The film was shown in the UK as the support feature to the Jean Harlow vehicle Platinum Blonde, and Powell also remembered his amusement when a critic observed sniffily that his film lacked the polish of the main feature, reasoning that this was perhaps to be expected when comparing his budget with the $600,000 which had reportedly been spent on the Harlow picture.
[1] Major Starr (French) is an ambitious newspaper reporter who has taken undercover employment as chauffeur to Lady Susan Loman (Isla Bevan) in the hope of witnessing high-society goings-on which he can use in a feature article he is planning.
Mandel steals the diamond in an audacious smash-and-grab raid but the crime is witnessed by Starr and Lady Susan, who happen to be passing at the time.
Today's Cinema assessed it as: "cleverly directed on the lines of swift action, snappy dialogue and varied settings", while the London Evening News reviewer enthused: "'At the end of a long and not very inspiring day of seeing new films, I saw a little picture Star Reporter which jolted my tired brain into renewed enthusiasm.
"[1] Picturegoer Weekly predicted, wrongly as it turned out: "It is all very ingenious and is chiefly notable for the introduction of Isla Bevan, a new star, who looks like making good" (Bevan's film career in fact encompassed only five more programmers, and was over by 1936)[2] and added "the picture generally is quite fairly entertaining, if one is not too critical".