Dusty Ermine

You'll not believe that this was made by little old Twickenham Films! It's almost brilliant. Its script is intelligent, witty and engrossing, its characters are totally believable and the acting is honestly outstanding - a far cry from a lot of the rubbish that was around in the 30s. And unbelievably it was made by Twickenham!

This was Julius Hagen's last big budget (for him anyway) Twickenham Films extravaganza before his ambitions bankrupted his studio. However modest in terms of what 'a budget' meant say at Gaumont-British or Paramount, it allowed Bernard Vorhaus to do what he'd always wanted to do - properly direct a proper film. Vorhaus has quite a cult following and you can see why. Given a decent budget, freed from the restraints of making the 'quota quickies' all his pent up ambitions and creativity are realised in this brilliantly, yes brilliantly made production. His photographer, the German Curt Courant who worked on some of Europe's most prestigious pictures also imbues this film real sense elegance and a touch of class.

Having watched countless films from the early and mid thirties, mainly American, I have to say that this is one of the finest, best quality offerings I've ever seen - and it's not from MGM or Warners, it's not even from Gaumont-British, it from Twickenham! What's surprising is the quality of the acting, it's naturalistic, realistic and a far cry from what you might expect from this era - and certainly from this studio. Excellent writing and authentic acting allow all the main characters literally develop and evolve into real, believable people before your eyes. In just an hour and a half you really get to know them.

Unlike THE GHOST CAMERA which Hagen and Vorhaus made a couple of years earlier, this does take a while to get going but you'll be hooked within fifteen minutes. Sometimes you need to lower your 'quality control bar' with 30s films but not with this. Watch and enjoy!

A sort-of-young Margaret Rutherford shows her comic potential in this early appearance as a member of a shady counterfeiting ring in this entertaining if slightly muddled comedy-thriller. Ronald Squire is a reformed forger who discovers that his talented nephew has been drawn into the same racket by a gang operating out of a sports hotel in the Swiss Alps and travels there to sort things out. He's tailed by dashing, Germanic-looking Scotland Yard cop Anthony Bushell, who wastes no time wooing Squire's niece. The Alps provide an unusual location for a British movie from the '30s and there's a lengthy but decent climactic chase sequence down the side of a mountain, but the film suffers when Squire is off-screen (which he is for a lengthy spell).

A forget gets out of prison determined to go straight, however he's intercepted by a crime network.

I rather enjoyed this, it definitely develops well, and gains pace, the early stages are very slow, but stick with it, ultimately it really is rewarding.

The acting is very, very solid, ahead of its time, if like me you're here for Margaret Rutherford, you won't be disappointed, even if she perhaps isn't in it a huge deal, she is marvellous though, hard to believe she's 44 here. The acting in general is great.

It's very well made, with nice locations, it's very solid, and again defies its years. I love the style of it, it has bags of charm and appeal.

Funny, and enjoyable, 7/10.

The title might actually have been explained in Neil Grant's original play, which sadly seems typical of the inattention to mundane details which pushed producer Julius Hagen into bankruptcy within a year of this film's release. Hagen seems actually to have splashed out on sending to the Austrian Alps leads Anthony Bushell, the delightful Jane Baxter (whom I saw in the flesh along with director Bernard Vorhaus at a screening of this film on the South Bank in 1986) and writer/actor Arthur Macrae for the James Bond-style finale.

The cast also includes slightly younger versions than we are accustomed to of Ronald Squire before he grew his moustache (the film ends with a wonderful gag reminding us of his resourcefulness as a forger), Katie Johnson (nearly twenty years before 'The Ladykillers'), and Margaret Rutherford making a priceless film debut as a master criminal (a role not in the original play).

For a British film of this period it has a very fast pace, albeit mostly due to rear screen work. The performances, although a little theatrical, are very good for the time. Margaret Rutherford is particularly entertaining. I found the film thoroughly enjoyable, but then I like that kind of thing.