St. Martin's Lane

1938 | 85 minutes | 7.2 ★ (21)

St. Martin's Lane
  • Overview

    On the sidewalks of the London theater district the buskers (street performers) earn enough coins for a cheap room. Charles, who recites dramatic monologues, sees that a young pickpocket, Libby, also has a talent for dancing and adds her to his act. Harley, the theater patron who never knew Libby took his gold cigarette case, is impressed by Libby's dancing and invites her to bring Charles and the other buskers in his group to an after-the-play party. Libby comes alone. A theatrical career is launched.

  • Release Date

    18 October 1938

  • DirectingTim Whelan
  • Budget

    $0.00

  • Revenue

    $0.00

  • Stars

Videos

User Reviews

See more
CS

CinemaSerf

20 June 2022

There's quite a lot of depth to this tale of London's theatre-land buskers just as their importance started to wain. Charles Laughton ("Charlie") scratches a living reciting Kipling to those waiting in queues for theatres and cinemas when he encounters Vivien Leigh ("Liberty") who dances, mimics and picks pockets for a living. She has attracted the attentions of impresario Rex Harrison ("Harley") who sees some potential in the young girl and her career is launched! There's a bit of an unlikely love story between Laughton and Leigh, and as the latter's star rises - the relationship is tested. The characterisations from Laughton are funny and decent; Leigh shows clearly what made her a star and Harrison also brings a certain class to the proceedings. It's also an interesting observation of just how the whole street entertainer culture offered everything from eloquent poetry and vibrant dancing to roast chestnuts and petty larceny as recently as the 1930s. It's rarely seen nowadays, but if you get an opportunity then this is certainly a film that belies it's low-key status with some good writing; characterful performances, laughs and gentle pathos.

More Like This

What Doesn't Kill You

What Doesn't Kill You

Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.

See more
Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc.

Lovable Sulley and his wisecracking sidekick Mike Wazowski are the top scare team at Monsters, Inc., the scream-processing factory in Monstropolis....

See more
Kunstgriff

Kunstgriff

Kunstgriff is a brilliantly filmed black and white short film. Andre F. Nebe gives proof of his storytelling abilities in this 6 minute film.

See more
All About My Mother

All About My Mother

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy...

See more
Lower City

Lower City

Best friends Deco and Naldinho co-own a cargo boat in Brazil's Salvador da Bahia. They give a ride to a sultry prostitute named Karinna, and soon...

See more
Dreamcatcher

Dreamcatcher

Four boyhood pals perform a heroic act and are changed by the powers they gain in return. Years later, on a hunting trip in the Maine woods...

See more
Harsh Times

Harsh Times

Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His...

See more
My Best Friend

My Best Friend

Catherine refuses to believe that her business partner, the unlikeable François, has a best friend, so she challenges him to set up an introduction...

See more
Gerry

Gerry

Two friends named Gerry become lost in the desert after taking a wrong turn. Their attempts to find their way home only lead them into further...

See more
Momo

Momo

Momo is a young orphan girl who lives in the ruins of an old Roman amphitheater and becomes friends with everybody in the neighborhood. But when a...

See more
Hotel Chevalier

Hotel Chevalier

In a Paris hotel room, Jack Whitman lies on a bed. His phone rings; it's a woman on her way to see him, a surprise. She arrives and the...

See more
Max der Taschendieb

Max der Taschendieb

Max, a small time pick-pocket, has nothing to do with the ‘big’ crimes. But then he must find the murderer of Fred, his wife's brother.

See more
Good Night, Sunshine

Good Night, Sunshine

A human being sometimes needs to share and have his complaints heard, and feelings of shared fate can make humans empathize with each other.

See more
Brigsby Bear

Brigsby Bear

Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children's TV show produced for an audience of one: James. When the show abruptly ends, James's life changes forever...

See more
Gangs of New York

Gangs of New York

In 1863, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points of America to seek vengeance against the psychotic gangland kingpin, Bill the Butcher, who...

See more
A Fix

A Fix

When is enough...enough? Pyper Blevins has been bullied by Natalie Coleman since she was five years old. Her bullying comes to a climax in their...

See more
A Brother

A Brother

15-year-old Tom is going to spend another calm summer with his parents and younger sister at their summer house. But by fate, another family comes...

See more
John Honai

John Honai

The movie ‘John Honai’ derives its title from the character John Honai played by Rizabava in the super hit movie ‘In Harihar Nagar’. In ‘John...

See more
Harlem Nights

Harlem Nights

'Sugar' Ray is the owner of an illegal casino and must contend with the pressure of vicious gangsters and corrupt police who want to see him go out...

See more
Regular Guys

Regular Guys

Christoph, cop and self-confident macho, has trouble with his fiance. After a long night he wakes up in the arms of Edgar, a good-looking, gay...

See more