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External links

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	[[Category:1938 comedy films]]		[[Category:1938 comedy films]]
	[[Category:1930s British films]]		[[Category:1930s British films]]
			[[Category:British comedy films]]

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External links

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	* {{BFI\|4ce2b6b6be628}}		* {{BFI\|4ce2b6b6be628}}
	* {{BritMovie title\| Strange-Boarders }}		* {{BritMovie title\| Strange-Boarders }}
	* [https://www.parkcircus.com/film/104542-Strange-Boarders ''Strange Boarders''] at [[Park Circus (company)\|Park Circus]]		*{{Allmovie title\|111907\|Strange Boarders}}
	* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/strange-boarders-v111907 ''Strange Boarders''] at [[AllMovie]]		*[https://www.parkcircus.com/film/104542-Strange-Boarders ''Strange Boarders''] at [[w:Park Circus (company)\|Park Circus]]

	~~{{Gainsborough Pictures}}~~

	[[Category:1938 films]]		[[Category:1938 films]]

Kurt at 18:58, 5 February 2023

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	~~{{short description\|1938 film}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=May 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = ~~Strange Boarders~~		\| name =
	\| image = ~~Strangeboarders~~.jpg		\| image = Strange Boarders.jpg
	\| caption = Theatrical release poster		\| caption = Theatrical release poster
	\| director = [[Herbert Mason]]		\| director = [[Herbert Mason]]
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	* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/strange-boarders-v111907 ''Strange Boarders''] at [[AllMovie]]		* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/strange-boarders-v111907 ''Strange Boarders''] at [[AllMovie]]

	~~{{Herbert Mason}}~~
	~~{{Launder and Gilliat}}~~
	{{Gainsborough Pictures}}		{{Gainsborough Pictures}}

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2023-02-05T18:39:16Z

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← Older revision	Revision as of 13:39, 5 February 2023
(No difference)

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: add Category:1930s British films

2022-09-03T05:51:48Z

add Category:1930s British films

New page

{{short description|1938 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Strange Boarders
| image = Strangeboarders.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Herbert Mason]]
| producer = [[Edward Black (producer)|Edward Black]]
|based_on = ''[[The Strange Boarders of Palace Crescent]]'' by [[E. Phillips Oppenheim]]
| writer = [[Sidney Gilliat]]<br>[[A. R. Rawlinson]]
| starring = [[Tom Walls]]<br>[[Renée Saint-Cyr]]<br>[[Googie Withers]]<br>[[Ronald Adam (actor)|Ronald Adam]]
| cinematography = [[Jack E. Cox]]
| music = [[Charles Williams (composer)|Charles Williams]]
| editing = [[Michael Gordon (film editor)|Michael Gordon]]
| studio = [[Gainsborough Pictures]]
| distributor = [[General Film Distributors]]
| released = {{Film date|1938|05| |UK|1938|08|01|U.S.|df=y}}
| runtime = 74 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
}}

'''''Strange Boarders''''' is a 1938 British comedy thriller film, directed by [[Herbert Mason]], produced by [[Edward Black (producer)|Edward Black]] for [[Gainsborough Pictures]], and starring [[Tom Walls]], [[Renée Saint-Cyr]], [[Googie Withers]] and [[Ronald Adam (actor)|Ronald Adam]]. The film is an adaptation of the 1934 [[Spy fiction|espionage novel]] ''[[The Strange Boarders of Palace Crescent]]'' by [[E. Phillips Oppenheim]],<ref>Leith and Poague, 2011, p. 282</ref> and was well received by critics.

==Plot==
A seemingly innocuous and respectable elderly lady is knocked down and critically injured by a bus on a London street. When the police search her handbag to find out her identity, they are astonished to discover a series of top secret military blueprints. The secret service are alerted and arrive at the hospital to question her, but she laughs in their faces before quietly dying.

The man for the job is top secret service agent Tommy Blythe (Walls), who happens to be on honeymoon with new wife Louise (Saint-Cyr). He is summoned back to London under conditions of absolute secrecy, not allowed to divulge any details even to Louise, who naturally does not believe his unconvincing cover story and jumps to the conclusion that he is having an affair.

