His Lordship Goes to Press (DVD)

Valerie Lee is a feisty American reporter assigned to a story on farming conditions in Great Britain. While arranging her travel accommodations, she has an encounter with Lord Bill Wilmer, and treats him with a rudeness he is not accustomed to. Wanting to teach the headstrong girl a lesson, his Lordship poses as a lowly tiller of the soil at the rustic farmhouse in which Valerie is staying. To his shock and surprise, she falls head over heels in love with him in his slovenly disguise. Now his Lordship must decide whether to reveal his true identity to Valerie and face the possibility of rejection -- or spend the rest of his life as a poor farmer and enjoy the young lady's affection without question...

His Lordship Goes to Press is an extremely rare British film produced as a "quota quickie". These were films made quickly and cheaply in the UK, usually by American distributors. The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 had decreed that a certain percentage of movies screened in Britain had to be made in the UK, even if they were financed by an American company. This was done in a (futile) effort to stimulate the failing British film industry, which was being decimated by Hollywood imports. His Lordship Goes to Press even stars an American actress, June Clyde. A WAMPAS Baby Star of 1932, the leggy blonde appeared mostly in Poverty Row productions like The Thrill of Youth (1932), Wayne Murder Case (1932) and Hollywood Mystery (1934). In 1934, Clyde moved to England with her husband, director Thornton Freeland, doing film and stage work there for the rest of the 1930s. Co-star Hugh Williams was a popular star of the British cinema during the 1930s. He was also a successful playwright, authoring The Grass is Greener (1956), among other works.

• drama