''Creeping Shadows'' is a 1931 British

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by John Orton and starring

Franklin Dyall Frank Poole Dyall (3 February 1870– 8 May 1950), professionally known as Franklin Dyall, was an English actor. In his early years he was a member of the companies of the actor-managers George Alexander, Ben Greet, John Martin-Harvey and ...

, Arthur Hardy and Margot Grahame. It was made at the

Welwyn Studios Welwyn Studios was a British film studio located at Broadwater Road, Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire. The facility operated between 1928 and 1950. The studios were first constructed by British Instructional Films, and converted to make so ...

British International Pictures Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...

.Wood p.71 It was released in America under the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the ...

''The Limping Man'', which was the name of the original West End play by

William Matthew Scott William Matthew Scott (30 September 1893 – 7 May 1964), pen name Will Scott, was a British writer of stories and books for adults and children, published from 1920 to 1965. Towards the end of his life he was best known for ''The Cherrys'' seri ...

on which the film is based.

Plot

Three victims plan to

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

a retired

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

Cast

as Disher * Arthur Hardy as Sir Edwin Paget * Margot Grahame as Gloria Paget *

Lester Matthews Arthur Lester Matthews (6 June 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English actor. Career In his career, the handsome Englishman made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was erroneously credited in later years as Les Matthews. M ...

as Brian Nash * Jeanne Stuart as Olga Hoyt * Gerald Rawlinson as Paul Tegle * David Hawthorne as Peter Hoyt * Charles Farrell as Chicago Joe *

Henrietta Watson Henrietta Watson (11 March 1873 – 29 September 1964) was a Scottish actress. She was born in Dundee, Scotland, on 11 March 1873, into a theatrical family. Her maternal grandfather was actor J.B. Johnston, whom Edmund Yates considered to be “ ...

as Lady Paget *

Matthew Boulton Matthew Boulton ( ; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and silversmith. He was a business partner of the Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the par ...

as Inspector Potter * Percy Parsons as Limping Man *

Hal Gordon Hal Gordon (1894–1946) was a British film actor. A character actor, he appeared in over 90 films in both comic and straight roles. He started off as a lawyer's clerk but finding it dull he decided on the stage, making his music hall debut in ...

* Samuel Pringle * Ernest Stidwell

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

* 1931 films British crime films 1931 crime films 1930s English-language films Films shot at Welwyn Studios Films set in England British black-and-white films 1930s British films British films based on plays Films scored by Colin Wark English-language crime films {{1930s-UK-film-stub