The Lost Chord (1933) User Reviews

Twickenhams Attempt At Light Opera

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 22 June 2013]

Light opera was all the rage on the screen when Twickenham made this foray into the genre.Unfortunately it is largely unsuccessful.The actors are allowed to go way over the top,particularly early on.This affects even the ubiquitous John Stuart.Unbelievably he made no less than 12 films in 1933.There is an impossibly young looking juvenile lead by the name of Jack Hawkins,wonder what happened to him?The staging is at times very poor.there is a fight on a stone spiral staircase which at times is totally obscured.The script is risible.It contains that old chestnut of a parent not recognising his offspring.In fact he nearly ends up marrying her.Clearly not designed as a quota quickie it proved that Twickenham should stick to what it did best,namely quota quickies.Incidentally Stuarts son,Jonathon Corball,has just written a book about his father and other British stars of the silent era.It is to be published soon and clearly will be an interesting read.

Too Loud

[boblipton · 4/10 · 27 June 2006]

Maurice Elvey, the forgotten genius of the British film industry was off his feed when he made this unlikely and overwrought soap opera about a composer whose purpose in life is lost when the woman he loves dies and he loses the strength in his hands to play the piano fighting a duel with her husband. Twenty years later, he falls in love with her unidentified daughter, who has been transported to South America... but his nephew the surgeon who wants to operate on his hands so he can play again, also loves her.

Whew.

Unfortunately, something went wrong here. While the visuals are perfect, as one would expect from someone like Elvey, the actors are way over the top in their performances. Given the plot and the performances, the movie is ludicrous, although still interesting to the eye.