Search - St. Martin's Lane/Wings of the Morning on DVD

Buskers and gypsies

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 11/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"KINO's double feature of classic era British cinema includes the first European-made Technicolor movie, and a sympathetic look at London's street people.

SYNOPSES--

WINGS OF THE MORNING
An Irish Lord (Banks) marries a gypsy (Annabella). When he later dies in an equestrian accident, his family runs the hated woman off. She goes to Spain. To avoid the Spanish Revolution a half-century later, the now elderly gypsy returns to Ireland with granddaughter Maria (Annabella again) in tow. Maria meets and falls in love with a Canadian horse trainer (Fonda). Film includes stunning views of the Irish countryside. (Watch for great Irish tenor John McCormack, as himself.)

ST. MARTIN'S LANE
The title is the address of Charles Staggers (Laughton), who is one of a dying breed-- a busker. These street performers were a common sight in London in the early 20th Century. For coppers and shillings, they'd "work" a crowd waiting in line outside a legitimate theater. Dancers, musicians, comedians, tumblers, singers and orators all plied their wares then passed the hat around.

Liberty (Leigh) picks pockets when she's not dancing for coin. After he sees her dance, Charles asks Libby to be his busking partner. They later form a quartet with two musicians. Songwriter Prentiss gives the talented Libby a foot up onto the legitimate stage; she eventually becomes a star. (Also outstanding here is virtuoso harmonicanist Larry Adler, who plays both on-screen and off.)


Cinematic Anglophiles of the 1930s and '40s will undoubtedly enjoy MPI's CLASSIC BRITISH THRILLERS. This triple-feature includes "The Phantom Light," "Red Ensign" and "The Upturned Glass."


Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

(7.0) St. Martin's Lane ("Sidewalks of London") (UK-1938) - Charles Laughton/Vivien Leigh/Rex Harrison/Larry Adler/Tyrone Guthrie/Maire O'Neill/Gus McNaughton

(6.1) Wings of the Morning (UK-1937) - Annabella/Henry Fonda/Leslie Banks/Stewart Rome/Irene Vanbrugh/Harry Tate/Helen Haye/John McCormack"

St Martin's Lane / Wings of the Morning

Ian Simpson | Appleton, WI USA | 10/21/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this as a gift, and was disapointed to find out that the second title (Wings of the Morning) would not play. I tried it on several players with the same result. Did a return and got a replacement, with excellent, speedy service, but the second disk has the same problem. I found however that we could play the movie by sneaking up on it with chapter search, and then it worked well.

This was the first Technicolor film shot in England, and colors can be a bit odd, and the sound is weak, but all in all a worthwhile film. Too bad the menu system is goofy."