Herbert Mundin - The Stage Years (1919 - 1930)
Back in England, Herbert visited London to seek out Douglas Furber's publisher. He was a popular songwriter and playwright who'd composed the lyrics for The Bells of St. Mary's and would later write the words to The Lambeth Walk. Mundin had sung some of his songs in France and was hired to join a Furber concert party (aka Pierrot show) that was performing at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne. This was Herbert's first British professional engagement and as part of these concert parties he played Dr. Pym in 'The Kiss Call', when the play toured the provinces.
On July 30th, 1921 Herbert married actress Hilda Frances Hoyes in Brentford. The year was an especially memorable one as French impresario André Charlot saw him perform his comic routines in Eastbourne and engaged Mundin for his revues.
André Charlot as he was pictured in the 1924 Charlot Revue programme
Charlot was a Frenchman by birth who in his early twenties became a manager of a number of Parisian theatres before relocating to London. For three years he was the manager of the Alhambra in Leicester Square where he presented half-a-dozen revues before transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre. He described his revues as "small, intimate and absolutely connected", reviving the old-time music hall intimacy with the audience. Adopting a simplistic visual approach, Charlot avoided the spectacular with no ornate settings, insisting on production values that were loyal to the book of the play. He wrote that his actors were expected to work "like the very devil", making countless costume changes during each performance.
Herbert Mundin's first performance for Charlot was in October 1921 at London's Prince of Wales Theatre in the play 'A to Z'. After a successful debut, Herbert was given parts in the revues 'Pot Luck' (from December 1921) and 'Snap!' (from August 1922) at the Vaudeville Theatre. A Times critic enjoyed Mundin's performance in 'Snap!', writing that he does "most useful work".
Herbert was soon developing a niche as a performer of musical monologues that possessed a hint of comedy. In the revue Snap!, he performed You Know How 'Tis about how the best-laid plans can go awry. It was so well-received that Francis, Day & Hunter published the song with a picture of Herbert on the front. In those days sheet music sales were at their peak with many families re-enacting popular music by playing a piano in their parlour. However, the growth in popularity of the phonograph, radio and talking pictures would soon supplant sheet music sales and Herbert would play a part in all of these new mediums.
Sheet music issued in 1922 of the musical monologue 'You Know How 'Tis' from revue Snap!
In February 1923, Herbert appeared in the revue 'Rats!', which ran for 265 performances at the Vaudeville. It was not initially given a good review by The Times, who described it as being "a very uneven production". However, their critic commented that Herbert was "rapidly developing as a comedian", although Mundin had to miss some of the performances because of a car accident. In 1939 his sister Clara Smith described the crash:
Herbert would have known that American impresario Archibald Selwyn had seen the Charlot productions in London and planned to present a revue on Broadway. He would have feared missing out but was able to return to the stage in May 1923, just days before André Charlot sailed for New York to sign contracts for the show which was scheduled for the New Year.[It] nearly cheated Herbert of his first big chance. We thought his skull was fractured, but although his forehead was terribly scarred, he lived to have his prayer answered.
Back in Britain, Charlot, who had quite a liking for the exclamation mark, replaced 'Rats!' with the company's new revue, 'Yes!'. On the 1st of October, The Times of London gave it a mixed review but seemed again to like Herbert's performance:
Mr. Herbert Mundin works hard and enthusiastically, and is one of the most popular,
as well as one of the most versatile, members of the company.
Left: Beatrice Lillie; Right: Gertrude Lawrence as their photographs appeared in the Charlot's Revue 1924 programme
The three principal performers in the American production were Beatrice Lillie, Gertrude Lawrence and Herbert. Beatrice Lillie had been born in Toronto before moving to England in her teens. After being discovered by Charlot, she became the star of the London revues and while performing in the States was dubbed the "female Charlie Chaplin". Gertrude Lawrence was recruited by Charlot after he'd spotted her in a music hall in 1918. A talented performer with a pleasing voice and what was described as a "delicious sense of comedy", Lawrence sang most of the numbers in the New York show. André Charlot described his American production in its programme as novel:
The Mundin family grave located in St.Helens Cemetery - (section 6, grave number 544)
Herbert returned to Britain on March 13th, 1925 and within days was performing again. With Gertrude Lawrence fully recovered, the show was back in London and playing the Prince of Wales Theatre. Newspaper ads for the revue included the strapline 'As played in America'.
