Storm in a Teacup

In a small Scottish town the provost takes a poor woman's dog away from her because she cannot pay the licence fee. Frank, a young reporter on the local paper, writes it up and the thing grows. The provost sets about silencing the journalist and ending his career. One detail complicates matters: Frank is in love with the provost's daughter Vickie, and she with him. Ian Dalrymple and Victor Saville directed it together. The source is a German play, adapted into English by James Bridie. A dispute over a dog putting a whole town on its feet is the kind of exaggeration thirties British comedy liked; underneath it, though, there is a solid observation about how small power operates. It is one of the early films of both Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison.