The Nipper

The Nipper
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Directed byLouis Mercanton
Screenplay byDonovan Parsons
Based onplay by Michael Carre and A. Acrement
CinematographyRené Guissart
Production
company
Betty Balfour Pictures
Release date
  • 1930 (1930)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Nipper (also known as The Brat) is a 1930 British musical film directed by Louis Mercanton and starring Betty Balfour, John Stuart, and Anne Grey. It was written by Donovan Parsons from the French play La Mome by Michael Carre and A. Acrement.

Preservation status

The British Film Institute National Archive holds a collection of ephemera and stills but no film or video materials.

Plot

Convict's daughter "The Nipper" is a popular singer in a pub. When her guardian persuades her to help him rob a house, she is caught and taken captive by Max Nicholson, a songwriter. They fall in love. As they are about to emark for America, she realises she is stealing Max from his fiancée Clarissa. She returns to the pub, and marries the landlord.

Cast

Reception

Film Weekly wrote: "This is a typical Betty Balfour story but it has been scrappily handled. Betty herself does not seem to fall so readily as she used to do into the part of the mercurial Cockney, There is, too, an 'out-of-date' air about the film, which is probably the sum of the other weaknesses. Faithful Balfour admirers will find it much to their liking."

Kine Weekly wrote: "Here again are the sort of Cockney witticisms and characterisation which suits the deservedly popular British star. One feels she is at home in it, and since she is aamirably supported by the cast there is little doubt that her first venture in her own production will find wide popular favour. ... Betty Balfour is full of her old high spirits, and introduces some of her clever burlesques. ... Louis Mercanton's production is adapted from French story 'La Mome,' so that one feels a good deal of credit should go to the adaptor, Donovan Parsons; certainly an excellent Cockney atmosphere has been captured, and the gags are really funny. The director is not always as polished as he might have been, and there are moments, especially the sentimental ones, which are apt to be wearisome."

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Nipper". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 30 September 2026.
  2. ↑ "BFI | Film & TV Database | The Nipper (1930)". BFI. Archived from the original on 17 January 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Brat". Kine Weekly (1207): 44. 5 June 1930. ProQuest 2322693634.
  4. ↑ "The Nipper". Picture Show. 24 (619): 9. 14 March 1931. ProQuest 1879636239.
  5. ↑ "The Nipper". Film Weekly. 5 (125): 34. 7 March 1931. ProQuest 1705105564.