You'd Be Surprised! is a 1930 British musical comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Forde, Joy Windsor and Frank Stanmore.[1] The film was shot at the Nettlefold Studios in Walton. It was made during the transition to sound film.[2] Originally silent, it had synchronised songs and music added. A silent version was also released to cater to cinemas that hadn't converted to sound yet.[3]

You'd Be Surprised!
Directed byWalter Forde
Written byWalter Forde
Harry Fowler Mear
Sidney Gilliat
Produced byArchibald Nettlefold
StarringWalter Forde
Joy Windsor
Frank Perfitt
Frank Stanmore
CinematographyGeoffrey Faithfull
Edited byWalter Forde
Music byPaul Mulder
Production
company
Distributed byButcher's Film Service
Release date
  • April 1930 (1930-04)
Running time
66 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Premise

edit

After dressing up as a prisoner for a fancy dress party, a songwriter is mistaken for a notorious escaped convict.

Cast

edit

Critical reception

edit

Allmovie described it as a "bouncy musical...At one point, the star ventures into Harold Lloyd territory when he finds himself manacled to a huge and surly thug who drags our poor hero all over London. Much of the film suffers from substandard sound recording, though a few innovative audio effects emerge from the cacophony."[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ "You'd Be Surprised". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Kennington Bioscope presents Silent Laughter Saturday » The Cinema Museum, London". The Cinema Museum, London. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  3. ^ Low p.413
  4. ^ Hal Erickson. "You'd Be Surprised (1930) - Walter Forde - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie. Retrieved 10 September 2018.

Bibliography

edit
  • Low, Rachael. Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
  • Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927-1939. British Film Institute, 1986.
edit