Betty Balfour

Betty Balfour

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Betty Balfour (27 March 1903 – 4 November 1977) was an English screen actress, popular during the silent era, and known as the "British Mary Pickford" and "Britain's Queen of Happiness". She was best known to audiences for her Squibs series of films. Balfour was the most popular actress in Britain in the 1920s, and in 1927 she was named by the Daily Mirror as the country's favourite world star. Her talent was most evident in the Squibs comedy series produced by George Pearson, while in his Love, Life and Laughter (1923) and Reveille (1924), rediscovered in 2014, she demonstrated a serious side to her character. Her role as a wealthy heiress in Somebody's Darling (1925) was an attempt to break out of her previous role as Squibs, to avoid typecasting. She made her stage debut in 1913, and was appearing in Medora at the Alhambra Theatre in Leicester Square when T. A. Welsh and Pearson saw and signed her for Nothing Else Matters in 1920. After replacing Gertrude Lawrence on stage in The Midnight Follies, Balfour was back with Pearson with her first starring role in Mary Find the Gold. In 1916 she starred in Fred Karno's all female revue, 'All Women,' notable at the time for its all female cast, including stage manager, musical director and advanced agent. Balfour made no attempt to break into Hollywood but like Ivor Novello she was able to export her talents to mainland Europe. She starred in the German films, Die sieben Töchter der Frau Gyurkovics and Die Regimentstochter; she also worked for Marcel L'Herbier in Le Diable au cœur, for Louis Mercanton in Croquette and La Petite Bonne du palace, and for Géza von Bolváry in Bright Eyes. Back in Britain, she also starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Champagne (1928). Balfour's sound debut, The Nipper (1930), based on the Squibs character, was only moderately successful. Her popularity diminished in the 1930s, though she played a supporting role to Jessie Matthews in Evergreen (1934), appeared with John Mills in Forever England (1935) and played the matriarch in 29 Acacia Avenue (1945). Balfour had less fortune in her private life. Her marriage with composer Jimmy Campbell went on the rocks in 1941 after ten years, a try of a comeback at the theatre failed in 1952. She died at age 74 in Weybridge, Surrey.

  • Title: Betty Balfour
  • Popularity: 0.1265
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1903-03-27
  • Place of Birth: London, England, UK
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: Florence Lilian Woods
img

Betty Balfour Movies

  • 1928
    imgMovies

    Champagne

    Champagne

    5.178 1928 HD

    A spoiled heiress defies her millionaire father by running off to France to pursue her lover. Things don't go entirely as planned.

    img
  • 1928
    imgMovies

    Little Devil May Care

    Little Devil May Care

    6.3 1928 HD

    Ludivine, a lttle tomboy, takes on the too polite Delphin. Being caught, and punished, she wants him and his father to be dead. When the latter dies, she feels guilty and takes Delphin under her wing.

    img
  • 1929
    imgMovies

    The Vagabond Queen

    The Vagabond Queen

    1 1929 HD

    The Vagabond Queen is a 1929 British comedy film directed by Géza von Bolváry and starring Betty Balfour, Glen Byam Shaw and Ernest Thesiger. It was the final film directed in Britain by Bolváry before he returned to Germany. A young woman takes the place of a Princess who is a target for an assassination. This film was released in May 1929 as a silent film and re-released with synchronized music and sound effects in August 1930.

    img
  • 1923
    imgMovies

    Love, Life and Laughter

    Love, Life and Laughter

    1 1923 HD

    Love, Life and Laughter tells the story of a pair of working class youngsters with big dreams – a cheery chorus girl and a serious writer. The film toys with our expectations, blurring the boundaries of reverie and reality; tragedy and comedy. Directed by George Pearson, the film was considered lost for many years until in March 2014 when a copy was discovered in an old Dutch cinema.

    img
  • 1935
    imgMovies

    Brown on Resolution

    Brown on Resolution

    5.8 1935 HD

    Forever England gives John Mills his first leading role as Brown. Born after a brief affair between his mother and a naval officer, he joins the Royal Navy during the First World War. There his bravery and marksmanship keeps a German ship in port so a British ship can sink it. He becomes a hero, but at what cost?

    img
  • 1935
    imgMovies

    Squibs

    Squibs

    4.6 1935 HD

    Squibs, a cockney flowerseller with a father overwhelmed by gambling debts wins through with the help of assorted friends and a romantically inclined policeman.

    img
  • 1934
    imgMovies

    Evergreen

    Evergreen

    6.2 1934 HD

    Harriet Green, a beloved and radiant music hall star of the Edwardian era, mysteriously disappears on the eve of her wedding. Years later, she reappears on the stage as young looking and beautiful as ever.

