Darby and Joan (1937 film)
{{Short description|1937 British film by Syd Courtenay}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Darby and Joan
| image = Darby_and_Joan_film_Opening_titles_(1937).png
| caption =
| director = Syd Courtenay
| producer = Nat Ross
| writer = Syd Courtenay
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|Peggy Simpson|Ian Fleming|Mickey Brantford|Tod Slaughter}}
| music =
| cinematography = John Silver
| editing =
| studio = Rock Studios
| distributor = MGM
| released = {{Film date|1937|02}}
| runtime = 76 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Darby and Joan (also known as She's My Darling) is a 1937 British drama film directed by Syd Courtenay and starring Peggy Simpson, Ian Fleming, Tod Slaughter and Mickey Brantford.{{Cite web |title=Darby and Joan |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150149434 |access-date=1 November 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}{{Cite web |title=DARBY AND JOAN |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/182049 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205030700/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/182049 |archive-date=5 February 2009 |website=BFI Film & TV Database}} It was written by Courtenay based on the 1888 novel Darby and Joan by Rita (pen-name of Eliza Humphreys). The film was a quota quickie, made at Rock Studios, Elstree, for release by MGM.{{Cite book |last=Chibnall |first=Steve |title=Quota Quickies: The British of the British 'B' Film |publisher=British Film Institute |year=2007 |isbn=978-1844571550 |pages=288}}
Plot
Darby Templeton is a young blind girl. Her elder sister Joan falls in love with Yorke Ferris, a work-shy rogue, but instead she marries his uncle, Sir Ralph. Yorke is found shot and Sir Ralph is suspected, but Darby, with her acute sense of hearing, finds clues which exonerate him.
Cast
- Peggy Simpson as Joan Templeton
- Ian Fleming as Sir Ralph Ferris
- Mickey Brantford as Yorke Ferris
- Tod Slaughter as Mr Templeton
- Audrene Brier as Connie
- Pamela Bevan as Darby Templeton
- Ella Retford as nurse
- Harvey Braban as coroner
Alternate version
As of 2018, a cropped and shortened down to 45 minutes 16 mm version entitled She's My Darling released in 1949{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} was known to still exist.{{Cite web |title=She's my darling 2x1600ft 16mm feature film 1937 rare British film |url=https://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/shes-my-darling-2x1600ft-16mm-feature-film-1937-rare-British-film-/132498316967 |access-date=1 November 2024 |website=eBay}}{{Cite web |title=DARBY AND JOAN (1937) A "lost" film found on eBay |url=https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=25657 |access-date=1 November 2024 |website=NitrateVille}}
She's My Darling was broadcast on the UK channel Talking Pictures TV on 1 November 2024.{{Cite web |title=TPTV Schedule October 28th to November 3rd 2024 |url=https://talkingpicturestv.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/28.10-3.11.pdf |access-date=1 November 2024 |website=Talking Pictures TV}}
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Dialogue and outlook are those of the sentimental Victorian novel; action is slow and angles repetitive, though some of the photography is of nice quality. The little girl, Pamela Bevan, shows real talent in portraying blindness but the acting is weak and the direction is amateurish."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1937 |title=Darby and Joan |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305801742 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=4 |issue=37 |pages=52 |url-access=subscription |via=ProQuest}}
Kine Weekly wrote: "Old-time melodrama in ill-fitting modern guise, clumsily adapted from Rita's Victorian best-seller. The senility of the story is a joke, and there is not one member of the cast capable of letting it down lightly. No attempt has been made to honour the dead. Not recommended, except as a possible quota offering. ... Peggy Simpson, lan Fleming, Mickey Brantford, and Pamela Bevan are the principal players, but their acting is as dated as the plot. The novel by Rita from which this melodrama is adapted was widely read in its day, but the conventions and times have changed considerably since it was first written. The play moves with a heavy tread through exterior and interior settings the like of which have never been seen in real life."{{Cite journal |date=4 March 1937 |title=Darby and Joan |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2339748669 |journal=Kine Weekly |volume=241 |issue=1559 |pages=31 |url-access=subscription |via=ProQuest}}
Picturegoer wrote: "Rita's story has been very indilferently brought up-to-date and the entertainment values are negligible. ... The whole thing is hopelessly dated and the acting does nothing to remove its handicaps."{{Cite journal |date=2 July 1937 |title=Darby and Joan |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1771124161 |journal=Picturegoer |volume=7 |issue= |pages=28 |url-access=subscription |via=ProQuest}}
In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "poor", writing: "Dated weepie."{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd. |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=55}}
References
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