Anna Neagle

Rex Harrison

Dean Jagger

Robert Morley

Nancy Price

Irene Vanbrugh

Jane Darwell

Eliott Arluck

Walter Hudd

Edward Rigby

Cecil Ramage

Irene Manning

Francis Pierlot

Aubrey Mallalieu

Michael Shepley

Charles Victor

Ronald Shiner

Percy Walsh

Brenda Bruce

Shelagh Fraser

John Slater

H.R. Hignett

Neville Mapp

Helen Lowry

Alvar Liddell

Peter Hobbes

David Horne

Cyril Baker

Frank Webster

Lionel Murton

Norman Williams

Arvid Dahl

Gerry Wilmot

Robert Farnon

Carroll Gibbons

Joan Hickson

Duncan McIntyre

George Spence

John Stone

William D. Bayles

Herbert Wilcox

Maurice Cowan

Helga Cranston

Anthony Collins

Nicholas Phipps

Otto Heller

Mutz Greenbaum

Vera Campbell

William C. Andrews

Comedy

Drama

Romance

I Live in Grosvenor Square

Associated British Picture Corporation

Herbert Wilcox Productions

United Kingdom

English

This seems to be something of a forgotten film despite being a major moneymaker of its year and starring Anna Neagle, a massively famous British star who never managed to conquer the American market. 
 
Evidently written as a means of encouraging co-operation and mutual understanding between British citizens and the American troops stationed in their homes during the massive build up to D-Day, the first half of the film as a result suffers badly from some forced comedy around linguistic and geographical differences.  The actors all look a little uncomfortable in these sequences.   The first half of the film is largely devoted to this strained humour and the building of a romance between an English woman (Neagle) and an American flyer (Dean Jagger.) 

Much time is also given over to Rex Harrison’s character who is engaged to Neagle and campaigning for election as the local MP for a rural constituency, the latter overseen by his father (Robert Morley) – a kindly but very tradition-bound individual.

I was finding all of this to be a little labored until the final third of the film which suddenly changes gears to become a minor masterpiece of sentiment and emotion.  At that point I realised the writers have deliberately spent a lot of time setting up the characters and their interactions so that when the key moments occur they are underpinned by real knowledge of who these people are. 

Several scenes in this final act are played to emotional perfection;
•	Nancy Price as a harridan of a housekeeper revealed to have a deeply caring relationship with the American pilots in her care, so much so that she wants to leave her savings to one who she regards as a son.
•	Robert Morley almost casually placing a watch on a man’s wrist and mentioning that it belonged to his son who died in the First World War.
•	Rex Harrison giving up his chance at marriage to stage a simple meeting between the two people he knows to be in love.
•	Anna Neagle writing down a list of names of deceased air crew she is receiving over the phone as part of her military duties, pausing only slightly at the identity of one of them who is known to her.

As a very talky piece the need for good performances is essential.  Neagle carries with her a great weight of emotion constantly visible in her eyes, Morley (four years younger than Neagle) plays her father with great sincerity and emotion and Rex Harrison shows both class and dignity in his role.
Production values are adequate but there is a reliance in one important scene on very scratched stock footage.

Overall, this is a sentimental piece that will grab at your heart in ways least expected.

I Live in Grosvenor Square

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Актёрский состав 39:

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