Chick is a 1936 British comedy crime film directed by Michael Hankinson and starring Sydney Howard, Betty Ann Davies and Fred Conyngham. It was written by Daniel Wheddon, D. B. Wyndham-Lewis, Gerard Fairlie, Cyril Gardner and Irving Leroy, based on the 1923 novel of the same title by Edgar Wallace, which had previously been made into a 1928 silent film. The film was made at Elstree Studios.Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927-1939. British Film Institute, 1986. p. 89. The hall porter at an Oxbridge College inherits an Earldom and enjoys a series of adventures.
Plot Chick Beane is University porter who inherits an Earldom. He is pounced upon by a gang of villains running a fraudulent financial oil scheme, thinking his honest face and title would be useful as Chairman of their crooked business's board. The crooks are foiled when they try to escape with their takings, and it turns out that their land, while barren of oil, has valuable mineral waters. It also turns out that Beane is not entitled to an Earldom after all, and he retreats to run a pub financed by the now legitimate company.
Cast Sydney Howard as Chick Beane Betty Ann Davies as Peggy Fred Conyngham as Sir Anthony Monsard Cecil Humphreys as Sturgis Mae Bacon as Gert Wallace Geoffrey as Latimer Aubrey Mather as the Dean Arthur Chesney as Lord Frensham Edmund D'Alby as Rennie Robert Nainby as Mr Beane Merle Tottenham as maid Aubrey Fitzgerald as Banks Fred Rains as warden Eric Micklewood as undergraduate Joe Monkhouse as Mason Richard Morris as clerk Aubrey Pollock as lawyer
Reception The Daily Film Renter wrote: "Slender narrative lacks originality, general effect being somewhat feeble and far-fetched, while Howard is forced to rely for laughs on exploitation of familiar eccentricities. ... Offering purely for star fans."
Picture Show wrote: "The pace is slow and the supporting cast have little to do."
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