Lorna Doone (1934 film)

Lorna Doone is a 1934 British historical drama film directed by Basil Dean and starring Victoria Hopper, John Loder and Margaret Lockwood.^[1] It is based on the 1869 novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore. This was the third screen version of the novel, and the first with sound; a further cinema adaptation followed in 1951.^[2]

Lorna Doone
Directed by	Basil Dean
Written by	R.D. Blackmore (novel) Dorothy Farnum Miles Malleson Gordon Wellesley
Produced by	Basil Dean
Starring	Victoria Hopper John Loder Margaret Lockwood Roy Emerton
Cinematography	Robert Martin
Edited by	Jack Kitchin
Music by	Ernest Irving Armstrong Gibbs
Production company	Associated Talking Pictures
Distributed by	ABFD
Release date	19 December 1934 (1934-12-19)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

It was shot partly on location in Somerset.^[3] The film's sets were designed by the art director Edward Carrick.

Plot

Cast

• Victoria Hopper as Lorna Doone
• John Loder as John Ridd
• Margaret Lockwood as Annie Ridd
• Roy Emerton as Carver Doone
• Mary Clare as Mistress Sara Ridd
• Edward Rigby as Reuben 'Uncle Ben' Huckaback
• Roger Livesey as Tom Faggus
• George Curzon as King James II
• D. A. Clarke-Smith as Counsellor Doone
• Laurence Hanray as Parson Bowden
• Amy Veness as Betty Muxworthy
• Eliot Makeham as John Fry
• Wyndham Goldie as Chief Judge Jeffries
• Frank Cellier as Captain Jeremy Stickles
• Herbert Lomas as Sir Ensor Doone
• Arthur Hambling as Soldier

Critical reception

A contributor to The New York Times commented that it is "has scored no more of a success on its London showing than did The Dictator. Cynics say that the choice of subject and scenario is not all the battle, and that until British producers realize that in the making of pictures the chief essential is not to be dull, Elstree will trail a long, long way behind Hollywood in the best selling markets of the word".^[4] The Radio Times noted "Margaret Lockwood, in her screen debut, is a ravishing beauty. The story still holds water, even if the acting and the techniques of 1934 may leak a bit".^[5]