The Star Reporter

The British Film Institute has classed The Star Reporter as a lost film. Its National Archive holds a collection of stills but no film or video materials. It is one of eleven quota quickies directed by Powell between 1931 and 1936 of which no print is known to survive. ==Plot==

Major Starr is an ambitious newspaper reporter who has taken undercover employment as chauffeur to Lady Susan Loman in the hope of witnessing high-society goings-on which he can use in a feature article he is planning. Lady Susan's father Lord Longbourne meanwhile is experiencing financial embarrassment, and is persuaded by professional criminal Mandel to conspire in an insurance scam whereby Mandel will steal a diamond belonging to Lady Susan from the West End jeweller where it is currently on display, Longbourne will claim the cash and Mandel will return the diamond to him for a cut of the proceeds. Mandel steals the diamond in an audacious smash-and-grab raid but the crime is witnessed by Starr and Lady Susan, who happen to be passing at the time. Starr heads off in pursuit of Mandel and corners him on a rooftop. There is a struggle and Mandel falls to his death. With the scam foiled and the diamond retrieved, Starr proposes to Lady Susan, who is happy to accept. ==Cast==

• Harold French as Major Starr • Garry Marsh as Mandel • Isla Bevan as Lady Susan Loman • Spencer Trevor as Lord Longbourne • Anthony Holles as Bonzo • Noel Dainton as Colonel • Elsa Graves as Oliver • Philip Morant as Jeff ==Production==

Powell rented a hand-held camera for £8 and travelled to Southampton to film a docking ocean liner for use in an intercut scene. ==Reception==

Film Weekly wrote: "Michael Powell is the man who makes things move in this somewhat crude but effective 'three-quarter' size talkie. His direction of an ordinary story, and the deft manipulation of his players, is ingenious and enterprising, and the entertainment values of The Star Reporter owe much to him." ''Today's Cinema'' assessed it as: "cleverly directed on the lines of swift action, snappy dialogue and varied settings." Picturegoer wrote: "Pretentious and fantastic story of a smash-and-grab raid, with a newspaper reporter – following the American tradition – bringing the crooks to justice. It is all very ingenuous and is chiefly notable for the introduction of Isla Bevan, a new star, who looks like making good. Garry Marsh and Harold French both put up good performances, and the picture generally is quite fairly entertaining, if one is not too critical." ==References==