Grand Finale (also known as Finale) is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Ivar Campbell. It was written by Vera Allinson and Paul Hervey Fox, and made at Shepperton Studios as a quota quickie for distribution by Paramount Pictures.
Contents
Preservation status
The British Film Institute National Archive holds a collection of ephemera and stills but no film or video materials.
Plot
Young journalist Peter Trench falls in love with model Pat Mainwaring, who is shortly to wed pompous businessman Sir Thomas Portland. Unable to convince her to change her plans, he confides in his father Hugo, who was a co-respondent when Portland divorced Lina, his first wife. Hugo hatches a plan to get Portland interested in Lina again, which succeeds.
Cast
Mary Glynne as Lina Parsons
Guy Newall as Hugo Trench
Eric Cowley as Sir Thomas Portland
Glen Alyn as Pat Mainwaring
Douglas Rhodes as Peter Trench
Kim Peacock as editor
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The film is complicated and not very funny. The dialogue drags out the situations and is not good. The acting, for the most part, does not surmount the handicaps imposed by the story and the dialogue."
Kine Weekly wrote: "The story displayed in this picture still has its niche on the stage, but it is far too dependent on dialogue and theatrical tricks and characters ever to be translated into successful screen entertainment. The film may for quota purposes in small halls, but here its market abruptly ends."