French Leave (1930 film)

French Leave is a 1930 British comedy film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Madeleine Carroll, Sydney Howard and Arthur Chesney.^[1] It was made at British and Dominions Elstree Studios.^[2] It is based on a play by Reginald Berkeley, a "light comedy in three acts", set during the First World War.^[3] It was remade in 1937 by Norman Lee.^[4]

French Leave
Haddon Mason & Madeleine Carroll
Directed by	Jack Raymond
Written by	Reginald Berkeley (play and screenplay) W. P. Lipscomb
Produced by	Henry Defries Sam Harrison
Starring	Madeleine Carroll Sydney Howard Arthur Chesney
Cinematography	Bernard Knowles
Production company	D&H Productions
Distributed by	Sterling Films
Release date	21 August 1930 (1930-08-21) (London UK)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Plot

During World War I, Captain's wife Dorothy Glenister finds it hard being separated from her husband, so she travels to France to the village where he's stationed. Dorothy disguises herself as the daughter of a local, which leads to complications when she's suspected of being a German spy.

Cast

• Madeleine Carroll as Mlle. Juliette / Dorothy Glenister
• Sydney Howard as Cpl. Sykes
• Arthur Chesney as General Root
• Haddon Mason as Captain Harry Glenister
• Henry Kendall as Lt. George Graham
• May Agate as Mme. Denaux
• George Owen as Pvt. Jenks
• George De Warfaz as Jules Marnier

Critical reception

The New York Times called it "a moderately amusing British picturization of the stage farce, "French Leave," with the charming Madeleine Carroll... the photography is sometimes none too clear, but the voices are nicely recorded";^[5] while more recently, TV Guide thought it a "lame comedy...Long and tedious at 60 minutes; the original British cut ran 100 minutes."^[6]