    img
  • 1945
    imgMovies

    29 Acacia Avenue

    29 Acacia Avenue

    5.7 1945 HD

    The Robinsons are two respectable middle class parents living with their children in a suburban house in Acacia Avenue. Preferring to holiday every year in Bognor, they are pressed into booking a cruise for their annual vacation and thereby leaving their teenage children free run of their house. As the youngsters enjoy their newfound freedom and discover the angst of teenage life, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson begin to have second thoughts about their cruise and decide to return home early.

    img
  • 1929
    imgMovies

    Bright Eyes

    Bright Eyes

    5 1929 HD

    Jenny, a cheerful kitchen maid at the Paris-style Palais de Luxe, is hopelessly in love with charming head waiter Jean—only to be stood up when he forgets their planned tryst in favor of the hotel’s glamorous dancer, Lola. Humiliated and on the verge of arrest for “stealing” champagne, Jenny hides backstage where she’s mistaken for a performer, wows the crowd with an impromptu dance, and finally wins Jean’s heart.

    img
  • 1930
    imgMovies

    The Nipper

    The Nipper

    1 1930 HD

    A producer makes a star of the cockney waif who tried to rob him.

    img
  • 1930
    imgMovies

    Raise the Roof

    Raise the Roof

    1 1930 HD

    The wealthy Rodney Langford, who dreams of going on the stage, hopes to fulfil his ambitions by buying a failing revue called 'Raise the Roof', starring Maisie Grey. His father, fearing scandal, bribes amoral actor Atherley Armitage to sabotage the show. But, when all hope seems lost, Maisie comes up with an ingenious idea to try and save the day.

    img
  • 1926
    imgMovies

    A Sister of Six

    A Sister of Six

    1 1926 HD

    The young Tony will travel from Budapest to the countryside to marry his cousin Katinka, the oldest of the seven sisters Gyurkovics. Because Tony is already secretly married to another, the situation is problematic. Mizzi is the impish middle sister of seven who is glad to leave boarding school and has many adventures making her way back home. This includes impersonating a countess and meeting Count Horkay who is impersonating her cousin Tony, his friend whom Mizzi's mother intends to marry her oldest sister. The younger set all have their own ideas of who they love despite the plans of the older folks.

    img
  • 1928
    imgMovies

    Paradise

    Paradise

    1 1928 HD

    The daughter of a poor clergyman wins £500 and goes to find happiness on the Riviera.

    img
  • 1936
    imgMovies

    Eliza Comes to Stay

    Eliza Comes to Stay

    1 1936 HD

    A British comedy film directed by Henry Edwards

    img
  • 1928
    imgMovies

    A Little Bit of Fluff

    A Little Bit of Fluff

    1 1928 HD

    Syd Chaplin And Betty Balfour star in this British International Picture.

    img
  • 1926
    imgMovies

    The Cabaret Kid

    The Cabaret Kid

    1 1926 HD

    A pilot saves a dancer from a Paris nightclub owner and they stow away to Cornwall.

    img
  • 1934
    imgMovies

    My Old Dutch

    My Old Dutch

    4 1934 HD

    Moving family drama of the life of a working-class Hackney couple over 40 years, inspired by the famous music hall song This moving family drama - with time for some laughs - portrays the life and hardships of a working class Hackney couple over a span of 40 years. Our intrepid couple (wonderfully played by Betty Balfour and Michael Hogan) have to face everything life throws at them with fortitude, from the Great War (a son in the RAF and zeppelin raids) to a raging oil fire during the Great Strike. The inimitable Gordon Harker provides sterling support. The film the couple watch at the cinema is the 1915 version of My Old Dutch, starring Albert Chevalier (writer of the original music hall song) and Florence Turner. As the complete silent film is now believed to be lost, this 1934 version contains the only surviving footage.

    img
  • 1929
    imgMovies

    Daughter of the Regiment

    Daughter of the Regiment

    1 1929 HD

    Marie, adopted as a baby by Warrant Officer Guippo, helps a smuggler escape because he saved his life previously. She finds him again in Paris while she is engaged to Count Bertrand.

    img
  • 1924
    imgMovies

    Réveille

    Réveille

    1 1924 HD

    A seamstress stops a poor ex-soldier from becoming a left-wing agitator.

    img
  • 1922
    imgMovies

    Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep

    Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep

    1 1922 HD

    A flower girl wins £60,000 and takes her family to Paris to save her sister from her murderous husband.

    img
  • 1925
    imgMovies

    Somebody's Darling

    Somebody's Darling

    1 1925 HD

    A squire's novelist son poses as a nurse to save an heiress from her guardian's private asylum.

    img
  • 1929
    imgMovies

    Croquette

    Croquette

    1 1929 HD

    img
  • 1930
    imgMovies

    The Nipper

    The Nipper

    1 1930 HD

    A producer makes a star of the cockney waif who tried to rob him.

    img