Le etrange pensionnaire

Old lady Marie Wright gets run over at the beginning of the film and is taken to hospital where she doesn't recover. However, who is this mysterious lady who was carrying enemy secrets? Cue Tom Walls (Tommy) who must interrupt his wedding night to investigate undercover as a matter of national interest. This leads him to a boarding house in Notting Hill Gate. His French wife - Renee Saint-Cyr (Louise) - follows him there and we have a comedy that unfolds with these two as Walls tries to crack the case.

It's a gentle film that carries you along in an entertaining manner. It's lightweight fun with a good cast and will keep you guessing at the mystery element. I was brought up around Notting Hill gate so it was interesting for me to see the very recognizable house designs although I couldn't gage the specific street in question.

Gainsborough proves itself, once again, to create better output than the sterile films that Ealing studios were making at the time.

An archetypal mystery film with elements of comedy and thriller, there are enough amusing parts, interesting performances and well paced sections that it is overall okay viewing, and it certainly improves towards the end. The beginning and the middle sections of the film contain events that are predictable and lame comedy bits, but the conclusion and the events leading to it have an intriguing nature. It is not an extraordinary film, rather ordinary in most aspects, other than some excellent sound recording. The mystery plot is not too fascinating at all, but the film ends on a good note though, so it is quite possible that the film will leave one satisfied, even if not much more than that.

The movie starts with an old woman being run down by a bus and killed. She has no identification and a search of her bag leads to the discovery of some top secret blueprints, and Tommy Blythe ("Bullock") must take time out from his honeymoon to investigate this. He arrives at a boarding house and discovers the spy racket operating within, and is most surprised to find out who the mysterious "Mr. Smith" is. His wife Louise ("Heffer") tags along to both help and hinder him. All up a very fast paced movie, you can't even pause to blink! Finest performance must go to a young Googie Withers as Elsie, the maid, and the funniest scene by far when Tommy and Louise are struggling with her in the taxi, trying to gag her with her own stockings. Highly recommended! 9/10.

"Strange Boarders" is more a speedy comedy than a spy thriller adventure, although there are a few sequences in that genre. The main attraction is of course the couple Tom Walls - Renée Saint-Cyr, playing hide and seek in that spy adventure. There are both very funny. And there are a lot of details based on surprising observations, it's a quite visual movie. Herbert Mason directed 16 movies, if there are as well done as this one, there are worth a look. Very pertinent the reviewer's comparison with "l'Assassin habite au 21". I'll try to see "Lady in distress", remake of a french movie "Metropolitain".