If ever there was an artist who was perfect for this site, that artist is Anna Neagle: first film 1930, last film 1959. For most of those 30 years she was big Box Office, for seven years she was Britain's biggest female draw.
She started as a dancer and worked her way up through the chorus to appear opposite Jack Buchanan in "Stand Up and Sing" in the West End. Her big break came when director/producer Herbert Wilcox wanted Buchanan to star in his new film Goodnight Vienna and went along to see the show. When Wilcox saw Anna on stage he knew she was right for the film too. Soon Anna was under long-term contract to Wilcox. They were also a couple (though they didn't marry until 1943) and the partnership produced a long string of hits.
The Wilcox formula was simple: if Anna scored a hit in something then do the same again only bigger. Thus period actress Nell Gwyn begat Peg of Old Drury; 20's musical Irene begat No, No Nanette and Sunny; I Live in Grosvenor Square begat the "London Series"; and most blatantly of all Victoria the Great begat Sixty Glorious Years - another biopic of Queen Victoria but this time in colour. And if these failed, Anna could always be relied upon to portray a British Heroine: Edith Cavell, Florence Nightingale, Amy Johnson, Odette.
These films rarely pleased the critics. This is particularly true of the "London Series" of frothy nonsense, usually co-starring Michael Wilding and usually musicals. The critics wanted neo-realist pictures depicting grim reality - the audience, who were suffering through the Austerity Years and knew all about grim reality, wanted fun and escapism. Anna Neagle pictures provided that in spades.
As the fifties wore on, Wilcox's touch at the box office became unsure and Anna's last appearances are best forgotten. She tried her hand at producing for a while (These Dangerous Years, Wonderful Things! and Heart of a Man, all starring Frankie Vaughan). These didn't hit, and by the mid-sixties Wilcox was bankrupt. Anna went back on stage, scoring a big hit in Charlie Girl. She was made a Dame in 1969. Wilcox died in 1977. In the last years of her life Anna suffered from Parkinson's disease.
She was never regarded as a great actress, though there are some who maintain that without Wilcox guiding her career she could have become one. With Wilcox's guidance she became a great star, and stayed one for longer than her contemporaries.
| 1930 | Should a Doctor Tell? |
| 1931 | The Chinese Bungalow |
| 1932 | Goodnight Vienna |
| 1933 | The Flag Lieutenant |
| 1933 | The Little Damazel |
| 1933 | Bitter Sweet |
| 1934 | The Queen's Affair |
| 1935 | Nell Gwyn |
| 1936 | Peg of Old Drury |
| 1936 | Limelight |
| 1937 | The Three Maxims |
| 1937 | London Melody |
| 1937 | Victoria the Great |
| 1938 | Sixty Glorious Years |
| 1939 | Nurse Edith Cavell |
| 1940 | Irene (U.S.) |
| 1941 | No, No, Nanette (U.S.) |
| 1941 | Sunny (U.S.) |
| 1941 | They Flew Alone |
| 1943 | Forever and a Day (U.S.) |
| 1943 | Yellow Canary |
| 1945 | I Live in Grosvenor Square |
| 1946 | Piccadilly Incident |
| 1947 | The Courtneys of Curzon Street |
| 1948 | Spring in Park Lane |
| 1949 | Elizabeth of Ladymead |
| 1949 | Maytime in Mayfair |
| 1950 | Odette |
| 1951 | The Lady with a Lamp |
| 1952 | Derby Day |
| 1955 | Lilacs in the Spring |
| 1956 | King's Rhapsody |
| 1956 | My Teenage Daughter |
| 1957 | No Time for Tears |
| 1958 | The Man Who Wouldn't Talk |
| 1959 | The Lady is a Square |
