This was the seventh film directed by Anthony Asquith, though I would say seven in this case was not his lucky number. It is a frivolous bit of British comedy and musical entertainment intended to cheer up the masses. One would never know from the mediocre quality of the film that had Asquith directed it, having proved his early brilliance with the spectacular UNDERGROUND (1928, see my review). The stars of the film are Clifford Mollison, Joan Wyndham, and Gordon Harker. Joan Wyndham (aged 21) is a real charmer here, and it is a pity that she only appeared in twelve films, eleven of them between 1930 and 1936, when she effectively retired; she came back in 1949 for a TV film of a Somerset Maugham play (a film which is apparently lost), and that was that. Although she lived to be 88, she disappeared from the cinema early on and we know no more about her. Her birth name by the way was Joan Eileen Weil, and she was a Londoner. We could have done with more of her on screen. She was a 'good 'un'. The story of this film concerns the struggle over possession and ownership of a lottery ticket which has unexpectedly won a huge prize. This makes for many comedic and also many fraught episodes. But as was the manner of the times, the characters keep bursting into song at the most unexpected moments, which may have been considered entertaining to audiences then, but to us is a considerable distraction. Oh well, it is amusing, and apart from that, what can one say: it was the early thirties in England, and a trip to 'the pictures' for some light relief was one of the few things to keep people sane. Oh yes, I should mention that the film features a considerable amount of a real 1932 football game by the Arsenal team, and Arsenal fans, who tend to be wildly enthusiastic folk, will certainly love this film for that reason.
Review of The Lucky Number
The Lucky Number
(1932)
A light-hearted effort to cheer up the Depression-hit public
6 November 2017