The Minstrel Boy (also known as The Melody Maker) is a 1937 British musical film directed by Sidney Morgan and starring Fred Conyngham, Chili Bouchier and Lucille Lisle. It was written by Morgan and Joan Morgan, and made at the M.P. Studios in Elstree. It takes its title from the popular song "The Minstrel Boy".
Contents
Preservation status
The British Film Institute National Archive holds a collection of ephemera and stills but no film or video materials.
Plot
Angela Shelley marries dance band leader and singer Mike, who performs as "Mike The Minstrel Boy." Angela soon realises that the Bohemian party world Mike inhabits is not to her liking. When she finds Mike dallying with old flame Dee Dawn, she leaves him. Losing Angela, Mike gradually goes downhill. Angela saves him from suicide.
Cast
Fred Conyngham as Mike
Chili Bouchier as Dee Dawn
Lucille Lisle as Angela Shelley
Kenneth Buckley as Austin Ravensbourne
Basil Langton as Ed
Marjorie Chard as Lady Ravensbourne
Mabel Twemlow as Lady Pont
Grenville Darling as Pat
Xenia & Boyer as themselves
Ronald Waters
Pat Kavanagh
Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The direction is patchy. The sequences depicting Mike's life at the night club and with Angela go with a swing; those showing Angela's aristocratic background, in an effort to achieve a contrast of quiet dignity, succeed only in being stilted and ponderous."
Kine Weekly wrote: "It is obviously aimed at the masses and, with its popular story formula, song number and title, just as obviously hits the target. ... Fred Conyngham sings effectively and acts adequately in the role of Mike. Chili Bouchier vamps convincingly and puts over her song numbers expertly as De Dawn, but Lucille Lisle is inclined to be stilted as Angela."