Housemaster" is a very good British comedy that stars American Otto Kruger who had taken a break from Hollywood to make a few movies in England. The film is based on a play of the same title by Ian Hay. A host of mostly British actors of the day fill out this story of a housemaster at an all boys' school. Mayhem sets in for Charles Donkin when the three Farington girls and their aunt and guardian, Barbara Fane, arrive to take up lodging with him. He's sort of an "uncle" to the girls, having been the one-time sweetheart of their mother, who has now been dead for 14 years. Fane was bringing them to England to get them away from Paris, which she says "is demoralizing them." To which Donkin replies, "Nonsense - they're demoralizing Paris."
While the girls add a good deal of the humor in this film, Charles presides as the senior housemaster at the school which has had a new headmaster, the Rev Edmund Ovington. Prominent English actor Kynaston Reeves plays the somber faced and no-nonsense reformer/organizer who sees any fun on the part of the boys as lack of character -- and demanding of restrictions. Cecil Parker, Diana Churchill, and Phillips Holmes are among the rest of the cast in this very good comedy. Unfortunately, the quality of the film I watched is not very good. At least some of that appears to be in the production. This was not a Gaumont, Gainsborough or Ealing Studios film, but one made by a lesser company at the time - Associated British Pictures Corp.
While humor is the forte of this film, Donkin gives the boys of his house a farewell talk with sage advice. "Never be false - or, if you prefer it, always be loyal," he tells them. "Even though sometimes it may be against your own conviction. Be infinitely considerate of other people's feelings. That is what is meant by that much maligned phrase about being a gentleman. And, lastly, but very briefly - speak the truth. Believe me, of all the methods that have been tried by great men from Machiavelli down to his present-day imitators, speaking the truth has always served man best... And us, as a nation, best. Now, would you just try to bear these three tips in mind?"
There are some instances of playful chicanery on the part of the girls and some of the boys, and poignant or funny bits of dialog throughout. But the comedic coup de grace is by Donkin in the end when he tells Rosemary to go ask Barbara how everything has worked out. Rosemary will be surprised to find out that the girls' scheme didn't work, but something much better is in store for all. Only Donkin knows the whole outcome for everyone, as he settles down before the fireplace with his pipe and newspaper word puzzle.
This is a wonderful comedy, simple on the surface but quite sophisticated as well. Here are some more favorite lines.
Charles Donkin, "Now, in the future use a little sense. If the headmaster sees fit to put the plantation out of bounds, why go there? And if you must go there, don't try and get caught."
Charles Donkin, "And may I ask why Barbara communicates with me through you? I've known her as long as you have." Frank Hastings, "Not quite. I introduced you to Barbara and to Angela at a ball." Donkin, "Imagine us at a ball. Well, you anyway."
Frank Hastings, "Do you mind if I open one of these windows? You can't breathe the same air as you did yesterday, you know?
Barbara Fane, going to open the French door, "You can't breathe the same air as you did yesterday, you know?" Charles Donkin, "I seem to have heard that somewhere before."
Barbara Fane, "Just before we left, Aubrey said the most extraordinary thing." Charles Donkin, "What'd he say?" Barbara, "If my darling Angela had had any sense, those children would have been Charles Donkin's, not mine" Charles, "What infernal chic. If Angela had married me, our children wouldn't have been any resemblance to these little horrors." Barbara, "Oh, I think you're the most cruel, heartless man I know." Charles, "I'm not cruel and I'm not heartless." Barbara, "Yes, you are." Charles, "I'm not."
Frank Hastings, "In some ways, Farington, you're a genius. You can translate English into a Greek not spoken in Greece, and Latin into an English not spoken anywhere.
Frank Hastings, "Ignorance is bad enough. Cheating is abominable."
Charles Donkin, "The boys won't like their privileges being tampered with." Rev. Ovington, "That is the perfectly natural reaction of all boys toward anything that is good for them."
Charles Donkin, "Eh, time for prayers. Put out your cigar, you're coming with me." Sir Berkeley Nightingale, "Why?" Donkin, "Oh, it brightens up the boys to see an odd face occasionally." Sir Nightingale, "What do you mean, odd, hmmm?"
Rev. Ovington, "A boy is not a reasoning animal."
Charles Donkin, "You are set in authority over 500 of the oddest, shyest, most observant, most critical and least articulate creatures that God ever made. And you treat them as if they were the occupants of a particularly insensitive oyster bed. You've trampled on their most cherished traditions." Rev. Ovington, "It is sometimes necessary to trample on traditions." Donkin, "But not with hobnailed boots."
Sir Berkeley Nightingale, "I hope that settles your little housing problem." Charles Donkin, "You wire-pulling old reprobate."
Rosemary Farington, "Charles, Philip and I want to go to Vienna and be married. Do you mind?" Charles Donkin, "Yes, I do. Get married and then go to Vienna."
Charles Donkin, holding Rosemary, "My wise Angela." Rosemary, "Rosemary, darling." Charles, shaking his head, "Angela."
