Mr Tower of London (1927)

Overview

A film of the hugely successful British musical comedy revue, 'Mr Tower of London'. Written by Archie Pitt in 1918 who played the role of Mr Tower on stage and in this film. The actress in the part of Sally Perkins is unknown but is speculated to be Betty Driver, as the 3rd actress to take this role (the 2nd was Barbara Bartle). The original actress was Gracie Fields, who was married to Archie Pitt, and had left the production by 1924. The stage production had three scenes in Act 1 and two in Act 2. It is confirmed that at least one scene, 'Mr Tower Drives The Omnibus' (Act 1 Scene 3) is in this film. The stage version ran to over 4000 performances until the mid 1930s, so this film captures one of the most successful British shows of the 1920s period. It is an early sound film using Phonofilm, an optical sound film technology invented by Lee de Forest. It is likely made at that company's Clapham Studios facility, based in a railway arch. A 35mm print is held by the BFI.