The success of Charlot's Revue in the States, led to monthly programmes in the UK and in its August 1925 'issue', Herbert played opposite Jack Buchanan, one of the top acts of the day. Reviewing the September programme, The Times said Mundin was "very good in a 'dame' part". In fact he was quite a versatile performer and on stage Herbert was often cast in older character parts, despite only being in his twenties.
Ann Shaw in the 1934 film Bolero with George Raft - she also had a small part in Cavalcade
During the 1930s as Ann Shaw she would play minor parts in a small number of films, including the Oscar-winning 'Cavalcade', in which her husband had a leading role.
The show was then taken to the States where it seemingly had two short runs as records show Herbert and Kathleen leaving Southampton on the Caronia on October 24th and also arriving in New York on the Aquitania on December 8th. André Charlot was by now fully exploiting his brand and had a separate company at the Prince of Wales theatre in London dramatising his monthly 'issues'.
Mundin had little rest and even worked on Boxing Day of 1925 when Charlot's Revue opened at the Hippodrome with Jessie Matthews taking the lead female role. The revues were so popular that the fledgling British Broadcasting Company broadcast a one-hour live performance on September 11th, 1926. This went out at 8pm on most of their network of stations, including Call 2L0 in London, Call 5XX in Daventry and Liverpool's Call 6LV.
'The Charlot Show of 1926' at the Prince of Wales's Theatre in London's West End, received a rave review from the Times in their edition of 6th October.
Herbert Mundin and Hazel Wynne in a 1926 Culver Service promotional photo for Earl Carroll's Vanities
Mundin's tribute to the demise of the hansom-cab, struck a chord with those who preferred horses to internal combustion engines. "I can't see how a man can come to love a piston rod", he bemoaned. A studio recording was also probably made as Hallmark Records released in 2008 the album 'Revue 1919 - 1929' which featured a high quality version of Herbert's popular monologue.*
Herbert and Kathleen returned from the States on May 1st, 1927, arriving in Plymouth on the Lancastria. In June, Mundin performed in Blue Skies, which was described by The Times of London as a "new musical entertainment in three parts, the second of which will be a reproduction of the cabaret, 'The Midnight Follies,' at the Hotel Metropole". In August of that year, Herbert played in 'Queen High' at the Golders Green Hippodrome in London.
Times cuttings: 1) Col. 1 top: 11/01/1927; 2) Col 1 bottom: 21/7/1923; 3) Middle: 5/9/1925; 4) Col. 3 top: 11/09/1926; 5) Col. 3 middle (Lady Mary): 18/7/28; 6) Col. 3 middle (Snap): 15/12/1922: 7) Col. 3 bottom: 24/9/1930
In January 1928, Mundin played at the Alhambra on a variety bill that included singer Norman Long, who used the strap-line 'A Song, A Smile, and a Piano'. During the following month, Herbert played elderly lover Waghorn in the musical Lady Mary at Daly's Theatre, which ran until July. The Times review of February 24th praised his "clever and amusing" performance.
Also in February, Mundin appeared on BBC radio once again as part of a fifty-minute variety entertainment programme. He also performed for the newly-created corporation in June 1928, this time in a fifteen minute solo slot and was billed simply as 'Herbert Mundin (comedian)'.
In April he played with Stanley Holloway and Joan Barry in 'The Co-optimists of 1930' at the London Hippodrome. Ms. Barry is remembered as the English actress who in 1929 dubbed the voice of Czech actress Anny Ondra in real-time in the Hitchcock thriller 'Blackmail'. In September, Herbert appeared at London's Piccadilly Theatre as Detective Montague in the musical comedy 'Open Your Eyes', which during August had played at the Liverpool Empire.
The programme for 'Open Your Eyes' at the Liverpool Empire theatre in 1930
In 1931, Herbert Mundin moved into the movie business when he began acting in short 'quota quickie' films in London and was then offered a contract with the Fox Film Corporation in Hollywood. This brought to an end his theatrical career on stage in the UK** but it was the beginning of a short but prolific and memorable career in films.
* When the Hansom cabs were lined up on the ranks by Herbert Mundin is available on iTunes and Amazon as a download (in January 2010 it cost 69p / 99¢)
** Herbert did, however, perform on stage at the Playhouse, Hollywood in March 1932 as Johnny Jelliwell in Springtime For Henry.