The basis of
London Calling! began at the Swiss resort of
Davos in Christmas 1922, when Coward joined his close friend and benefactor
Lord Lathom. In the words of Coward's biographer
Cole Lesley: After Charlot arrived Coward worked from the early mornings and presented his work to Lathom and Charlot in the afternoon. He recalled in his memoirs that "a series of cigar-laden conferences" decided the whole plan of the show, and provisionally cast Coward,
Gertrude Lawrence and
Maisie Gay in the star roles. Coward, realising the magnitude of his task, agreed that Charlot could call in another writer if necessary.
Ronald Jeans was later brought in to co-write the book and
Philip Braham, the musical director of the show, contributed to the musical numbers. and
Gertrude Lawrence in
London Calling!|alt=young white man and young white woman in evening costume, seated; he is looking intently at her; she is looking away coyly : "The Swiss Family Whittlebot", with l to r Tubby Edlin, Leonard Childs,
Maisie Gay and William Childs|alt=Stage group of four middle-aged white people in extravagant clothing; two of the men hold ornate and improbable musical instruments and the one woman is declaiming In London, plans advanced for staging the revue, but were disrupted when Coward realised that Charlot intended to pay him considerably less than his co-stars. He declined to appear on those terms; Charlot could not replace him because Coward had a contractual right of veto in casting and turned down all other suggestions for the leading man. Charlot gave way, and paid him a weekly wage of like his co-stars. Coward was out of practice as a dancer and obtained the help of
Fred Astaire, who was appearing at the
Shaftesbury Theatre in the
West End with his sister
Adele. Astaire coached him privately "with unending patience and not too frightful results". Astaire subsequently choreographed two numbers for the show – a duet for Lawrence and Coward –"You Were Meant for Me" (words and music by
Noble Sissle and
Eubie Blake) and a solo dance for Coward in "Sentiment" (words by Coward, music by Braham). The revue sketches made light of London society at the time, with one sketch called "The Swiss Family Whittlebot" poking fun at
the Sitwells, known for their avant-garde poetry and ideas. Charlot secured an exclusive licence for use of
Laurens Hammond's patented 3-D "Shadowgraph" process which was employed later in the run.
The Times reported, "By means of this, the members of the audience, if they wear the specially coloured glasses provided for them, gain the impression that those on the stage are very much nearer than they actually are". "London calling" was the
call sign of
2LO radio – forerunner of the
BBC – inaugurated in May 1922. Charlot was a strong opponent of broadcasting, which he saw as a rival, and
The Evening Standard called him "cold and calculating" for giving his new revue its title "so that the wireless people will be compelled to give him a free advertisement every time they broadcast". ==Productions==