Enquiries lead to the Notting Hill boarding house where the dead woman lived and Tommy takes a room there incognito to try to infiltrate what is assumed to be a nest of spies. Louise follows him to London and confronts him, and he is forced against orders to take her into his confidence. She also takes a room and the couple pretend not to know each other, giving their names as a Mr. Bullock and a Miss Heffer. Together they set about the task of observing and investigating the sundry assortment of fellow lodgers, knowing that some are completely innocent while others harbour dark and treacherous secrets which threaten the very nation. From the grasping landlady Mrs. Dewar ([[Irene Handl]]) and the meek maid Elsie (Withers), through to fellow boarders including a blind man (Adam), a Boer War colonel and his wife apparently in retirement, a travelling salesman, a scatty old biddy and a merchant of Argentinian meat, all come under suspicion before the wily pair of sleuths manage to untangle the web of lies and false leads to reveal who in the household is or is not a traitor.

==Cast==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
* [[Tom Walls]] as Tommy Blythe
* [[Renée Saint-Cyr]] as Louise Blythe
* [[Googie Withers]] as Elsie
* [[Ronald Adam (actor)|Ronald Adam]] as Barstow
* [[C. V. France]] as Col. Lionel Anstruther
* [[Nina Boucicault]] as Mrs. Anstruther
* [[Martita Hunt]] as Miss Pitter
* [[C. Denier Warren]] as Fry
{{col-2}}
* [[Irene Handl]] as Mrs. Dewar
* [[Marda Vanne]] as Mrs. Greatorex
* [[Leon M. Lion]] as Luke
* [[Arthur Goullet]] as Señor Torres
* [[George Curzon (actor)|George Curzon]] as Sir Charles
* [[Tyrell Davis]] as Hayes
* [[Bryan Powley]] as George Gateshead
{{col-end}}

==Production==
Filming took place in [[Pinewood Studios]] with sets designed by the [[art director]] [[Walter Murton]].

==Reception==

The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' described it as "a long series of laughs as well as thrills".<ref>[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/413042431.html?dids=413042431:413042431&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Sep+07%2C+1939&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc='Strange+Boarders'+Opens&pqatl=google "Strange Boarders"] ''Los Angeles Times'', 07-09-1938, p.13. ''Retrieved 15-10-2010''</ref>

''Halliwell's Film & Video Guide'' described the film as "[quite an] engaging comedy-thriller in the Hitchcock mould, with entertaining performances and incidents."<ref>{{cite book |author1=John Walker |title=Halliwell's Film & Video Guide |date=1998 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] Publishers |page=736 |edition=13}}</ref>

David Parkinson in [[Radio Times]] said "The spy thriller meets the bedroom farce in this sprightly British suspense comedy.<ref>{{cite web |author1=David Parkinson |title=Strange Boarders (1938) |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-pe8rz8/strange-boarders/ |website=radiotimes.com |publisher=RadioTimes.com |access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==

* Leitch, Thomas and Poague, Lehand. (2011). ''A Companion to Alfred Hitchcock.'' John Wiley & Sons
* Walker, John. (ed). (1998). ''Halliwell's Film & Video Guide 1998.'' [[HarperCollins]] Entertainment. 13th edition

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title| 0030803 }}
* {{BFI|4ce2b6b6be628}}
* {{BritMovie title| Strange-Boarders }}
* [https://www.parkcircus.com/film/104542-Strange-Boarders ''Strange Boarders''] at [[Park Circus (company)|Park Circus]]
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/strange-boarders-v111907 ''Strange Boarders''] at [[AllMovie]]

{{Herbert Mason}}
{{Launder and Gilliat}}
{{Gainsborough Pictures}}

[[Category:1938 films]]
[[Category:British spy comedy films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Herbert Mason]]
[[Category:Compositions by Charles Williams]]
[[Category:1930s spy comedy films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Gainsborough Pictures films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:British comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:1930s comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:1938 comedy films]]
[[Category:1930s British films]]

Strange Boarders - Revision history

Kurt: /* External links */

Kurt: /* External links */

Kurt at 18:58, 5 February 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: add Category:1930s British films