First Technicolor movie shot in the British Isles, features Gypsies, horse racing, singing and romance.First Technicolor movie shot in the British Isles, features Gypsies, horse racing, singing and romance.First Technicolor movie shot in the British Isles, features Gypsies, horse racing, singing and romance.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Edward Underdown
- Don Diego
- (as Teddy Underdown)
R.C. Lyle
- Racing Commentator
- (as Captain R.C. Lyle)
Philip Frost
- Valentine - as a Youth (Prologue)
- (as Philip Sydney Frost)
Evelyn Ankers
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Frank Crawshaw
- Gypsy
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- Harold D. Schuster
- Glenn Tryon(uncredited)
- Writers
- Dorothea Donn-Byrne
- Thomas J. Geraghty(uncredited)
- John Meehan(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first three-strip Technicolor movie shot in Europe; completed in 1936, and bearing a 1936 (MCMXXXVI) copyright statement on the title card, but not released until 1937.
- GoofsWhen disguised as a male, Annabella's hair is cut short and unwaved; once her femininity is revealed, her hair immediately grows to a permanently-waved shoulder-length style, fresh from a non-existent salon.
- SoundtracksBelieve Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms
(uncredited)
Traditional
Words by Thomas Moore
Performed by John McCormack
Featured review
A slightly odd but historically important film
This is the first true technicolor feature to be made in the UK. The story concerns a beautiful young Spanish gypsy woman (French actress Anna Bella) who flees to England where she falls in love with a Canadian horse trainer (Henry Fonda) against a back drop of the UK's premier horse race, The Derby.
The story is a bit unoriginal and the dialogue extremely clunky in places. There is also an element of tweeness to the depictions of gypsy life. Yet despite the so-so plot and (at times) wooden acting there is a certain charm in the film. The Technicolor photography is gorgeous and it provides a very rare colour record of what England & Ireland looked like prior to the second world war. The scenes on Epsom downs are also remarkably well filmed (considering the technical limitations of early technicolor filming on location) and the colour really brings an otherwise very average film to vivid life. There are one or two moments which would make the politically correct viewer squirm, such as the depiction of black & white minstrels.
If this film had been made in black & white i suspect it would have been long forgotten now, but as a curio it is a fascinating insight into another era. The photography is beautiful at times and make the film watchable. If only the same care had been taken with the script. Its a shame that this DVD only seems to be available in the U.S. though as i think it is calling out for a decent release.
The story is a bit unoriginal and the dialogue extremely clunky in places. There is also an element of tweeness to the depictions of gypsy life. Yet despite the so-so plot and (at times) wooden acting there is a certain charm in the film. The Technicolor photography is gorgeous and it provides a very rare colour record of what England & Ireland looked like prior to the second world war. The scenes on Epsom downs are also remarkably well filmed (considering the technical limitations of early technicolor filming on location) and the colour really brings an otherwise very average film to vivid life. There are one or two moments which would make the politically correct viewer squirm, such as the depiction of black & white minstrels.
If this film had been made in black & white i suspect it would have been long forgotten now, but as a curio it is a fascinating insight into another era. The photography is beautiful at times and make the film watchable. If only the same care had been taken with the script. Its a shame that this DVD only seems to be available in the U.S. though as i think it is calling out for a decent release.
helpful•122
- trevorwomble
- Jun 14, 2009
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 27 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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