The Lackey and the Lady

The Lackey and the Lady is a 1919 British silent drama film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Leslie Howard, A. E. Matthews and Roy Travers. It was based on a novel by Tom Gallon.

The film was the subject of a court case after its distributor Phillips Film Company refused to circulate it on the grounds of its alleged poor quality. The director Bentley sued for slander and won a judgement in his favour in the early 1920s. However, the negative publicity surrounding the film severely damaged the reputation of the British Actors Film Company which had been relaunched after the First World War with ambitious production plans but was eventually forced to merge with one of its larger rivals.