Curtain Up
Curtain Up is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Ralph Smart and starring Robert Morley, Margaret Rutherford and Kay Kendall. Written by Jack Davies and Michael Pertwee it is based on the play On Monday Next by Philip King. It was shot at Isleworth Studios in London with the exterior of the nearby Richmond Theatre standing in for that of Drossmouth. The film's sets were designed by the art director Geoffrey Drake. Plot In an English provincial town, Drossmouth, a second-rate repertory company assembles at the Theatre Royal on Monday morning to rehearse the following week's play, a melodrama titled Tarnished Gold. Harry, their irascible producer, is highly critical of the play, which has been foisted on him by the directors of the company and is unenthusiastic about its prospects. The cast includes Jerry, a young and sometimes keen actor, Maud, a widowed actress who was once famous on the West End stage, Sandra, who is waiting for (and receives) a call from a London producer, her philandering and semi-alcoholic husband, and Avis, a timid young girl who is quickly realising that acting is not for her. The cast is equally unenthusiastic of the play. Little progress is made.