''The Gaunt Stranger'' (released as ''The Phantom Strikes'' in the US) is a 1938

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

mystery

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 Walter Forde. It stars

Sonnie Hale John Robert Hale-Monro (1 May 1902 – 9 June 1959), known as Sonnie Hale, was an English actor, screenwriter, and director. Early life John Robert Hale-Monro was born in Kensington, London, the son of Belle Reynolds and actor Robert Hal ...

, Wilfrid Lawson and

Alexander Knox Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor on stage, screen, and occasionally television. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as Woodrow Wilson in the film '' Wilson'' (1944). ...

Plot

A notorious killer, long believed to have died in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, returns to England seeking revenge for the death of his sister. The "Ringer" threatens to murder the criminal mastermind Maurice Meister. Detective Inspector Alan Wembury is assigned to the case and, despite his strong dislike for Meister, attempts to protect him with the reluctant assistance of another criminal, Sam Hackett, who has been released from prison as he is the only man able to identify the "Ringer". Even with his help, Wembury struggles to unmask their target before the time at which Meister is due to be killed.

Cast

as Samuel Cuthbert "Sam" Hackett * Wilfrid Lawson as Maurice Meister * Louise Henry as Cora Ann Milton *

as Dr Lomond *Peter Croft as John Lenley * George Merritt as Police Station Sergeant * Patrick Barr as Det. Insp. Alan Wembury *

John Longden John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Biography Longden was born in the West Indies, the son o ...

as Inspector Bliss *

Patricia Roc Patricia Roc (born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold; 7 June 1915 – 30 December 2003) was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as ''Madonna of the Seven Moons'' (1945) and '' The Wicked Lady'' (1945), though she only ...

as Mary Lenley *

Arthur Hambling Arthur Hambling (14 March 1888 – 6 December 1952) was a British actor, on stage from 1912, and best known for appearances in the films ''Henry V'' (1944) and ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951). In 1939 he appeared in the West End in N.C. Hunte ...

as Detective Sergeant Richards * Charles Eaton as Colonel Walford

Production and release

The film was made by and at

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...

,Wood p.98 and was the company's first release after Michael Balcon's appointment as head of production. It was based on the 1925 novel ''The Gaunt Stranger'' by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

, which had been renamed ''The Ringer'' in 1926, and which Forde had previously adapted as '' The Ringer'' in 1931. So the 1939 film used the original novel title, although the opening credits state that it is based on Wallace's novel ''The Ringer''.As stated in the opening credits The film was screened by the censors on 4 October 1938,BBFC: ''The Gaunt Stranger''
Linked 2015-04-27 but didn't premier until 10 January 1939, when it opened at Gaumont Haymarket as second film in a

double bill The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with '' The Cowboy and the Lady''.The Times, 10 Jan. 1939, page 10: ''Picture Theatres - Gaumont''
Linked 2015-04-27 It was, however, popular enough for a British re-release in 1945.

References

IMDB give John Longden as Inspector Wembury, in fact Patrick Barr played this part.

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Perry, George. ''Forever Ealing''. Pavilion Books, 1994. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927–1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links