Main Cast: John Batten, Renee Clama, Randle Ayrton, Neil Kenyon
Release Year: 1930
Country: UK
Run Time: 75 minutes
Plot
The "Great Game" is football -- not the American brand, but the British version. The hero, Dicky Brown (John Batten), is the reserve forward on a championship team. Thanks to the urgings of Dicky's sweetheart Peggy Jackson (Renee Clama), whose father happens to be the team's manager, the young lad is groomed to compete in the English Cup Final. Unfortunately, the manager is accused of "personal bias" by the judges and disqualified from coaching during the crucial match. The loss of the manager throws the rest of the team into a deep depression, and by the time they get to Wembley, the outlook is pretty bleak -- but never fear, salvation is close at hand! Featured in the cast of The Great Game is real-life football pro Jack Cock, a fact that certainly didn't hurt the film's box-office performance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rex Harrison - George; Wally Patch - Joe Miller; A.G. Poulton - Banks; Kenneth Kove - Bultitude; Lew Lake - Tubby
Credit
Jack Raymond - Director, Basil Emmott - Cinematographer, L'Estrange Fawcett - Producer, William Hunter - Screen Story, W.P. Lipscomb - Screenwriter, Ralph Gilbert Bettinson - Screenwriter, John Lees - Short Story Author
The film's plot contains many elements of what would become clichés in the sporting film genre. Dicky Brown is a young, aspiring footballer who plays for a struggling side, the fictional Manningford F.C., a team in the midst of a successful cup run. He manages to charm the daughter of the chairman and thus breaks into the side, and ultimately wins the Cup for his team.
The film covers cliched conflicts within football which still exist. The manager of the team wants to give his young players a chance in the side; the chairman, on the other hand, insists on signing established star players, such as Jack Cock (then of Millwall F.C., previously of Chelsea F.C. and Everton F.C.).
