An Exiting Incident in Kilburn in 1930

In October 1930, 18-year old Muriel Angelus was out shopping and looking in the window of a jeweller’s in Kilburn High Road. Suddenly, a car drew up alongside and two men jumped out. They threw a dark cloth over her head, picked her up, and forced her into the back of the car, which sped off at high speed. The whole incident was over in seconds, and spectators were too dazed to raise the alarm.

But if they had looked carefully, they might have spotted a camera across the road filming the event. In fact, this was an exciting scene from ‘Detective Lloyd’, the first talkie serial to be made in England.

It was a collaboration between an American and British company and produced by Mutual Pictures, a subsidiary of Universal. Henry MacRae, in charge of serials at Universal, supplied the story which was developed into a 12-chapter serial. Macrae came from Hollywood and co-directed the film with American Ray Taylor and a British cast and crew. Scotland Yard collaborated, and it was filmed in Deepdene House near Dorking. The film opened in America in January 1932, and four months later it was released in England under the title ‘Lloyd of the CID’. Later it was recut for British release as ‘The Green Spot’.

Scene from 'Detective Lloyd'

 

The fantastic plot involves the ‘Panther’ a master criminal who uses weapons like poison darts and a death ray. Most of the scenes take place at a large, haunted manor house, the home of Lord Hale. He possesses an Egyptian jeweled amulet from Tutankhamun, which several gangs, including those of the Panther, attempt to steal. Lord Hale’s Canadian niece who he has never seen, is kidnapped and the Panther substitutes Muriel Angelus in her place. Probably the other gang are snatching Muriel in Kilburn beliving she is the niece. Lord Hale calls in Inspector Lloyd from Scotland Yard, played by Jack Lloyd, who after lots of adventures, catches the villains.

Detective Lloyd, US poster

 

I am sure you would love to see this exiting film, but unfortunately, no copies seem to have survived.

The actor Jack Lloyd was born in Western Australia in 1900 as Claude Richard Saunders. Henry MacRae was impressed when he saw Saunders playing at the Savoy Theater and cast him in the lead for his Detective Lloyd film. Saunders made a few other films and worked on the London stage, but on 25 July 1933 in Felpham, near Bognor Regis West Sussex, he committed suicide by gas poisoning. He had travelled there from his home in Chelsea to stay in a cottage while writing a book. He left his widow Florence £140 (today worth about £10,000).

Muriel Angelus, 1930 (Getty Images)

 

Muriel Angelus was born in 1912 in Lambeth as Muriel Findlay, the daughter of Scottish parents. She had a good singing voice and started on stage aged 12. She sang and danced in music halls before working in film in 1928. IMDB lists 19 films between 1928 and 1940.

Muriel moved to America in the late 1930s and worked in Hollywood and Broadway. In 1938 she sang the first version of the Rogers and Hart’s song ‘Falling in Love With Love’ when she was in the stage show, ‘The Boys From Syracuse’. This led to a four-film contract with Paramount where she appeared alongside the stars Ronald Coleman, Ida Lupino and Douglas Fairbanks.

Muriel Angelus with Ronald Coleman in The Light That Failed (1939)

Looking back on her career in 1996 she said it was a mistake to leave England, ‘I was caught up in the glamour, but once in Hollywood I was nothing more than a tiny craft battling in an ocean beside much weightier ships’. Muriel was married twice and died in Virginia in 2004.

Falling in Love With Love became a jazz standard and there are lots of performances including those by Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan. But I have not been able to find a recording by Muriel Angelus. Here is the version by the great jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery who I saw several times playing at Ronnie Scott’s Club in May 1965:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPy0IIwkXss

If you don’t know about Wes and his amazing method of playing, there is a video of him in 1965. Go to 53 mins and you will see him playing five tunes with an introduction by Ronnie who explains how Wes developed his technique of using his thumb and playing fast octaves. We have two local connections because Ronnie later lived at 36 Sarre Road West Hampstead, and pianist Stan Tracey lived in 80 Kilburn High Road. There is a young Rick Laird on bass, and Jackie Dougan is on drums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoZnindlI78

 

Wes Montgomery, 1967 (Wiki Commons)

Tragically, Wes died three years later aged 45, of a heart attack at his home in Indianapolis.