Mayfair Girl

Mayfair Girl
Frame from the film
Directed byGeorge King
Written byBrandon Fleming
Produced byIrving Asher
StarringSally Blane
John Stuart
Glen Alyn
CinematographyBasil Emmott
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • September 1933 (1933-09)
Running time
67 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Mayfair Girl is a 1933 British crime film directed by George King and starring Sally Blane, John Stuart and Glen Alyn.[1] It was written by Brandon Fleming. A quota quickie, it was made at Teddington Studios by the British subsidiary of Warner Bros.[2][3]

Preservation status

The British Film Institute National Archive holds a collection of ephemera and stills but no film or video materials.[1]

Plot

Brenda Mason, an American pleasure-seeking society girl, visits a fashionable gambling club with Dick Porter, a moneyed layabout. They drink heavily and Brenda falls into a drunken sleep. Porter accuses Captain Merrow, owner of the club, of running a crooked roulette game. Merror shoots and kills him, and then frames Brenda for the crime. She is arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to death. Her lawyer, Robert Blair, who is secretly in love with her, gets her off the hook.[4]

Cast

Reception

Kine Weekly wrote: "Society murder drama, a protracted expose of London's smart set, which is weighed down and diverted from the iines of crisp entertainment by a welter of tedious and unconvincing detail."[4]

The Daily Film Renter wrote: "Inane cocktail set are ruthlessly exposed in succession of scenes depicting life of 'bright young things.' Main plot develops convincingly, leading up to suspenseful climax in which heroine's lawyer fixes guilt on real culprit. Excellent photography and interesting sets, but direction errs on side of over-emphasis at times."[5]

Picturegoer wrote: "Novelettish murder story, which suffers from being drawn out with tedious detail. It attempts to expose the 'smart set,' but lacks crispness and dramatic force enough to hold the interest. Except for Sally Blane and John Stuart, who are quite good, the acting is definitely weak."[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "Mayfair Girl". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  2. ^ Wood, Linda (1986). British Films, 1927–1939 (PDF). British Film Institute. p. 78. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2022.
  3. ^ Chibnall, Steve (2007). Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film. British Film Institute. p. 274. ISBN 978-1844571550.
  4. ^ a b "Mayfair Girl". Kine Weekly. 198 (1375): 17. 24 August 1933. ProQuest 2338283927.
  5. ^ "Mayfair Girl". The Daily Film Renter (2023): 5. 18 August 1933. ProQuest 2594645021.
  6. ^ "Mayfair Girl". Picturegoer. 3 (138): 26. 13 January 1934. ProQuest 1771130266.