WITH the Noel Coward comedy "Present Laughter" set to entertain audiences at Malvern Theatres this August, it is timely to recall how the great man himself had his first film break in nearby Gloucestershire.

To be as terribly precise at Noel Coward's cut-glass vowels, the filming took place in Staunton High Street, and it was less of a break for the famous playwright, actor and composer to be than the slightest hint of what was to come.

Coward, in fact, did not appear again before a movie camera for another 17 years.

When "Hearts of the World" was being filmed, in 1918, Coward was just 19 and the director was more interested in his wheelbarrow pushing skills than in his acting or singing skills.

It was a silent movie in any case, set in France but filmed in part at Staunton, near Corse. Funded by Hollywood, it was a propaganda movie of the First World War, and it starred Lillian Gish, the beautiful screen goddess of the day.

The plot was all about the "beastly"Germans, and how innocent French maidens could be saved from a fate worse than death.

Presumably, this involved the use of a wheelbarrow and having a bright yellow face.

Gish saw the plot's absurdity. In later life, she said: "Hearts of the World enjoyed great success until the Armistice when people lost interest in war films. The film inflamed audiences. Its depiction of German brutality bordered on the absurd. Whenever a German came near me, he beat me or kicked me."

Could this be one inspiration for the controversial and amusing Coward song, "Don't let's be beastly to the Germans"?

In later life, Coward recalled his time in Staunton.

He wrote: "I was paid, I think, a pound a day, for which I wheeled a barrow up and down a village street in Worcestershire, with Lillian Gish. The name of the film was Hearts of the World and left little mark on me, beyond a most unpleasant memory of getting up at five every morning and making my face bright yellow."

It should be noted that Staunton was then in Worcestershire, but since then the county boundaries have shifted.

The yellow make-up was needed in 1918, because movie cameras were still in their infancy and the yellow paint created the illusion of well-defined, natural skin tones for the primitive black and white film.

Gish was quite taken with Coward, and she seemed to have recognised his potential as an actor.

She wrote: "This young actor was supposed to help me by pushing the loaded wheelbarrow towards the camera, instead of away from it.

"I am sure that is the director had not been so preoccupied with such a responsible arrangement, he would have perceived the boy's extraordinary talent."

When Coward was to appear before the camera again, he was playing the lead role in "The Scoundrel". It had been a terribly long wait.

His letters reveal, however, that he was not a stranger to Gloucestershire.

At the age of 14, when he was already a child actor, he developed a tubercular gland in his chest.

He was sent to a cottage near Stroud, where he recovered and had a pleasant time.

"Dearest Mummy," he wrote, "it is simply perfect down here; it's a dear little cottage on the side of a steep hill, woods at the back and woods at the side, and a lovely valley in front.

"Today I have seen an adder, a grass snake and a blind worm; they abound..."

One can only imagine how he looked forward to returning to the leafy area when the opportunity arose, at the very dawn of what was to be global fame and a career of remarkable achievements.

Present Laughter at Malvern Theatres will run from Monday, August 15 to Saturday, August 20.

Tickets and further details on, 01684 892277.