Robert Donat Collectors Guide, Part 2

by Brent Reid
Brent Reid
Post Views: 132

1932–1934

  • Shooting star: By his late 20s, Robert Donat had assumed leading man status
  • Sadly, his first two films are lost and the third is a shadow of its former glory
  • Playing Henry VIII’s onscreen love rival earned him international recognition
  • The vengeful, dashing Count of Monte Cristo cemented his new found status
  • Despite popular belief, every one of his films is copyrighted worldwide
  • But all of them are routinely ripped off, usually from cut US prints

Robert Donat Collectors Guide, Part 2: 1932–1934, 3: 1935–1939, 4: 1942–1947, 5: 1948–1958

Robert Donat and Elissa Landi in The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)

Robert Donat and Elissa Landi in the first sound version of The Count of Monte Cristo; another

Contents

The state of his art

Note that despite their proliferation on unauthorised releases, all of Robert Donat’s films are copyrighted worldwide. I’ll detail a few as we go along for illustration as well as listing all official, licensed quality editions and known mass-produced bootlegs, which are invariably of much poorer quality. But official releases or otherwise, one depressing pattern emerges: for most of his lesser known films only drastically edited US release versions are available. Damn shame.

These excellent essays by film scholar Victoria Lowe focus on The 39 Steps, four works bookending it from 1934–1938 and the 1930s in general:

Men of Tomorrow (1932)

Robert Donat and Merle Oberon in Men of Tomorrow (1932)

Hello, Mr. Chips: Young Robert makes his screen début with Merle Oberon, in only her second significant role after nine uncredited bit parts.

BFI Most Wanted: Top 75, Have you seen this movie?, Lost Then Found, Discoveries, Found Films season

Donat and Oberon are actually fourth and fifth billed respectively in this gender role-based drama, originally released in the UK with an 88-minute runtime. But by the time of its belated 1935 US outing, when it was chopped down to 63 minutes, owing to their growing popularity the pair were moved up to star billing. Unfortunately though, its currently a lost film with nothing in the BFI Archive but should a copy of either version ever be found, Men of Tomorrow will lapse into the US public domain in 2028: 95 years after its original release. In the rest of the world it remains protected until 2046: the 1975 death of co-writer Anthony Gibbs + 70 years.

That Night in London (1932)

That Night in London aka Over-Night (1932) US one sheet poster

US one sheet poster, three sheet, lobby cards; the stars

The synopsis of this crime drama reads like something of a role reversal version of Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour, with the bad-girl-gone-good played by tragically short-lived Pearl Argyle (1910–1947); her most memorable role is as Catherine Cabal in Things to Come. Unreleased in the US until 1934, it was retitled Over-Night and presumably cut as a B-movie. Also apparently lost, there’s nothing in the BFI Archive…

Cash (1933)

Robert Donat and Wendy Barrie in Cash aka For Love or Money, If I Were Rich (1933) UK poster

UK poster (alt)

Alamy

This sparkling comedy with first-billed Edmund Gwenn in superb form was passed uncut by the BBFC at 73½ minutes, but there are no film materials held by the BFI and the only circulating copy is a very poor transfer of an American print. Released there a year later, it was cut down to 62 minutes to fill the bottom half of a double bill and retitled For Love or Money. That shadow of its former glory has been released on several US bootlegs (Alpha DVD/Prime Video, Firecake DVD, PV #2). If you’re determined to see it in lieu of anything better turning up, at least don’t pay as it’s on YouTube; don’t say you weren’t warned.

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) US 1947 re-release one sheet poster

US 1947 re-release one sheet poster, lobby cards; six sheet poster

The Private Life of Henry VIII (2003) – Greg Walker | Screenonline | US pressbook | Alamy | BFI Archive

“Charles Laughton… is at the top of his form… a remarkably well-produced film.” – The New York Times

Charles Laughton won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of the infamous English King Henry: a fat, strutting, arrogant, yet tender, vulnerable, and loving man. After executing his second wife, Anne Boleyn (Merle Oberon), he quickly acquires a third and then a fourth… until finally, as a heartbroken old man, he settles down with a hatchet-faced old crab who is the only wife to get the better of him! Alexander Korda’s gorgeous spectacle, nominated for Best Picture, captures the passionate romance, the hilarious comedy, and the extraordinary splendor of Tudor England relived! – US Embassy VHS/LaserDisc (1986, LDDb) and HBO VHS/LD (1991/1994)

This prestigious costume romp also starred Laughton’s accomplished actor-singer wife Elsa Lanchester as the fourth onscreen wife, and many other British stalwarts of stage and screen. The original and highly fanciful script by Lajos Bíró and Arthur Wimperis was edited by Ernest Betts and concurrently published as a quasi-novelisation. Glowingly compared to the best of Lubitsch, the film was hugely successful during its initial run and many subsequent re-releases but fell into the US public domain from 1942–1995, when its copyright wasn’t renewed at the end of the initial 28-year term. While there, it was colorized in 1990 and its original mono soundtrack anachronistically remixed to 2.0 stereo by Chace Productions (video) for the US HBO releases above. However, thankfully neither aberration has manifested on any of its latter-day editions.

