''The House of the Arrow'' is a 1953 British

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by Michael Anderson and starring

Oskar Homolka Oskar Homolka (August 12, 1898 – January 27, 1978) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, who went on to work in Germany, Britain and America. Both his voice and his appearance fitted him for roles as communist spies or Soviet officials, for w ...

, Robert Urquhart and

Yvonne Furneaux Yvonne Furneaux (born Elisabeth Yvonne Scatcherd; 11 May 1928) is a French-British retired actress. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she worked with notable filmmakers like Peter Brook, Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski, Michelan ...

. It is the fourth film version of the 1924 novel '' The House of the Arrow'' by A. E. W. Mason, featuring his French detective

Inspector Hanaud Inspector Gabriel Hanaud is a fictional French detective depicted in a series of five novels and one novella by the British writer A. E. W. Mason. He has been described as the "first major fiction police detective of the Twentieth Century". B ...

Cast

* Robert Urquhart - Jim Frobisher *

- Betty Harlowe * Josephine Griffin - Ann Upcott *

Harold Kasket Harold Kasket (26 July 1926 – 20 January 2002) was an English actor in theatre, films and later television from the 1940s. Kasket usually played Arabs or mainland European types in many films and TV programmes such as ''Maigret'', '' The Sain ...

- Boris Wabersky * Pierre Lefevre - Detective Maurice Thevenet * Pierre Chaminade - Detective Moreau * Jacques Cey - Police Commissaire Giradot *

Keith Pyott Keith Pyott ( Blackheath, London, 9 March 1902 - 6 April 1968) was a British actor. He transferred from stage to screen and was a regular face in drama in the early days of television, appearing in '' Educated Evans'', ''The Prisoner'', ''Out o ...

- Gaston, the butler * Andrea Lea - Francine, the maid * Rene Leplay - Hanaud's Clerk * Anthony Nicholls - Lawyer Jarrett * Ruth Lodge - Nurse Jeanne Baudin

Critical reception

'' Allmovie'' wrote, "one advantage the 1953 version of ''House of the Arrow'' has over the first versions is the bluff, hearty presence of Oscar Homolka, who could entertain an audiences by reading the

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if he so desired" ; and ''Britmovie'' noted, "director Michael Anderson handles the thrills pleasantly and the noir suspense is balanced out by Hanaud’s conceited humour with fine results. Austrian actor Oscar Homolka produces a fine portrayal of Mason’s super-smug detective of the French Surete, and the rest of the Anglo-French cast provide sterling support in this well turned-out thriller."

References

External links

1953 films 1950s mystery films British mystery films Films shot at Associated British Studios 1950s English-language films Films directed by Michael Anderson Films based on British novels Films based on mystery novels British black-and-white films 1950s British films {{1950s-UK-film-stub