Norman Lee: a mysterious talent with Kevin Valerian Ryland

.30pm (doors open at 7.00)

Norman Lee: a mysterious talent with Kevin Valerian Ryland followed by screening of Bulldog Drummond At Bay (1937)
Norman Lee (aka Conrad Maris Sachse) was a busy director, screenwriter and novelist in the 1930s and early 1940s, whose own life reads like a thriller that leaves its central mystery unsolved. With a variety of aliases and many differing accounts of his personal life, a complete and accurate biography of this prolific talent is something of a jigsaw puzzle. In his talk, Lee’s grandson, Kevin Valerian Ryland – chair of the Torbay Film Club – attempts make the pieces fit.

Bulldog Drummond at Bay, made in 1937 was one of Lee’s most successful films and features Hollywood actors John Lodge (The Scarlet Express, 1934) and Victor Jory (Oberon in the memorable Max Reinhardt / William Dieterle A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1935). An enjoyable light thriller with some sparky dialogue, the film is very much of its time, and features Drummond battling a fiendish plot to steal a top secret British weapons invention. Tickets: £5.00, bookable in advance at www.bluewalnuttorquay.co.uk or by phoning 01803 394113 or 07880548290.

For more information visit http://www.bluewalnuttorquay.co.uk/blog/?p=505