''Dusty Ermine'' is a 1936 British crime film directed by

Bernard Vorhaus Bernard Vorhaus (December 25, 1904 – November 23, 2000) was an American film director of Austrian descent, born in New York City. His father was born in Krakow, then part of Austria-Hungary. Vorhaus spent many decades living in the UK. Eearly ...

and starring

Anthony Bushell Anthony Arnatt Bushell (19 May 1904 – 2 April 1997) was an English film actor and director who appeared in more than 50 films between 1929 and 1961. He played Colonel Breen in the BBC serial ''Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59), and al ...

Jane Baxter Jane Baxter (9 September 1909 – 13 September 1996) was a British actress. Her stage career spanned half a century, and she appeared in a number of films and in television. Early life Baxter was born as Feodora Kathleen Alice Forde in Bremen, ...

and

Ronald Squire Ronald Launcelot Squire (25 March 1886 – 16 November 1958) was an English character actor. Biography Born in Tiverton, Devon, England, the son of an army officer, Lt.-Col. Frederick Squirl and his Irish-born wife Mary (Ronald's surname 'Sq ...

. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

it was released 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 ...

''Hideout in the Alps''. It was based on the play of the same title by Neil Grant.

Plot

After being released from

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

Jim Kent, a leading

forger Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

, is approached by an international counterfeiting organisation. He rejects their offer of employment as he intends to go straight, but when he discovers that his nephew is now working for the outfit he travels to Switzerland to try to help him out. An ambitious young detective from Scotland Yard is also on the trail of the forgery ring, and mistakenly comes to the conclusion that Jim Kent is still working as a master counterfeiter.

Cast

as Detective Inspector Forsythe *

as Linda Kent *

as Jim Kent *

Arthur Macrae William Arthur Schröpfer (17 March 1908 – 25 February 1962) known by the pen name and stage name Arthur Macrae was an English playwright and comic actor. He graduated from RADA in 1928; with acting work including the original West End producti ...

as Gilbert Kent *

Margaret Rutherford Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford, (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, television and film. She came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's ''Blithe Spirit'', and Oscar ...

as Evelyn Summers *

Austin Trevor Claude Austin Trevor Schilsky (7 October 1897 – 22 January 1978) was an Irish actor who had a long career in film and television. He played the parson in John Galsworthy's ''Escape'' at the world premiere in London's West End in 1926 an ...

as Swiss Hotelier-Gang Leader * Davina Craig as Goldie, the maid * Athole Stewart as Mr. Kent * Katie Johnson as Emily Kent *

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Earl ...

as Police Commissioner *

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 i ...

as Detective Sergeant Helmsley * George Merritt as Police constable *

Wally Patch Walter Sydney Vinnicombe (26 September 1888 – 27 October 1970) was an English actor and comedian. He worked in film, television and theatre. Biography Vinnicombe was born in Willesden, Middlesex and began working on the music hall stages in ...

as Thug

Production

The film was produced by

Julius Hagen Julius Hagen (1884–1940) was a German-born British film producer who produced more than a hundred films in Britain. Hagen originally worked as a salesman for Ruffels Pictures. He then worked his way up to become a production manager in the Br ...

, the owner of a film production company based around

Twickenham Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

. The film was shot at one of his other studios, J.H. Studios at

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...

, and also included extensive

location filming In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

. It was directed by Vorhaus who had worked on earlier films for the company. Vorhaus was so impressed by the performance of

in a theatre production he saw her in, that he insisted on casting her in the film. He added a new

comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

role to the original play especially for her. The film's art direction was by

Andrew Mazzei Andrew Mazzei (1887–1975) was a French-born British art director who designed the sets for more than sixty films during his career. Mazzei began his career in the late 1920s during the silent era including on the futuristic ''High Treason''. ...

. Hagen had an ambitious programme of films for 1936, but his failure to secure effective distribution led to financial problems and the collapse of his company the following year during the Slump of 1937.Richards, p. 50-55 Vorhaus directed one further British film, ''

Cotton Queen ''Cotton Queen'', also known as ''Crying Out Loud'', is a 1937 British comedy film directed by Bernard Vorhaus, and starring Stanley Holloway, Will Fyffe, and Mary Lawson. Production The film was directed by Vorhaus at Elstree Studios for th ...

'', before returning to America. In the forgers' lair the printing presses shown are all made by the Adana company of Twickenham and completely unsuitable for the production of currency notes. Adana was based in Twickenham and the film was released through Twickenham Film Distributors, so there would appear to be a local link.

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''History of the British Film: Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985 * Richards, Jeffrey (ed.). ''The Unknown Thirties: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929-1939''. I.B. Tauris & Co, 2000.

External links

* {{Bernard Vorhaus 1936 films British crime films 1936 crime films Films directed by Bernard Vorhaus British films based on plays Films set in London Films set in England Films set in France Films set in Switzerland Films set in the Alps Skiing films Films shot at Station Road Studios, Elstree British black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films