Bootlegs abound despite it now being the copyright of ITV Global and its antecedents until 2029 in the US (original release + 95 years) and 2032 in the rest of the world (composer Kurt Schröder’s 1962 death + 70 years). Pressed examples include France (Aventi, unknown), Italy (A&R Productions), Spain (LaCasaDelCineParaTodos), UK (TripDiscs), US (Allied Artists, Artiflix, Film Detective, Firecake, Grapevine, Movie Classics/2on1, Remember When, Synergy, Serpent Films/#2).

The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)

The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) US insert poster

US insert poster and one sheet (alt); Italian poster by Sergio Gargiulo

US pressbook | Picturegoer | Alamy | BFI Archive

Rousing film version of the Alexander Dumas story about a man unjustly imprisoned for years, who escapes to wreak vengeance on those who framed him. A motion picture masterpiece! – US Nostalgia Merchant VHS (1985)

Following five silent screen adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’s celebrated 1844 novel, Donat starred in the first sound version while on loan to United Artists in the US. However, he disliked the shallowness and culture so much he never returned, instead deciding to shoot the rest all his films in his home country despite their many international settings.

Here he plays Edmond Dantes, a good man greatly wronged by those seeking to profit from his downfall and who, embittered, patiently plans his ice-cold revenge. Naturally, Hollywood takes major liberties with the source’s plot – most notably one of the four villains, Caderousse, is excised completely – but it’s all executed in the best possible taste. In the US, a cute collectible version of the novel was abridged for children and illustrated with stills from the film by Big Little Books as part of their short-lived Five Star Library movie tie-in series.

It’s owned by Westchester Films and its associated companies but there are least three pressed bootlegs, from Korea (Star Vision), Spain (Regasa Films), UK (Movieology) and the US (Firecake).

Robert Donat in The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)

Donat as the titular Count. This is what you’ll find if you look up “dashing” in a picture dictionary.

As is appropriate for the origin and setting of this polished gem, France has the best releases with both of theirs boasting the same exclusive remastered transfer. The first DVD has no extras, while the second and its attendant BD have three French-language featurettes apiece totalling 27 minutes. All have optional French subs and English audio only; the 1934 dub is not known to survive, unlike with the non-remastered German DVD which has an optional 1934 or 1977 dub.

All other official releases have the same steady and clear preserved transfer, albeit it’s slightly squeezed on at least the US disc, while the HD streams have an expectedly pronounced uptick in audio and video quality over the DVDs. The US disc has English subtitles and no extras, save for the UK re-release trailer below. Both issues of the region 0, NTSC Australian DVD are long deleted and rare as rocking horse doody. Incidentally, the film was colorized in 1989 and released the following year on a US VHS (info) with production still-based artwork by Ken Barr; here’s a lo-res snippet dubbed into Portuguese.

As you’d expect, there have been countless remakes in every medium but, surprisingly, there are only two more theatrical English-language versions, from 1975 and 2002. Radio adaptations are just as numerous but, sticking with those most contemporary to the version at hand, two full cast dramatisations were broadcast by the BBC in 1945 and 1956. Crossing the Pond, we have:

Rowland V. Lee directed both the 1934 film and its 1940 sequel, The Son of Monte Cristo (TCM intros), for which Donat declined to return as his own progeny. Though there were two sequel novels (Internet Archive) by Jules Lermina in 1881 and 1885, with the first split in two in the UK, the film is based on an original script and stars Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett and George Sanders. A more superficial romp lacking in the depth and characterisation of its precursor, it was widely panned as being “uninspired… juvenile entertainment.” It’s available on numerous poor quality public domain releases but the only one worth picking up is also from Rimini, though their gorgeous remastered transfer is only on a 2017 DVD. A further sequel, The Return of Monte Cristo, also starring Hayward but directed by Henry Levin, followed in 1946 and is unreleased save for one Italian bootleg from A&R Productions.

Robert Donat Collectors Guide, Part 2: 1932–1934, 3: 1935–1939, 4: 1942–1947, 5: 1948–1958

I started Brenton Film because I love film – quelle surprise! The silent era, 1930s and 1940s especially get my literary juices flowing, so you'll see a lot about those. For more, see the About page and read this before emailing.

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