Ivor Novello: Movie heart-throb wowed theatre fans

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Vivienne Smith revisits the week in November 1925 when composer and star of the silver screen, Ivor Novello, brought his highly-acclaimed play to Derby’s Grand Theatre.

THERE was a buzz of excitement in Derby early in November 1925, for a world-famous silent movie star was in town. Acclaimed as the greatest of all matinee idols, Ivor Novello had a following on a par with Rudolph Valentino at the time.

He was credited with having the most beautiful profile in the world.

Local people who had been captivated by the star at the pictures now had ample opportunity to see him in the flesh, for Novello was booked to appear live at the Grand Theatre in his box-office hit The Rat for a whole week.

He had been born David Ivor Davies in Cardiff, on January 15, 1893, the only son of David and Clara Novello Davies.

His mother was a singing teacher and choral conductor and it was from her that he gained an early love of music.

She also supplied him with his stage name.

The youngster saw the publication of his first song while he was still at school.

By the age of 21, as Ivor Novello, he had established his reputation as a composer with the First World War hit Keep the Home Fires Burning.

It was said that, more than any other song, it helped maintain the nation’s spirits during the dark days of the war.

Indeed, it proved such a favourite with British soldiers at the Front that their allies often presumed it was the national anthem.

The young Ivor began writing songs for revues and for musical comedies, the first of which was Theodore & Co, in 1916. This work was undertaken while on wartime service for the Air Ministry.

Soon after being demobbed in 1918, his career really took off when he received an invitation to star in a silent movie.

At the time, his only real experience of acting had been while at school.

However, the French film director Louis Mercanton chose him to play the romantic lead in his next movie The Call of the Blood after seeing a publicity shot of the composer.

Thus, almost by accident, Ivor Novello took his first steps towards becoming one of the most popular film stars of the 1920s.

He was even asked by the celebrated American director D W Griffith to appear in the film The White Rose, in 1923.

Yet, despite this success on the silver screen, Novello was more interested in a career on the stage, following his London debut in 1921.

His play The Rat was actually the result of a screenplay he had written and offered to the major film studios without success.

It was a melodrama set in the underworld of Paris.

After an actress friend, Constance Collier, suggested turning it into a stage play instead, the two of them worked on it together.

They used the pseudonym David L’Estrange.

The play had its provincial opening in Brighton in January 1924 with Novello himself in the title role.

The cast took no fewer than 39 curtain calls the first night.

That June the London premiere at the Prince of Wales’ Theatre was also a resounding hit.

Within months, Gainsborough Pictures were showing an interest in making a movie from the play. The finished product went on to take an impressive £80,000 at the box office.

Novello reprised his stage role in the film, displaying a touch of Valentino which had ladies queuing round the block to see him.

Meanwhile, the play itself ran at the Prince of Wales’ and Garrick Theatres for almost a year. In fact, such were the demands of the London public, that the provincial tour had to be put back.

It was well into 1925 before Novello was able to take his production on the road. The week’s booking at the Grand Theatre in Derby was from Monday, November 2.

He arrived in town with his full West End Company the weekend before the play was due to open. The dress rehearsal took place on the Sunday night.

Despite a busy schedule of nightly performances, as well as matinees on Wednesday and Saturday, the popular film star still found time to socialise during his visit.

On Monday morning he agreed to be interviewed in his room at the Friary Hotel, where he was staying, by a reporter from the Derby Daily Telegraph.

The resulting feature appeared in the paper’s Stage Gossip column. In it, the 32-year-old celebrity was described as being most charming and completely unspoiled by success.

And the journalist waxed lyrical about Novello’s legendary good looks: “Jet black hair waving romantically from a broad forehead above a pair of dark dreamy eyes, and a smile like the flash of a sunbeam in a shady room.”

During the conversation, the actor-cum-composer revealed he took a portable gramophone with him on tour so he could listen to records in his spare time.

When asked about the spectacular success of Keep the Home Fires Burning, he laughed and said modestly: “It doesn’t require a genius to write a popular song.”

He added: “I happened to think of a catchy melody, and a phrase fitted in. It was the greatest stroke of luck that ever happened to anyone.”

A discussion about his film career followed and the journalist inquired about the huge success of The Rat.

Novello replied that he thought his part in the movie version was the best acting he had ever done in a film.

The interviewer had one final question for the star. Having made his name on stage and screen as well as a composer, which one did he like the best? Without hesitation, he answered: “I prefer the stage...for in the theatre one finds instant contact with the audience.”

This was something his fans in Derby undoubtedly agreed with.

Indeed, Ivor Novello was in such demand that there was little time to prepare for his opening night in the town.

A special tea dance and reception had been arranged in his honour at the Palais de Danse from 3 to 6pm on Monday afternoon. Admission was two shillings, including tea.

The visit by the film star proved such a great attraction that there was not a single vacant table in the place.

Novello drove down from the Friary Hotel into town in a huge yellow car. The crowds of people waiting to see him at the Palais gave him a tremendous reception.

Once the excitement had died down, he received a flattering introduction by Mr Oswald Cray, managing director of the Grand Theatre.

The celebrity gracefully acknowledged the warm welcome with a bow. His willingness to chat and complete lack of affectation impressed everyone there.

During the afternoon, the star had several dances and enjoyed himself, as did the general public.

Before leaving, he expressed his appreciation of the Palais band, the Mayfair Five, who he said were on top form.

On Monday evening the Grand Theatre, just like the Palais, was packed with people. After all, it was not every day one had the chance to see a real-life film star on the Derby stage.

The audience were not disappointed.

In the role of Pierre Boucheron, otherwise known as The Rat, Novello held them spellbound right from the start.

The part he played in the melodrama was that of a Parisian street ruffian with an unequalled reputation as a thief.

Despite a somewhat cavalier attitude towards women, The Rat had a soft spot for the homely and devoted Odile who lives with him.

But when society queen Zelie de Chaumont visits his regular haunt The White Coffin, he finds his world turned upside down. She falls in love with the rogue and offers to help him up the social ladder.

Meanwhile, the wealthy banker Herman Stetz, one of Zelie’s associates, becomes attracted to Odile on whom he forces his attentions.

In order to have his wicked way with her, he tricks The Rat into leaving his lodgings. The ruffian returns to discover the truth and ends up killing Stetz with a knife.

To protect him from a murder charge, Odile confesses to the crime herself.

In a gripping court scene, the young woman is finally acquitted by the jury on the grounds she was defending her honour. And so The Rat is reunited with his one true love.

As well as a brilliant performance by Novello, the audience were treated to a number of his popular compositions, which featured as incidental music during the play.

Included were excerpts of And Her Mother Came Too, Thoughts Of You and The Land Of Might Have Been. From the ecstatic applause at the end of the evening’s entertainment there was no question that the star and his cast had gone down well.

The local press were equally enthusiastic in their reports of the production, and especially of Ivor Novello’s portrayal of the lead.

In the words of the Derby Daily Express: “The passion that fires and burns out and fires again in the wracked soul of The Rat... remains an indelible memory.”

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