Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Storm in a Teacup Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 16, 2013

Note: This film is currently available only in The Vivien Leigh Anniversary Collection.

Vivien Leigh will never escape the looming Technicolor shadow of her portrayal of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. For many, both those who have read Margaret Mitchell’s source novel and those who haven’t, Leigh simply is and will always be Scarlett. That kind of association with one iconic role can be as much of an obstacle as it is a boon to an actor’s career, but the fact is of course Leigh essayed many memorable parts over the course of several decades. Even diehard Gone With the Wind fans are aware of Leigh’s stunning turn as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , which might almost be thought of as Scarlett O’Hara: The Next Generation. Other, more devoted, fans of the actress can point to any number of other notable performances, including everything from Caesar and Cleopatra and Ship of Fools. But rather remarkably for an actress who is so lionized and so well remembered today (even if it is largely for one legendary role), Leigh actually only made a relatively paltry 19 films over the course of her career. Part of this was due to Leigh’s love of the theater (real fans will know she brought home a perhaps undeserved Tony for her brief run in the musical Tovarich!), but part of it was due to her emotional problems, which became more and more debilitating from the late forties onward (and which according to some accounts led to her early departure from Tovarich!). Leigh’s pre-Gone With the Wind British work seems to have most seriously fallen by the wayside in the actress’ oeuvre, and several of those films have in fact fallen into the public domain, with a resultant release of various pretty shoddy looking home video versions through the years. Now Cohen Film Collection (working in tandem with the British Film Institute at least some of the time) is releasing four early Leigh ventures that may help to reclaim this underappreciated era in the actress’ burgeoning career.

Storm in a Teacup is the kind of odd duck in this set, which is otherwise comprised of dramas. This drawing room comedy, which was one of Rex Harrison’s early romantic leads, deals with a Scottish Provost (like a Mayor) named William Gow (Cecil Parker) who decides to run for Parliament, but who gets caught up in a series of increasingly improbable ramifications when he insists that a local woman’s dog be put down since she has repeatedly not paid licensing taxes on the pup (which bears a rather strong resemblance to Tramp from My Three Sons). Harrison portrays Frank Burden, a newcomer to the Scottish village who gets a job on the local newspaper as a reporter. He’s assigned to cover the Provost’s announcement, including interviewing the man, but Frank initially puts his foot in his mouth when he snarkily decries the Provost’s posturing during a town council meeting to a pretty young woman sitting next to him—who of course turns out to be the Provost’s daughter, Victoria Gow (Vivien Leigh).

Victoria and Frank had actually already “met cute” as Victoria disembarked from a ship to return home, but Frank’s boorish behavior at the Provost’s meeting sets Victoria’s teeth on edge. The woman with the dog, Honoria Hegarty (Sara Allgood), tries to approach the Provost after his meeting, but the Provost is too focused on meeting with Frank and getting some publicity for his upcoming announcement. Frank starts to get the idea that the Provost is kind of a bag of hot air, but even Frank is aghast when the Provost tells him that he needs to accompany the Provost home to continue the interview and leads Frank to a car—where Victoria is waiting. (The expression on Rex Harrison’s face as this scene fades is priceless.)

That sets up a rather interesting dialectic for the rest of this slight but enjoyable comedy where contrary to expectations Victoria tends to waffle back and forth between admiring Frank’s moral certitude (especially when she becomes aware of how boorish her father is being with regard to Honoria and her poor dog) and despairing over how pigheaded he can be. Things devolve amusingly over the course of the film, with Frank of course deciding not to write a puff piece about the Provost for the local paper, and instead penning a scathing indictment of the so-called “dog scandal”, with the expected result of tempers flaring and eventually a court case.

Storm in a Teacup is indeed a film about making a mountain out of a molehill (and/or a doghouse) and it trundles along amiably enough without ever provoking outright hilarity, but being wryly enjoyable most of the time (there are a couple of very odd elements, though, including what sounds awfully like a "joke" about eugenics which the Provost tosses off at one point). Leigh and Harrison are well matched, with Leigh showing that quicksilver temperament that would soon become immortalized as part of Scarlett O’Hara’s character. The best thing about the film, though, is the fantastic supporting cast, including pitch perfect work from Cecil Parker and Sara Allgood. The film’s none too subtle message that people in power must have sympathy for their constituents is certainly nothing earth shattering, but it’s handled with a fair degree of vitality in the film.

Storm in a Teacup Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Storm in a Teacup is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. This is overall probably the most generally consistent looking transfer of the four films in this set, with good contrast and well modulated gray scale, and a clear, if sometimes soft looking, image. There has apparently been some moderate noise reduction applied here, but there is still a visible layer of fine grain present throughout the film. The elements here are in generally very good shape, without the fluctuations in contrast and grain structure that hobble some of the other films in this set.

Storm in a Teacup Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Storm in a Teacup's uncompressed LPCM Mono track is about what you would expect from a film of this vintage, with an often boxy and tinny sounding track that delivers dialogue decently enough but which reveals its limitations during the musical elements. There are a couple of noticeable dropouts here, typically as the film comes out of fades.

Storm in a Teacup Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no actual supplements tied to Storm in a Teacup. This film is on the second disc of this two disc set, and the disc itself has a supplement which is detailed in The Vivien Leigh Anniversary Collection Blu-ray review.

Storm in a Teacup Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Storm in a Teacup is a fair to middling comedy that frankly hasn't aged all that well, but which has a certain ebullience stemming from its great performances. Leigh and Harrison are quite winning here, but the real calling cards remain the fantastic supporting turns of Parker and Allgood. This Blu-ray has the most consistent image of the four films in this set. Recommended.