George Arliss plays Spike an elegant British tramp who is accidentally mistaken for a member of the Rothschild family and made a bank director.George Arliss plays Spike an elegant British tramp who is accidentally mistaken for a member of the Rothschild family and made a bank director.George Arliss plays Spike an elegant British tramp who is accidentally mistaken for a member of the Rothschild family and made a bank director.
Ivor Barnard
- Vagrant
- (uncredited)
William Hartnell
- Car Salesman
- (uncredited)
Mervyn Johns
- Bank Director
- (uncredited)
Howard Marion-Crawford
- Undetermined Role
- (uncredited)
Bernard Miles
- Man at Meeting
- (uncredited)
Mignon O'Doherty
- Margot
- (uncredited)
Cecil Parker
- Bank Director
- (uncredited)
Frederick Piper
- Gendarme
- (uncredited)
C. Denier Warren
- Manager
- (uncredited)
Margaret Withers
- Bit
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the restaurant scene at the Hotel du Parc, the lunch party is asked if they would like to start off with a "white lady". This is a cocktail with gin, Cointreau, and lemon juice, and sometimes egg white or cream.
- Quotes
François Rothschild aka The Guv'nor: I want things I can get - a bit of straw to sleep on, a bit of food, and the sun on me back...
- ConnectionsRemake of Rothchild (1933)
Featured review
Arliss in a lighter role of a tramp toying with high society
I recognized George Arliss from "Disraeli" (He starred in both the silent 1921 version and the talkie 1929, with his wife Florence, no less. Won an Oscar for the 1929 role.) "The Guvnor" opens with Barsac the banker (Frank Cellier) discussing a scheme that might help him get out of a mess, and make some quick money at the same time. Send in Arliss as the hobo. (They were willing to work for food back then...) The hobo, whose last name just happens to be "Rothschilde", befriends Madelaine, a young lady about to lose her home. The hobo manages to be in the right place at the right time, and ends up in a position where he can try to help out Madelaine and her family. Frank Cellier was the Sheriff in Hitchcock's "39 Steps". Also take note of Paul, the rep from the bank, Patric Knowles. Knowles was a little fish in some huge films in the 1930s and 1940s. Directed by Milton Rosmer, who seems to have done things in reverse - he stopped writing and directing in 1938, and acted until 1956. Made by Gaumont Studios, its not just a "quota film" from the Cinematography Act; its actually quite good, and 80 minutes long in the Turner Classics version. Acc to IMDb, the original was 88 minutes... wonder what was so horrible that eight minutes had to be chopped off. The film production code was just being phased in here in the US, but the rest of the film seems quite tame and innocent. Tramps toying with the rich were all the rage in the US in the 1930s (Merrily we Live, My Man Godfrey), and this is right up there with the best of them.
helpful•61
- ksf-2
- Nov 6, 2008
Details
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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