Sidewalks of London

Sidewalks of London

Poster
Directed by Tim Whelan
Produced by Erich Pommer
Charles Laughton (uncredited)
Written by Bartlett Cormack
Clemence Dane
Charles Laughton
Erich Pommer
Tim Whelan
Starring Charles Laughton
Vivien Leigh
Rex Harrison
Music by Arthur Johnston
Cinematography Jules Kruger
Edited by Robert Hamer
Hugh Stewart
Production
company
Mayflower Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures (US)
Release dates
 18 October 1938 (UK)
15 February 1940 (US)
Running time
 85 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Sidewalks of London, also known as St. Martin's Lane, London After Dark, and Partners of the Night,[1] is a 1938 British, black-and-white, comedy drama starring Charles Laughton as a busker or street entertainer who teams up with a talented pickpocket, played by Vivien Leigh. The Film co-stars Rex Harrison and Tyrone Guthrie in a rare acting appearance. It also features Ronald Shiner as the barman (uncredited). It was produced by Mayflower Pictures Corporation.[2]

Plot summary

Charles Staggers (Charles Laughton) is a London street performer, a "busker," with his partners, Arthur Smith (Gus McNaughton) and Gentry (Tyrone Guthrie).

He protects Liberty (Libby), Vivien Leigh, a runaway/pickpocket/dancer/busker, when she steals a gold cigarette case from successful song writer Harley Prentiss (Rex Harrison). He then takes her into their troupe, making their trio into a quartet.

Libby attracts the attention of Prentiss and his wealthy friends, who can give her a life and career away from the streets.

When she leaves, cruelly rejecting Charles's marriage proposal, he doesn’t want to go on with the act anymore, and becomes an alcoholic.

Libby’s career is a big success; and, she is offered a Hollywood contract. She asks Prentiss to marry her; but, he declines, saying he doesn’t want to be thrown away, like Charles, as a mere stepping stone for her career.

In the press of crowds, waiting to see her, as a big star, Libby sees Charles, and, her old partners, busking on the street the way they used to. Charles asks her for her autograph; but, he is pushed aside by the mob.

Cast

Production

According to Vivien Leigh's biographer Alexander Walker, Laughton and Vivien Leigh didn't get along while working together. Walker wrote that when an attempt was made to obtain Leigh's services for a film version of Cyrano de Bergerac, Laughton stated that she would have to dye her hair blonde. Leigh asked for a blonde wig, but Laughton insisted she dye her hair. The discussions fell through and Leigh felt slighted.

When Leigh was approached to make Sidewalks of London, she did not want to work with Laughton and she felt no attachment to the role. Nevertheless, she was persuaded otherwise. In Alexander Walker's biography of Leigh, Larry Adler is quoted as saying that Leigh was difficult to work with. He said, "She didn't like Charles and he didn't like her. But he was much more professional. One weekend there were a few close-ups of Vivien to be done outside a theater and Charles, who invariably went down to the country with Elsa [Lanchester] at weekends, stayed up in town to 'feed' Vivien lines from behind the camera. I doubt if she'd have done as much for him. [Laurence] Olivier would show up on the set and they'd disappear into her dressing-room and it was quite a business to get her back to work." Olivier would show up on the days that Leigh was to shoot love scenes with the handsome Rex Harrison.

Adaptations

The film was the basis for the musical Busker Alley with songs by the Sherman Brothers. After several false starts with Tommy Tune as director and starring Tune and Melissa Errico, the musical had its full debut in 2004 starring Jim Dale.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/21539/St-Martin-s-Lane/
  2. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030746/
  3. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030746/
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