Berkeley Square (1933 film)

Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square (1933, lobby card), Leslie Howard and Betty Lawford
Directed by	Frank Lloyd
Screenplay by	Sonya Levien John L. Balderston
Based on	Berkeley Square 1926 play by John L. Balderston 1917 novel The Sense of the Past by Henry James
Produced by	Jesse L. Lasky
Starring	Leslie Howard Heather Angel
Cinematography	Ernest Palmer
Edited by	Harold D. Schuster
Music by	Louis De Francesco
Distributed by	Fox Film Corporation
Release date	September 13, 1933 (1933-09-13) (New York)[1]
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Berkeley Square is a 1933 American pre-Code fantasy drama film produced by Fox Film Corporation, directed by Frank Lloyd, and starring Leslie Howard and Heather Angel. It recounts the tale of young American Peter Standish, played by Howard (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor), who, explained by S.T. Joshi, is a "portrayal of a man of the 20th century who somehow merges his personality with that of his 18th-century ancestor."^[2] The film was based on the play of the same name by John L. Balderston,^[3] itself loosely based on Henry James' incomplete 1917 novel, The Sense of the Past. The play premiered in London in 1926. Howard played Standish in the hugely successful 1929 Broadway production, which he co-produced and co-directed with Gilbert Miller.^[4]

The film was thought to have been lost until it was rediscovered in the 1970s.^[5] A newly restored 35mm print has been made, and the restored version was first shown at the 2011 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival.