Channel Crossing

Channel Crossing is a 1933 British crime film directed by Milton Rosmer and starring Matheson Lang, Constance Cummings, Anthony Bushell and Nigel Bruce.^[1][2]

Channel Crossing
Directed by	Milton Rosmer
Written by	Cyril Campion W. P. Lipscomb
Produced by	Ian Dalrymple George Gunn Angus MacPhail
Starring	Matheson Lang Constance Cummings Anthony Bushell Nigel Bruce
Cinematography	Philip Tannura
Edited by	Daniel Birt
Music by	Jack Beaver Louis Levy
Production company	Gaumont British Picture Corporation
Distributed by	Woolf & Freedman Film Service
Release date	16 October 1933 (1933-10-16)
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Plot

Jacob Van Eeden is a financer who has recenbtly committed a forgery. He is secretly in love with his secretary although she is engaged to Peter. Peter discovers the forgery and Van Eeden throws Peter overboard. Van Eeden realises Marion loves Peter, so arranges Peter's rescue and then commits suicide.

Cast

• Matheson Lang as Jacob Van Eeden
• Constance Cummings as Marion Slade
• Anthony Bushell as Peter Bradley
• Dorothy Dickson as Vi Guthrie
• Nigel Bruce as Nigel Guthrie
• Edmund Gwenn as Trotter
• Douglas Jefferies as Dr. Walkley
• H.G. Stoker as Captain R.H. Kilbee
• Max Miller as James
• Viola Lyel as Singer
• Clare Greet as Anxious Passenger
• Ellen Pollock as Actress
• Mignon O'Doherty
• George Ridgwell
• Gerald Barry as Passenger
• Stanley Vilven
• Hay Plumb as Steward
• Cyril Smith as Beach
• Elizabeth Corcoran
• Elizabeth Jenns
• Rodney Millington
• Henry Hepworth as Boy
• John Hepworth as Boy
• Ronnie Hepworth as Boy
• Bernard Miles as Passenger
• Wally Patch as Sailor
• C. Denier Warren as Purser
• Michael Wilding as Passenger Boarding Ferry
• Sam Wilkinson as Passenger

Production

Emil Jannings was sought for the lead role.^[3] This part was also promised to Conrad Veidt but he lost it after reportedly making supportive comments about Hitler.^[4]

However Matheson Lang was signed in May 1933 when the film had begun filming second unit.^[5]

It was shot partly on location and at the Lime Grove Studios in Shepherd's Bush.^[6] The film's sets were designed by the art director Alfred Junge.

Reception

Kinematograph Weekly wrote "the staging of this film is really quite good, the atmosphere is convincing, and the cast contains a string of well-known names, but there is one fundamental weakness, the story. This piece of artless fiction, on the lines of Rome Express has no near relation to reason or reality, nor is it strong in dramatic values, The entertainment lies mainly in the by-play and detail, and the box-office angles in the intriguing title and the strength of the cast."^[7]

Variety called it "another step forward in British film production. The steps consist principally in the matter of detail."^[8] An American reviewer for the same magazine wrote "It’s none too original, but fast enough and with pace—practically a new element in British films. New at any rate, since prior to Rome Express which, incidentally, is recalled in this film by several incidents. Matheson Lang as the financier turns in a polished and colorful performance, and Constance Cummings as the secretary is not far behind, except that she doesn’t have nearly as much to do."^[9]