Anyone seen Berkeley square?

The real one in London? Yay. Didn't see the Nightingale, though.

You're the O.P. Why don't you ever go first? You should.

I give it a Yey (or Yea). I reviewed it on the Classic Film Board weekly thread from the old boards. Here's what I said:

Berkeley Square / Frank Lloyd (1933). In “Berkeley Square” Leslie Howard in transported back in time from his own year of 1933 to 1784. He accomplishes this by an alignment of circumstances and wishful thinking (much like the feat was done years later in “Somewhere In Time” (1980)). There, he meets his ancestors, gets in trouble for blurting out things that haven’t happened yet, using strange words and terms that are not understood in the 18th century (“see you later”), and manages to upset the chronology of the past. This film, based on a Broadway play that Howard had made a great success in, is a bit unusual for movies before the ‘60s. The concept of Time Travel in science fiction was not new. H.G. Wells had published his famous novel “The Time Machine” in 1895 (coining the term “time machine”), but until the 1960s, time travel was a rare subject for movies. “Berkeley Square” was remade is several forms before 1960 including a feature film “The House In The Square” (1951). Sometimes the subject is flirted with as in René Clair’s “It Happened Tomorrow” when Dick Powell gets the power to see the next day’s newspaper, but Powell never travels himself and there is a hint of the supernatural. I can’t think of many good examples. The movie is a delight, almost a comedy, but ultimately sad. Recommended.

OK, well… I should see it, as it inspired two of my favorite authors—John Dickson Carr (The Devil in Velvet, Fire, Burn!, Fear is the Same) and H.P. Lovecraft (“The Shadow Out of Time,” The Case of Charles Charles Dexter Ward)—and I actually wrote a story with a similar theme. Yes, yes, I know I have no excuses! Anyhoo…

I have seen the remake, The House in the Square, which (despite some fun stuff) I found rather dull, unfortunately. (Power is just not the actor for this kind of material.) And, yes, I know Berkeley Square was on TCM recently—I know, I missed it! What can I say?

Took me more than two years, but I finally watched it.

And it’s really good—so much better than the dull ’50s Tyrone Power remake.

As ever, Howard comes off as slightly supercilious but not, somehow, unlikable, a combination that made him perfect for costume dramas. If only his character didn’t keep putting his foot in his mouth with his “predictions”! Heather Angel and Betty Lawford are lovely, and Angel has this unusual charm that fits her character like a glove (she also looks a bit like Frasier’s Jane Leeves, amusingly enough).

The picture is stage bound, but that stage dialogue is a lot of fun. And there’s one wild montage near the end that seems to come out of nowhere (I loved it, natch).

The ending, though, is unusual for this sort of stories—chilly, even a little harsh. Gah, why does Howard’s character make that choice? It kind of prefigures Somewhere in Time’s ending, in fact.

Now, I am a sucker for the time-travel and alternate-universe romance (I’m not sure why…), so I was kinda predisposed to like this, but I’m delighted it’s as good as it is.

Great print on YouTube, by the way:

As I wrote above, it’s on YouTube:

Who "fell to earth in Berkeley Square"? Clue - it was not David Bowie.

I believe that the writers of this film were time travelers themselves. They set up this paradox just so future message boards and movie sites could use up gigabytes of storage from fans arguing over it.