Caste (1930 film)

Caste is a 1930 British drama film directed by Campbell Gullan and starring Hermione Baddeley, Nora Swinburne and Alan Napier. It was made at Walton Studios.^[1] Michael Powell worked on the screenplay and (uncredited) was involved with the technical side of direction.^[2]

Caste
Flyer
Directed by	Campbell Gullan
Screenplay by	Michael Powell
Based on	the play Caste by T.W. Robertson
Produced by	Jerome Jackson
Starring	Hermione Baddeley Nora Swinburne Alan Napier
Production company	Harry Rowson Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	September 1930
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

• Hermione Baddeley as Polly Eccles
• Nora Swinburne as Esther Eccles
• Alan Napier as Capt. Hawtree
• Sebastian Shaw as Hon. George d'Alroy
• Ben Field as Albert Eccles
• Edward Chapman as Sam Gerridge
• Mabel Terry-Lewis as Marquise
• Percival Coyte

Film historian Geoff Brown writes, "most of the film’s enlivening spice comes from the jolting surprises of tone and manner as Gullan’s cast and Powell’s visuals glide or lurch through a scenario pleasingly punctured with camera trackings, lively spots of audiovisual montage and dramatically piquant closeups. (Watch for the carefully judged shots of hands delivering and receiving a crucial telegram regarding D’Alroy’s fate.)...the film is not a fossil; it is a lively embryo, and the first important step towards Powell’s future."^[3]

• Low, Rachael. Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
• Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927-1939. British Film Institute, 1986.

• Caste at IMDb
• “Where did you get this old fossil?”: Michael Powell’s first film rediscovered: Sight & Sound website article by Geoff Brown