Leap Year at the London Hippodrome, 1924
George Robey was the star of Julian Wylie’s third Hippodrome revue Leap Year described as ‘one of the best revues that London has ever seen’. Launched at the London Hippodrome on 20th March 1924 it ran for 471 performances. The show had no cohesive plot but was designed to showcase the talent of Robey as a comedian and he appeared in at least 11 of the scenes, which means that in fact Leap Year was constructed around him.
Joe Strassner
Joe Strassner was a German costume and fashion designer who made his name in Berlin in the 1920s and early 1930s designing couture and dressing a huge number of German films. He visited Hollywood with Lillian Harvey in 1933 and after the Nazi’s took power he fled first to Paris and then London. He replicated his Berlin success in London in the 1930s before leaving for New York in the 1940s where he ventured into the ready-to-wear market. It is also likely that in the 1920s he took the pseudonym of Ipsen Andre to perform as a dancer in cabaret where he frequently danced with Jenny Steiner, who became his wife.
Ipsen Andre
The enigmatic Ipsen Andre was an elegant German dancer who seemingly emerged out of nowhere dancing mainly in Berlin cabaret revues from 1924. His dancing career lasted until the late 1920s when he simply disappeared. Frequently paired with Jenny Steiner, they became a prominent dancing pair in Berlin nightlife.
Midnight Follies First Edition 1921
The Whitehall Room within the Hotel Metropole became the site of one of the first true cabarets in London that transformed London’s nightlife in the 1920s. On the 2nd November 1921, the ‘Midnight Follies’ was inaugurated at the Metropole with a show that was called a ‘super dansant.’ With glorious costumes designed by Dolly Tree it became an overnight hit with all of smart London flocking to see the show designed to ‘brighten London.’
The Cabaret Follies
When Jack Hylton’s Cabaret Follies show made its debut in London in the autumn of 1922 it was one of four big cabaret shows that made a Brighter London, the others being located at the Grafton Galleries (Midnight Revels), Murray’s Club (Murray’s Frolics) and the Hotel Metropole (the Midnight Follies). At first its status and popularity amongst London’s high society was unassailable, but when Jack Hylton relinquished control at the end of 1923, it floundered and ceased to be by the summer of 1924.
The Queen’s Hall Roof
One of the more short-lived but nevertheless important dancing and cabaret venues in London in the Jazz Age was that of the Queen’s Hall Roof. As its name implied, it was in the roof of the magnificent Queen’s Hall in Langham Place, Regent Street, one of London’s landmarks. Designed by Thomas Knightley, the Queen’s Hall was London’s premier concert hall that opened in 1893 catering for an audience of 2,500.
Originally a baritone in opera, Langley made his film debut in 1922 for Herbert Wilcox and was an instant hit in heavy, villainous roles gaining the description of ‘Britain’s best ‘bad man’ and the British Lon Chaney.
Hotel Metropole
The Hotel Metropole that opened in 1885 became one of London’s major hotels but after World War 1 it flowered with new vigour. The Restaurant des Ambassadeurs, the Café Anglais and the Whitehall rooms blossomed through the 1920s and the famous Midnight Follies cabaret created a brighter London.
The British Silent Film Star Malcolm Tod 1897-1968
‘A rising notability on British screens,’ Motion Picture Studio 2/6/23 Malcolm Tod was ‘blessed with plenty of push and go.’ Picturegoer February 1924
Quintessential English looking and with youth and good looks on his side, Tod became a rising star on the British screen, first in juvenile roles and then playing smart, slightly snobbish aristocrats and gentlemen. He became even more prominent in continental productions during the slump of the mid-1920s but faded from view by the early 1930s.
