Department Store (1935 film)

The film was a quota quickie produced at Twickenham Studios by Julius Hagen for distribution by RKO.

Bradbury, crooked manager of Johnson's Department Store, is approached by Buxton, solicitor to the absent owner Johnson, to say Johnson plans to hand the reins to his nephew John Goodman Johnson - with the proviso that John must first spend a year working under the pseudonym of "Goodman" and learning the trade. He's also asked by a contact, James Goodman, to find work for his nephew Bob Burge Goodman, under the name Burge: he's just out of jail after doing three years for safecracking. Both men begin work but, knowing they're both Goodmans, Bradbury mistakes them for each other, giving Bob a plush office and secretary, Jane Grey, and John a menial job. Buxton then turns up to place £20,000 in bearer bonds in Johnson's private safe - and announce an audit, which Bradbury knows will reveal his embezzlement. He blackmails the supposed safecracker John into helping him steal the bonds and flee the country (really planning to frame him); Bob also fears discovery and with his burglar mate Sam plans to steal the bonds too. Bob and Sam turn up first but hide when Bradbury and John arrive, followed by Buxton, a policeman, and Jane - who's a detective hired by Buxton: she uncovered the plot by bugging the staff phones. Bradbury's arrested, John and Jane get together, and Bob and Sam are accidentally left locked in the store's vault, behind bars again.

• Garry Marsh as Timothy Bradbury
• Eve Gray as Dolly Flint
• Sebastian Shaw as John Goodman Johnson
• Geraldine Fitzgerald as Jane Grey
• Jack Melford as Bob Goodman
• Patric Curwen as James Goodman
• Henry Hallett as Mr. Buxton
• Hal Walters as Sam Sloper

• Chibnall, Steve. Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film. British Film Institute, 2007.

Department Store at IMDb