''Room to Let'' is a 1950 British historical

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Godfrey Grayson Godfrey Ramsey H. Grayson (1913, Birkenhead, Cheshire – 1998, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey) was an English film director. Selected filmography * ''Doctor Morelle'' (1949) * ''Meet Simon Cherry'' (1949) * '' The Adventures of PC 49'' (1949) * ' ...

and starring Jimmy Hanley,

Valentine Dyall Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...

and

Constance Smith Constance Smith (7 February 1929 – 30 June 2003) was an Irish film actress, and contract player of 20th Century Fox in the 1950s. Early life Smith was born into a family as the first of 11 children.'' The Oakland Tribune'', 18 March 1962, O ...

. It was adapted from the

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

play by

Margery Allingham Margery Louise Allingham (20 May 1904 – 30 June 1966) was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", and considered one of its four "Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. Alli ...

, broadcast in 1947.

Synopsis

After a fire at an

insane asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

during the

Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victor ...

, a young

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

becomes convinced that one of the patients has escaped and taken lodgings at a local middle-class household. The mysterious "Doctor Fell" comes to dominate the three woman in the house - mother, daughter and maid - and increasingly shuts them off from outside contact. Despite a lack of assistance from the authorities, the journalist suspects that the Doctor is in fact the notorious

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

who is planning a fresh series of attacks.

Cast

* Jimmy Hanley as Curly Minter *

as Doctor Fell *

Christine Silver Christine Silver (17 December 1883 – 23 November 1960) was a British stage, film and television actress, and a playwright. Early life Christine Isie Silver was born in 1883 (some sources give 1884), in London, the daughter of Arthur Silver a ...

as Mrs. Musgrave * Merle Tottenham as Alice *

as Molly Musgrave * Charles Hawtrey as Mike Atkinson *

Aubrey Dexter Aubrey Dexter (March 29, 1898 – May 2, 1958) was a British stage and film actor. Partial filmography * '' East of Shanghai'' (1931) - Colonel (uncredited) * '' Loyalties'' (1933) - Kentman (uncredited) * '' Out of the Past'' (1933) - David ...

as Harding * Anthony La Penna as JJ * Reginald Dyson as Sergeant Cranbourne *

Laurence Naismith Laurence Naismith (born Lawrence Johnson; 14 December 1908 – 5 June 1992) was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films '' Scrooge'' (1970) and the children's ghost fil ...

as Editor * John Clifford as Atkinson * Stuart Saunders as Porter *

Cyril Conway Cyril (also Cyrillus or Cyryl) is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Greek name Κύριλλος (''Kýrillos''), meaning 'lordly, masterful', which in turn derives from Greek κυριος ('' kýrios'') 'lord'. There are various varia ...

as Doctor Mansfield * Charles Houston as Tom * Harriet Petworth as Matron * Charles Mander as P.C. Smith * H. Hamilton Earle as Orderly * F.A. Williams as Butler * Archie Callum as Night Watchman

Critical reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' gave the film two out of five stars, calling it "A fairly disturbing programmer which remains suspenseful to the end." and ''Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings'' wrote, "This is basically a variation of THE LODGER, and a very effective one. Valentine Dyall steals the movie as the truly creepy lodger, Dr. Fell."

References

Bibliography

* Chibnall, Steve & McFarlane, Brian. ''The British 'B' Film''. Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.

External links

* 1950 films British historical thriller films 1950s historical thriller films Films directed by Godfrey Grayson Films set in London Films set in the 1900s Films about Jack the Ripper Hammer Film Productions films British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films {{1950s-UK-film-stub