Plunder

Ben Travers' farces, which were immensely popular in the '20s, were filmed at the time with the original casts. Plunder (revived at the National Theatre in 1978) is as fine an example of the farceur's art as you will find anywhere, though unusually it contrives to include a violent death. Filmically naive, it nevertheless offers considerable pleasure, not only as the historical recreation of a '20s Aldwych farce, but principally as a showcase for the exemplary acting of Ralph Lynn as the monocled ass, and Tom Walls as a Raffles-type jewel thief of unusually sombre suavity. As the plotting escalates to the correct pitch of frenzy, their interplay and timing remain consistently immaculate. There's also a neat Art Deco set. CPea.