagle/Michael Wilding film Spring in Park Lane and Maytime doesn't stand up so well to the passage of the years. But Michael Wilding is a joy in the film, charming, funny, debonair, appears to be having great fun and on top of his form. Worth watching for him alone. Anna Neagle appears a little matronly beside him, and a little too old for the part she plays but by the end of the 1940's their film partnership was well established with the cinema going public. Spring in Park Lane had been a top hit for 1947 and a big money maker. In his autobiography Wilding wrote at length of his great regard for Herbert Wilcox the director and instigator of this London series of films.

Of the six films that Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding made as a team this is the only one in color. Good thing too because for some of the dream sequences and/or musical numbers it was surely necessary.

Maytime In Mayfair finds Wilding a charming but broke aristocrat (apparently Wilding specialized in those roles) who finds he's an inherited a posh dress shop which caters to the aristocracy of which he's one of the poorer members till recently. First instinct is to sell the place, but after meeting Anna Neagle the store manager who runs the places and does some of the designs. Soon enough Wilding has designs on her and that plays into him trying to make a go of the business.

Some nice sequences every bit as good as what was done on this side of the pond with the music, dance, and fashion sequences. Neagle and Wilding have more British charm than you'll see this side of David Niven.

Wilding's rival for the business and Neagle's affections is Peter Graves who is a real snake in the grass, not above a little espionage to steal Neagle's designs. In that he's aided and abetted by Wilding's friend Nicholas Phipps who gets riotously drunk and spills the beans without knowing it.

If you like your British cinema escapist and entertaining than Maytime In Mayfair is for you.

SPRING IN PARK LANE had been such a success that producer-director Herbert Wilcox and star/wife Anna Neagle reassembled the cast and crew for this similarly named effort. It begins much like IRENE -- Wilcox and Neagle had made the 1940 screen version. Michael Wilding has inherited a dress business and is ready to sell it, until he meets manager/designer Anna, falls in love instantly and decides to help run the business while he pursues her.

There's a lot more comedy in this movie than the previous year's smash success. Wilding mugs outrageously and competitor Peter Graves tries to sing on a couple of occasions. Two dance numbers show up and the whole movie is shot in Best British Technicolor, which is also used to offer a brief fantasy fashion show It also contains Tom Walls next to last screen performance, as an Irish bobby. In the 1930s he starred in several of the Aldwych farces, transferred from stage to screen. In the 1940s, he moved into major supporting roles. He died a few months after this was released.

Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding made 7 films together. At their best, they were paired in glossy, stylish musical comedies like MAYTIME IN MAYFAIR, which is a remake of ROBERTA.

Here, Wilding plays a penniless charmer who inherits a dress shop. The shop is managed by stylish but aloof Anna Neagle. He knows nothing about clothes but is instantly smitten. Along for the ride is his friend (Nicholas Phipps) who gets drunks and divulges details of the fall collection to a rival (Peter Graves) who insists on singing all the time.

After the papers break the news of the new fashions, Neagle takes off in a snit with Graves, leaving Wilding to fail and sell the business. Will things get straightened out? The film's highlights are two musical dream sequences. In one, Wilding imagines the beautiful Neagle as a famous model. In the other, Neagles imagines a slow-motion dance with Wilding. Bother are well done. There's also a big fashion show sequence with all the major London designers represented.

Neagle and Wilding are a perfect team. Neagle has a regal beauty, a good sense of humor and a decent singing and dancing talent. Wilding has a goofy charm that goes well with Neagle's icy demeanor and also dances well. They were hugely popular with British audiences in the 40s and 50s. Phipps is fun as the dopey friend but was also an accomplished director and writer (he wrote the script for this film).

Co-stars include Tom Walls as the inspector, Thora Hird as Janet, Mona Washbourne as Lady Levenson, and Colette Melville as Priscilla.

Fun film. Listen closely to Wilding's jokey asides. Funny!