''The Silent Passenger'' is a British

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

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 ...

produced in 1935 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 ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It is based on an original story written by Sayers specifically for the screen. Her amateur sleuth was portrayed as a somewhat eccentric comical aristocrat who solved murders in spite of himself. As of 2014, the film is available on DVD.

Plot

Maurice Windermere, a

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

er, is absconding to France with Mollie Ryder, one of his victims. While waiting for the train to take them to the cross Channel ferry, he is murdered by the husband of another one of his victims, railway detective Henry Camberley (Donald Wolfit). John Ryder (John Loder), Mollie's husband, jealously searching for her, breaks into Windermere's room just after Camberley has killed Windermere and hidden him in a trunk. Ryder assaults Camberley, who he assumes is Windermere, and demands the tickets Windermere purchased for himself and Mollie, intending to surprise his wife by taking Windermere's place on the trip abroad. Camberley places the trunk containing Windermere's body with Windermere's other luggage, which Ryder obligingly takes with him on his journey to France. Windermere's body is discovered in Windermere's trunk when Ryder, using Windermere's tickets, attempts to go through French customs. The French police assume he murdered the rival for his wife's affections and return him to England by the next ferry. Fortunately for Ryder, amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey (Peter Haddon), who already suspected Windermere of blackmail, followed Windermere's trail onto the boat train where he struck up an acquaintance with Mollie and John Ryder. Back in England Lord Peter sets about proving his newfound friend's innocence, using Ryder as "bait" to flush out the real killer and solve the murder.

Cast

* John Loder as John Ryder *

Peter Haddon Peter Haddon (31 March 1898 – 7 September 1962) was an English actor. Personal life Haddon was born Peter Haddon Tildsley in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. He was the son of Alfred and Mary Tildsley and he had a brother, Vincent Harvey (1894), an ...

Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A dilettante who solves mysteries fo ...

Lilian Oldland Lilian Mary Oldland (7 February 1903 – 29 September 1984) was an English actress who appeared in more than twenty films between 1925 and 1935. Born in Gloucester in 1903, she made her film debut in '' The Secret Kingdom'' and was soon cast as ...

as Mollie Ryder (billed as Mary Newland) *

Donald Wolfit Sir Donald Wolfit, KBE (born Donald Woolfitt; Harwood, Ronald"Wolfit, Sir Donald (1902–1968)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008; accessed 14 July 2009 20 April 1902 ...

as Henry Camberley * Austin Trevor as Chief Inspector Parker * Leslie Perrins as Maurice Windermere *

Aubrey Mather Aubrey Mather (17 December 1885 – 16 January 1958) was an English character actor. Career Mather was born in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, and began his career on the stage in 1905. He debuted in London in ''Brewster's Millions'' i ...

as Bunter * Robb Wilton as Porter *

Ralph Truman Ralph du Vergier Truman (7 May 1900 – 15 October 1977) was an English actor, usually cast as either a villain or an authority figure. He possessed a distinguished speaking voice. He was born in London, England. Truman originally studied at t ...

as Saunders *Ann Codrington as Desk Clerk *George De Warfaz as Chief of French Police *

Annie Esmond Annie Esmond (27 September 1873 – 4 January 1945) was a British stage and film actress. Esmond was born in Surrey, England. She made her stage debut in pantomime in Sheffield in 1891 and later appeared on the American as well as British stage ...

as Old Lady Passenger with Pekinese Dogs *

Dorice Fordred Dorice Fordred (25 November 19024 August 1980) was a South African actress, best known for character parts and Shakespearean roles on the London stage.'Miss Dorice Fordred: Noted stage actress', ''The Times'', August 13, 1980. The ''Brooklyn Dai ...

as Camberley's Accomplice * Vincent Holman as Works Manager * Gordon McLeod as Commissioner *

Frederick Burtwell Augustus Frederick Burtwell (23 December 1894 – 16 November 1948) was an English actor, on stage from 1914, who featured in supporting roles in over 40 British films of the 1930s and 1940s. Partial filmography * ''Other People's Sins'' ( ...

(uncredited) *Percy Rhodes (uncredited)

References

External links

The Complete Index To World Film since 1895''The Silent Passenger'' on YouTubeThe British Film Institute
* 1935 films 1930s crime films British black-and-white films British crime films British detective films Films directed by Reginald Denham Films set on trains Films set in London Films based on British novels Ealing Studios films Films scored by Percival Mackey 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{1930s-crime-film-stub