Squibs

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

This is quite an unremarkable triple header that sees the slightly dodgy Gordon Harker ("Hopkins") caught in the middle of a love triangle between his flower-seller daughter "Squibs" (Betty Balfour) and their local beat constable "Charley" (Stanley Holloway). You might recall that Balfour has already had a kick at this particular ball, having made it before (in 1921) and though she still has some quality to her performance, she is simply too old for her "Eliza Dolittle" style role here, and that really sets the whole project a-struggling. That said, she can still hold a tune - and there are a few toe-tapping musical numbers from the pen of Al Goodhart to add some value. Holloway is also on reasonable form, and there is still a soupçon of charm from a tale of a simple romance, but sadly this film is one to watch out of respect for a star now on the wain, and just leave it at that.