I Lived with You

Despite the reservations one has to have when a Russian prince has a Welsh accent barely disguised and a character disappears after a couple of scenes (young Albert the son takes 10 shillings to place a deposit on a wireless and is never seen again), this film is really sweet and extremely funny. To those of us who are familiar with Novello as a composer of luscious melodies of the likes of We'll Gather Lilacs it shows a new side to his genius. Great fun, especially the ladies' tea party and the early scenes in Hampton Court Maze.

Ivor Novello was a composer, musician, playwright, screenwriter, theatre actor/producer ....and... as this shows, a genuinely funny comedy actor too. He wrote this as well confirming what a talented, witty and insightful writer he was.

First of all, as a few others have said - what a surprise to find how funny he is. This is not what you'd expect from Ivor Novello. His very Welsh Russian accent is hilarious. His style is campy fabulosa - like a 1930s Kenneth Williams. Were he around today he'd have a weekly prime time tv slot. Like the best writers, he shares out to all of his cast equal funny lines and equal opportunities to shine. It's very democratic inasmuch that all the main cast have about the same amount of screen time and all have properly developed characters.

Another surprise is what a well made film this is. It's produced, directed and acted much better than a lot of films from 1933. The reason for its high quality is due to a guy called Julius Hagen, an incredibly ambitious German emigre who for a short time ran his own British film studio, Twickenham Studios. Two things now happened at the same time. 1. The Depression in America resulted in the American studios cutting production so they needed to outsource films to fill their cinemas. 2. Noticing that Korda at London Films made a fortune with his big budget HENRY VIII, Hagen thought he'd do the same. So in 1933 when UA needed product for the cinemas he abandoned churning out cheap 'quota quickies' and invested heavily into making a few high quality films like this. There weren't too many English films in 1933 made this well so this is something quite special which is what makes it still so entertaining today.

It's instantly engaging, intelligent and great fun. It's not the typical silly slapstick nonsense that was popular at the time but neither is it a high-brow, pretentious bore. In fact , it's got as many one-liners and subtle innuendos as you'd find in any Carry On film thirty years later. And one last observation - Ida Lupino sure was pretty!

In his day, Ivor Novello was a beloved Welsh actor and singer. However, today, especially outside the UK, he's a pretty much forgotten man despite his having once been a star. Part of this might be because he died in his 50s. Part of it might be because times and tastes change...which is what I think of when I think about "I Lived With You".

The play was quite popular and Ivor Novello both wrote it and starred in the production. So, it's not surprising that he'd bring the story to the big screen.

Novello plays Prince Felix...who was once a rich Russian before the revolution. But now he's homeless and with no job...nor a desire to get a job. Gladys meets him in the maze at Hampton Court (a palace owned by Henry VIII which is just outside of London). She learns of his plight and invites him home to stay with her and her family.

For the most part, Felix just lies about the home and interferes with the family. For example, he encourages Gladys' father to get a mistress...with predictable results. On the positive side, however, he is able to pay for his way, as he has some gems which he's kept since fleeing Russia...and he sells them in order to help the family.

So is this any good? Well, it's okay. I think Novello overacted a bit here and there, as did Ida Lupino (Novello's real life goddaughter). As for Lupino, this was well before she came to Hollywood and had a HUGE makeover. She looks and sounds VERY little like the Lupino of the 1940s....almost like they are two different people. And, fortunately, with a new image came much better acting and she honed her craft.

Overall, this film is an oddity but one that just hasn't aged all that well. After a while, it all becomes a bit annoying and bellicose. Watchable but not all that good.

I for Novello was principally a stage actor and he only made a handful of film appearances in the sound era.In fact it has to be said watching this film that he looks every bit the stage star.Every time he appears on screen the focus is really on him.He plays a Russian Prince who has found his way to London with a cache of priceless jewels.He is discovered at the maze at Hampton Court by Ursula Jeans who decides to take him home to her parents home where he is invited to stay.This disrupts everyone including young her boyfriend,an impossibly young Jack Hawkinns and her younger sister,Ida Lupino.He is used by the film as a sort of device to solve all of the characters problems,not the least being that of Elliott Markeham who has becomec romanticallybinvolved with his secretary,who is determined to take him for all that he has.

I approached I LIVED WITH YOU with trepidation. While Novello had appeared in 16 silent films, where his beauty and ability to act with good direction stood him in good stead, from his RAT trilogy to his two films with the budding Alfred Hitchcock. Talkies, however, were a different ball game. He made only six. His second, THE PHANTOM FIEND, was a remake of his silent Hitchcock film, THE LODGER, and he was just awful, as was the film, over-acting and emoting all over the studio sets. His next, a turgid melodrama with Ruth Chatterton, ONCE A LADY, gave him only a brief supporting role in twelve scenes.

I LIVED WITH YOU is an adaptation of his own play, in which he starred on stage, and it is a revelation. Very funny, very well crafted, with great lines and astute observations of character and mood. Ursula Jeans is perfect as the good daughter, Gladys. Ida Lupino in her fifth film is unrecognizable, she is so fresh, minor her later mannerisms in voice and posture.

The whole cast is full of great character acting and in the middle is Novello, totally charming and totally believable as a romantic Russian prince whose involvement in the lives of a poor but happy British family, upsets their lives in many ways. Later films to use this idea of a stranger entering family lives and changing them for ever were mainly comic (MY MAN GODFREY, MERRILY WE LIVE), but often moving and thought-provoking (BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING).

Novello has lost all of his theatrical mannerisms and theatrical emoting. He is fresh, funny and ultimately very moving. Facial and vocal expressions are fit and apt to the sound film. I've never seen a better performance of his and the film is absolutely wonderful.

Seek it out!