The Sport of Kings (1931) User Reviews

Antique farce

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 15 September 2008]

This is an adaptation of a stage play by Ian Hay starring the long forgotten Leslie Henson.Quite frankly there is very little entertainment to be had from this film.In fact i defy you to laugh once.The humour is by and large slapstick .If there was any verbal humour then i must have missed it.I think that this can only be of interest to anyone who would like to see what British stage plays of the 1930s resembled or Gordon Harker fans,of whom i am one.Here he plays a butler,a roe he would appear in many times including his last screen outing nearly 30 years later in "Left Right and Centre".Also featured is that doyen of character actors , Wally Patch who probably appeared in more British films than anyone else.Here he appears as a bookie,which i believe he was for a time.So if you are looking to be entertained avoid this film.

Naughty boys

[dsewizzrd-1 · 6/10 · 14 December 2008]

Very early pro-gambling talkie plods along very slowly.

Leslie Henson hams it up terribly with Gordon Harker playing his usual role as a cockney (this time as a butler).

The plot involves an anti-gambling JP and a couple of 'lads' (of middle age) persuading him to gamble. Cheaply made with no orchestra and painful acting from the non-star characters. Henson's tendency to plod excessively and lead an unnecessarily long pause between lines is exaggerated in this film - and acting drunk is never actually funny anyway.

Joke - "An abstainer is a gentleman what only likes to drink when he's by himself".