Lonely Road

LONELY ROAD offers Clive Brook at his suave best as a man who drives drunk and crashes on a beach where a smuggling operation is underway. He's beaten up and left on the beach. When he's found, it is assumed his injuries are from the crash. After recovery he is driving to Scotland to rest and spends the night in Leeds where, at a dance hall, he meets a girl (a radiant Victoria Hopper) and the plot goes on from there. I suppose there are too many coincidences for the plot to really hold together, but the joy here is in the performances of Brook and Hopper. Also good are the snarling thug played by Charless Farrell (not the Hollywood star), the housekeeper played by Ethel Coleridge, and Lady Anne played by Nora Swinburne. The alternate title is "Scotland Yard Commands," which is pretty awful. Hopper gets to sing the title song "Lonely Road." And love that car!