pointyfilippa The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Walter Sloane Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Prismark10 It is always a treat to see a Robert Donat film and this is filled with star studded cameos.Donat plays William Friese Greene who invented a movie camera but struggled to make it a success or even get credit for its invention, although to be fair there were several competing products worked on by different people.Friese Greene and his family have to make sacrifices to develop his invention. Always borrowing money, selling off items from his household, remortgaging his house but falling deeper into debt. Laurence Olivier appears as a suspicious policeman who becomes amazed when he sees the moving images.However despite being a colourful movie with some familiar faces this really is not a very interesting or good film. Friese Greene was not a good businessman and not a particularly exciting character. He seemed to had been blessed with a beautiful and loyal wife though.

grahame12 A beautifully filmed and acted British gem. I have the Studio Canal release which I think is very good for picture and sound.For its age the colour is excellent, perhaps due to William Friese-Greene. As you are watching it you have to keep pausing and rewinding to see which film star you thought you saw in the crowd. It is amazing; the cover says "SEE 60 FAMOUS FILM STARS". How the director got so many stars to appear, some for just a few seconds is astonishing. If you get the chance watch this film. I am a Margaret Rutherford fan and was delighted to see her cameo role here. It was only short but adds to my collection.

falon The most enjoyable and very emotional scene was when Robert Donat (Wm. Friese-Greene) finally succeeds in producing moving images on a sheet he's hung in his studio...he runs like a madman into the street in the middle of the night desperate to find someone to witness this miracle. Who does he find? Sir Laurence Olivier..a Police Constable . Donat ushers him into his lab, sits him down and proceeds to ramble on about what he's invented. Sir Laurence, the ever vigilant and cautious policeman thinks he's some kind of nut and slowly reaches for his night stick..that's when Robert Donat flicks on the first moving pictures of Hyde Park...Olivier is flabergasted..gets up moves to the sheet and looks behind it.."That's Hyde Park!' After rambling some more Robert Donat breaks into tears..finally explaining what he has accomplished..Olivier replies "You must be a very happy man"..a terrific scene and one I'll never forget. A cameo appearance by Lord Olivier and a very memorable scene.

psteier The production values are great and almost every major British actor of the day gets a cameo, but nothing can help the script's confusing flashback structure and the fact that the protagonist, the British cinema pioneer William Freise-Greene, is neither likable nor interesting in the film. He comes over as someone so obsessed with his research that he ignores or walks over everyone around him.