Calling the Tune

Sam Livesy cheats all his partners to become a major power in the nascent gramophone industry. Twenty or so years later, he drives innovative Clifford Evans into the arms of his competitor, Elliot Makeham. When Donald Wolfitt offers to blow up their new recording plant in return for a partnership and the hand of Livesy's daughter, Sally Grey, the audience gets to watch the fuse spark to the tune of "Ride of the Valkyries". The real pleasure of this ATP release -- the studio would later evolve into Ealing -- is a succession of acts, presented as recordings or recording sessions: Nellie Melba on the gramophone, Charles Penrose singing "The Laughing Policeman, Cedric Hardwicke in an extract of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, and George Robey, the Prime Minister of Mirth, doing one of his patter songs. They offer some bright, nostalgic moments during this tale of industrial sabotage that make this film worth watching.