clanciai This is a delightfully ingenious comedy with Leslie Howard in one of his most spiritual roles, transmuting between 1784 and 1933. The conversation is enjoyably brilliant throughout like in all Leslie Howard's films, and so is the charming music. Frank Lloyd made some of the best films in the 1930s, and this is one of them although rather forgotten today and neglected while its wit transcends practically everything in the 30s. Particularly amusing is the play with confusions, and even Sir Joshua Reynolds is involved in it and is terrified. This is one of those many outstanding old films that are worth restoring and rediscovering indeed.

wes-connors How many of us have wished that we might escape from the dull reality of the present into the glamor and romance of yesterday? But if we could journey back into the mystery of the past, should we find contentment - or unhappiness?" On a stormy night in 1784, new American noble Leslie Howard (as Peter Standish) arrives in London's "Berkeley Square" to seek a distant cousin's hand in marriage. After exiting his coach, Mr. Howard seems to vanish. Meanwhile, in the present (1933), his direct descendant and namesake "Peter Standish" (Howard, in a dual role) has inherited the same house. The modern Howard troubles his fiancée and friends due to his preoccupation with the past, especially the September 1784 day when his namesake arrived. Transported to the past, Howard invites suspicion when his "modern" manners and knowledge surface. Howard talks too much. More significantly, he becomes attracted to the wrong woman, beautiful but melancholy Heather Angel (as Helen Pettigrew)... This intriguing "time travel" film was unavailable for decades, but the story was revived often on stage and screen. It was based on an unfinished Henry James novel and inspired memorable imitations from horror mythos-makers H. P. Lovecraft ("The Shadow out of Time") and Dan Curtis ("Dark Shadows"). Howard recreates his performance from the stage well, but director Frank Lloyd and Fox don't take full advantage of cinema potential. Early examples are Howard's trip to the past. He could have appeared outside the door, wet, as both arrivals occurred in the rain. Howard also immediately knows how to sit in his 1784 costume, betraying a familiar comfort. Later, the film would have benefited from Howard visiting the actual grave mentioned in a letter... Solid impressions are made by lustful Colin Keith-Johnston (as Thomas "Tom" Pettigrew) and sensible sister Valerie Taylor (as Kate). Matriarchal Irene Browne (as Ann) played her role again in the 1941 re-make starring Tyrone Power. ******* Berkeley Square (9/15/33) Frank Lloyd ~ Leslie Howard, Heather Angel, Colin Keith-Johnston, Valerie Taylor

kidboots For me, Heather Angel's name conjures up the image of delicate, wistful loveliness as the girl beloved by Leslie Howard, when he travels back to Regency times in "Berkeley Square". She seemed to come along at the right time to be a successor to Janet Gaynor but Fox didn't bother much about her after a role in a forgotten Charlie Chan movie, "Charlie Chan's Greatest Case" (1933). She did have some interesting moments in "Springtime for Henry" and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" but after that her career just ambled along until she found a place as Phyllis Clavering in the Bulldog Drummond series.Peter Standish (Leslie Howard) is a wealthy American traveler who, unbeknownst to him, is about to be "hooked" into matrimony by an impoverished Regency family, the Pettigrews, whose son has spent the family fortune on wine, women and cards. Just as he arrives a fearful storm breaks out and .......................Marjorie Frant (Betty Lawford, who looked a lot older than 23!) is very concerned about her fiancé, Peter Standish - he keeps to his room and is obsessed by his ancestor Peter Standish. He has inherited the house in Berkeley Square that the original Peter Standish owned and spends his time pouring over a diary that tells him all the little details about the family and London life in the 1780s - especially Helen, who seems to have a "secret sorrow" and never marries. Walking back to his house during a storm and arriving at exactly 5.30 he is suddenly whisked back in time to 1785 and the intrigue that is going on at the Pettigrews!! He is so determined to do the right thing, to let events take their course without changing the course of history but he bumbles from the start. Almost proposing to Kate on their first meeting (he knows from the diary that Peter marries Kate) to revealing Helen's birthday gift, a beautiful shawl before the box is opened!!!Peter feels like a stranger in a strange land but also senses a kindred spirit in Helen who seems to understand he is not in his own time. I thought it was a touching, romantic fantasy with many scenes that bought tears to my eyes. When Helen looks into Peter's eyes and sees the future of the world, she is instantly repelled and cannot be coaxed by him to return to the future with him. She convinces him to go back and wait until they can both be reunited in the hereafter. Her speech is very eloquent. The original play by John L. Balderstone, who also wrote the screen play, was much more grittier - Standish was very disillusioned with the past, he was appalled by the squalor and poverty, by the horror of public hangings. In the movie John astounds everyone by insisting on a daily bath!!! So Helen's "seeing the future through John's eyes", which couldn't have worked on the stage, was a way to give the movie an added dimension.Alan Mowbray had a small role as Peter's friend and Beryl Mercer played what she played best, sweet little cockneys.I just loved this movie but can only give it 9 out of 10 because the soundtrack was very scratchy and the picture quality was very grainy. The play "Berkeley Square" opened on Broadway in 1929 and ran for a respectable 229 performances. The plot was suggested by a Henry James short story "The Sense of the Past".Highly, Highly Recommended.

Grady-8 "Berkeley Square" is similar in theme to Jack Finney's "Time and Again." A present day American is transported back to the home of his ancestors in London, during the American Revolution. He knows, of course, what will hap- pen and even falls in love with one of his female ancestors. An old film but a terrific one, with Leslie Howard and Heather Angel.