SnoopyStyle

Philip Burton (Toby Jones) is a teacher in a Walsh mining town. He finds his former student Rich Jenkin (Harry Lawtey) working instead of going to school. Pa Jenkin is a drunk and threw Rich out of the house. Nobody from the family has ever completed school. Philip sees the untapped potential in Rich and invites the teenager to his Shakespeare group. Rich would become world famous actor Richard Burton.

It's a bitter-sweet telling of Richard Burton's early biography. It's a bit slow at the start and I wasn't quite sure about Lawtey's Richard Burton. He eventually gets to the Burton that I am familiar with as an older performer. Toby Jones is never in doubt. The family drama is slightly interesting. I did not expect some of the story around his stage name. It's all somewhat poignant, but it doesn't manage to get a tear. It's good, but maybe a little too precious.

It is 1931 Paris. Fashion model Nicole Picot (Kay Francis) works out of a dress salon. Stefan Orloff (Claude Rains) comes in to select her for a private showing to a wealthy lady. At the mansion, she spots red flags. He actually has nothing and is looking for a partner with class. In a few years, the con-man becomes a well-connected "financier" while she opens her own fashion salon. She falls for British diplomat Anthony Wayne (Ian Hunter). With his fraud coming back around him, he needs her help once more.

This is loosely based on a real French scandal. I don't particularly care about these characters or this romance. I do like Francis and Rains as actors. I need a prominent police character to lay out the fraud and pursue Orloff. That would raise the tension earlier. I like this for the actors and the true story.