What the Butler Saw ** (1950, Edward Rigby, Henry Mollison, Mercy Haystead) – Classic Movie Review 11,040

‘Get an eyeful of this!’

Director Godfrey Grayson’s hour-long farcical 1950 black and white British comedy What the Butler Saw is made by Hammer Films and stars Edward Rigby, Henry Mollison and Mercy Haystead in her debut.

In the amusingly silly story, a British Earl (Rigby) returns to England from running a tropical island to find that an island princess Lapis (Haystead) has stowed away in his crates after falling in love with his butler Bembridge (Mollison). The Earl sets out to hide the princess, break it up and send her home, but the family and the press find out.

The cast are Edward Rigby as The Earl, Henry Mollison as Bembridge, Mercy Haystead as Lapis, Michael Ward as Gerald, Eleanor Hallam as Lady Mary, Peter Burton (in his credited debut) as Bill Fenton, Anne Valery as Elaine, Harold Charlton as Perks, Alfred Harris as The Bishop, George Bishop as The General and Norman Pitt as The Policeman.

The screenplay is by Edward J Mason and A R Rawlinson, based on an original story by Donald Good and Roger Good. Alas Hammer’s comedies have not worn as well as their thrillers or horrors, and this is a forgotten film.

In 1947 Hammer discovered they could save a lot of money shooting in country houses instead of studios and rented Dial Close, a 23-bedroom mansion beside the River Thames. But in August 1949, complaints from residents about night filming noise forced Hammer to leave Dial Close and move into another mansion, Oakley Court, also on the banks of the Thames, between Windsor and Maidenhead. Five films were produced there: The Man in Black (1949), Room to Let (1949), Someone at the Door (1949), What the Butler Saw (1950) and The Lady Craved Excitement (1950). Then in 1950, Hammer moved again to Gilston Park, a country club in Harlow, Essex, which hosted The Rossiter Case, To Have and to Hold and The Dark Light (all 1950) and Black Widow (1951).

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,040

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