Dusty Ermine (1936)

Written by CinemaSerf on June 19, 2022

This is quite a decent, character-driven yarn about a forger "Kent" (Ronald Squire) who has recently been released from prison and who is determined to stay on the straight and narrow. Snag is, his young nephew "Gilbert" (Arthur Macrae) has fallen in with his former gang and they are now up to no good in Switzerland. That's where he must now head, hoping to extricate him before Scotland Yard in the form of "Insp. Forsyth" (Anthony Bushell) bangs them all to rights. The presence of Felix Aylmer, Austin Trevor and Katie Johnson add loads to the detail and charm of the plot, and Margaret Rutherford is just super as the shrewd "Miss Butterby". It is a little too long and the story is a wee bit all over the place, but that doesn't really matter - it's just a good excuse for them all to have some fun in the snow, and for the most part it's quite contagious. I could have done with a bit more from Squire, but what we do have is entertaining enough.