Hotel Splendide
BFI Restorations
•
Comedy, Crime, Drama, UR
Powell’s amiable ‘Quickie’ comedy stars music hall veteran Jerry Verno as a lowly clerk who inherits a hotel, but gets more than he bargained for when various guests turn out to be crooks. (Watch out for the cameo from Powell himself). The production’s limitations are undeniable, but Powell directs it all with charm, and there are flashes of the cinematic invention to come.
Up Next in BFI Restorations
-
The Night of the Party
Powell was dismissive of this stage adaptation, about a murder at a society party, which was foisted on him by Gaumont-British boss Michael Balcon. While it may betray its stage origins, it’s more fun than Powell suggested, with inventively staged scenes, and characterful performances from its ...
-
Her Last Affaire
Powell’s adaptation of Walter Ellis’s successful play was the most prestigious production he had made to date. A ‘society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, its cast of accomplished stage actors are nonetheless entirely upstaged by the glorious comic doub...
-
Big Banana Feet
Working with cinematographer David Peat directors Murray Grigor and Patrick Higson capture Billy Connolly at his brilliant best, as the comedian employs his trademark humour and no small amount of roguish charm to navigate the political tensions of 1970s Dublin and Belfast.
