Ivor Novello

This is not a sentimental journey but an honest and affectionate journey into the life, work and world of the late Ivor Novello (1893-1951). From his first success as a composer with the WW1 hit Keep The Home Fires Burning, he would go on to become a film star, playwright and stage actor, and then the creator of glamorous Ruritanian musicals that filled the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Ruritania was the mythical land in which he set these romantic musicals, it was a land of his own invention and also one that reflected the historical and social events in the real world around him. Interwoven through the story are accounts of the author's experiences whilst involved with Novello's works. From the tribute concerts at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, to the role he undertook on the Oscar and BAFTA winning film Gosford Park as the Ivor Novello Consultant. Along the way he met and interviewed the likes of Mary Ellis, who starred in Glamorous Night with Novello in 1935; Douglas Fairbanks Jnr,