Following the both commercial and critical failure of Number Seventeen, British International Pictures took Hitchcock off directing movies and assigned him to produce films for other directors. The first (and only) one he would do with give the directorial debut to Benn Levy, who had written the dialogue for Blackmail.
Lord Camber's Ladies (based on the play The Case of Lady Camber by Horace Annesley Vachell) tells the tale of Lord Camber (Nigel Bruce) who while courting Shirley Neville (Gertrude Lawrence) he secretly romances florist shopgirl Janet King (Benita Hume). Lord Camber marries Shirley and leaves Janet waiting for his return. Janet becomes a nurse working under Dr. Napier (Gerald du Maurier). When Lady Camber becomes ill, she falls under the care of Dr. Napier and Nurse King, while the latter gets a startle when she sees Lord Camber. After Lady Camber succumbs to her illness, people wonder if she died naturally.
The movie is pleasant and not a chore to sit through. Levy's direction is somewhat uninspired but does not drag along. Benita Hume, despite being fourth billed, gives the best performance of the bunch. du Maurier, was well respected and known at the time (Hitchcock did say he was the finest actor of his time), but he only appears halfway into the film and seems more of a supporting player rather than the lead actor (the same could be said of Lawrence).
According the Daphne du Maurier (Gerald's daughter and source of future Hitchcock films Jamaica Inn, Rebecca and The Birds) said that her father and Hitchcock tried to break the levity by playing practical jokes on each other and the cast, which apparently did not sit well with Levy. Hitchcock called Levy obstinate and indicated that the director didn't make the best of the opportunity that was offered to him (this movie would be Levy's only directorial effort).
The Times enjoyed Hume's performance while wondered why du Maurier wasn't on screen more. BIP had more plans for Hitchcock to produce more films (he described them as films to satisfy quota films for American studios, where the US studios had to produce all-British productions in order for American films to be released in England). Hitchcock said he was to produce a film for playwright John Van Druten to direct, which sounded like a precursor to Roman Holiday (1953). He also claimed that a script was written for a film to be entitled Bulldog Drummond's Baby, but more about that next week.
The film is a difficult one to find. I do not believe that has been commercially released on home media in the US or UK. There are a couple of bootleg dealers who have a copy, which I guess is the best alternative until a better print comes along.
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