User Reviews

This rare and forgotten British Lion comedy of 1934 is well worth the attention of cineastes for the presence of two of its actors. Firstly Frank Pettingell, best remembered now for his major role in the 1940 version of Gaslight, who in this film is seen in comic vein posing as a daft butler with hilarious consequences. Secondly Cyril Raymond, unforgettable as Laura's husband in Brief Encounter, here playing a rakish boyfriend but with a touch of gravitas. In both cases their performances in Keep it Quiet rank as, arguably, the best of their careers. Direction by Leslie Hiscott is slick and serviceable and, together with Michael Barringer's witty scenario, render this as one of the best of the unjustly scorned 'quota quickies' of the 1930s.

Cyril Raymond has sold his first novel, but won't see a penny for months. He wants to marry Jane Carr, but her father, Davy Burnaby wants her to marry foreign Count Brian Buchell, who is there to verify that Burnaby's jades are genuine and buy them for his nation. Raymond has money coming to him in a couple of years, but his uncle and guardian, Frank Pettingell, won't let him have it to marry a hussy who smokes cigarettes and such. In addition, Pettingell has been caught in a variation of the badger game and thinks he is now working for the Secret Service by pretending to be Burnaby's new butler to get the jades lest England go to war with Cochin China.

Do I have that right? Let's see. Raymond wants to marry Brian Buchell, but his father, Jane Carr, wants to sell Cochin China to.... no, that's not right either. I think. It doesn't matter much, because this is one of those farces where the purpose is to lead up to the last ten minutes, when everyone is tiptoe-ing around, going in and out of closets and passing various items to people through windows without anyone, particularly the audience, knowing what the devil is going on. It's decently directed by the competent Leslie Hiscott. Pettingell is amusing in a dunderheaded Mancunian manner.