The School for Scandal

BFI Most Wanted: the hunt for Britain's missing films

Directed by Maurice Elvey, 1930

Adaptation of Sheridan's classic comedy of manners featuring an array of talents in early roles.

Lady Teazle (Madeleine Carroll) eavesdrops from behind a screen

Credits

Director Production Company Assistant Director Original Story Script Lighting & Photography Editor	Maurice Elvey Albion Films F.V. Merrick Richard Brinsley Sheridan Jean Jay Henry Harris Bernard Knowles Thorold Dickinson
Cast: Madeleine Carroll (Lady Teazle), Basil Gill (Sir Peter Teazle), Edgar K. Bruce (Sir Oliver Surface), Ian Fleming (Joseph Surface), Henry Hewitt (Charles Surface), Anne Grey (Lady Sneerwell), John Charlton (Sir Benjamin Backbite), Wallace Bosco (Rowley), Dodo Watts (Maria).
76 mins, 6,910 feet, sound, black & white (shot in Raycol).

Why are we so keen to find it?

It's an adaptation of a classic British stage comedy by popular director Maurice Elvey and features rising star Madeleine Carroll - later a Hitchcock favourite in an early British role. At the same time the film marks the screen debuts of actresses Anna Neagle and Sally Gray (then billed as Constance Stevens) as well as a very early uncredited appearance by Rex Harrison. The School for Scandal was also edited by future director and pioneering film scholar Thorold Dickinson and was the only full length feature shot in the unsuccessful Raycol colour process.

Though some reviews complained of stilted acting, others praised the way the play was realised on screen, with particular appreciation shown for the language and 'Britishness' of the piece. As an early sound film made with an abortive colour system, it captures British cinema at a point of transition - the attempt to produce a sophisticated comedy of manners in full sound and colour despite the technological restraints of the period make it not only intriguing but also ambitious.

What's it about?

Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1777 play revolves around gossip which ruins reputations and entertains high society where scandal is the best form of entertainment. Such was the popularity of the play when the film was released that contemporary reviewers felt that the plot was "too well known to call for repetition."

Lady Sneerwell interferes in the affairs of Sir Peter Teazle, his ward Maria and the brothers Charles and Joseph Surface in the hopes of gaining the affections of Charles Surface who is in love with Maria. Joseph Surface joins Lady Sneerwell in her scheme hoping to win the hand of Maria and gain her large inheritance. Meanwhile Sir Oliver Surface returns from India and decides to play a trick to find out which one of his nephews is more deserving of their inheritance. Lady Sneerwell starts a rumour that Lady Teazle is having an affair with Charles and Lady Teazle is almost tempted into a liaison with Joseph simply to be fashionable. Sir Oliver discovers that despite his reputation Charles is more honourable than his brother. In the end Lady Sneerwell's schemes are undone and Sir Peter and Lady Teazle reconcile and Charles and Maria are happily betrothed.

Last seen?

Though it was released by Paramount as part of the studio's British quota, a review in Variety suggested that the film would have little appeal outside Britain (see below).

What else do we know about it?

Director Maurice Elvey had been working on the Raycol colour system for some time and The School for Scandal was the first feature made using the process. However film historian Rachael Low noted that on the film's release "difficulties were encountered and it was shown in black and white."

This was the first sound version of Sheridan's play. A silent adaptation was released in 1923 and the BBC made several versions for television, including one in 1959 and another in 1975. Two actors best known for playing Sherlock Holmes - Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett - both played the character of Joseph Surface, Rathbone in 1923, Brett in 1975.

Does anything survive?

The BFI Stills, Posters and Designs collection holds seven stills from the film. Some key scenes are recognisable from the play, including the famous scene involving the use of a screen.

A publicity sheet from the James Anderson Collection in BFI Special Collections offers a litany of effusive reviews, which are typical of publicity material but do serve to highlight the essentially British character of the film. Peter Burnup in The Sunday Dispatch is quoted as saying "...I exhort film-goers to see The School for Scandal. There is a sweet charm and a niceness about it which no American talkie has yet reproduced. Also it is intelligent, and it is English."

The Daily Mail takes a similar view: "People have become so inured to the wise-cracking comedies of Hollywood that they have forgotten almost the graces of the English tongue... The School for Scandal is an excellent film and a gallant effort."

Reviews

The reviews in the publicity sheet are very selective with their quotations - the full Bioscope review shows that while the film was indeed regarded as "elaborately mounted, well played and skilfully directed," it was also felt that "the quality which the production chiefly lacks is that of humour, due more to the cast than to the direction."

Variety was more scathing, perhaps due to the Anglo-American divide identified by other reviewers: "Its value in the States looks like exactly nothing, and the film is likely to present difficulties to the English showman... Picture should be a worthwhile support for the better class neigh-hood [sic] houses here, but doesn't mean anything for the places where they want entertainment with a kick in it."

Lisa Kerrigan, Curator (Television), BFI National Archive

You can find more about British films of the early 1930s, including entries on surviving films and video clips for users in UK schools, colleges, universities and public libraries, at BFI Screenonline. You can also view similar titles at the BFI Mediatheques.