''Celia'' (also known as ''Celia'' ''– The Sinister Affair of Poor Aunt Nora'') is a 1949 British comedy-thriller second feature ('B') film directed by

Francis Searle Francis Searle (14 March 1909 – 31 July 2002) was an English film director, writer and producer. He was active in the post-Second World War cinema industry. Amongst the films he directed were ''The Lady Craved Excitement'' (1950), ''One Way Ou ...

and starring

Hy Hazell Hyacinth Hazel O'Higgins (4 October 1921 – 10 May 1970), stage name Hy Hazell, was a British actress of theatre, musicals and revue as well as a contralto singer and film actress. AllMusic described her as "an exuberant comic actor and lively ...

Bruce Lester Bruce Lester (6 June 1912 – 13 June 2008) was a South African-born English film actor with over 60 screen appearances to his credit between 1934 and his retirement from acting in 1958. Lester's career divided into two distinct periods. Betwe ...

and John Bailey. It was written by A.R. Rawlinson and Searle, with additional dialogue by

Roy Plomley Francis Roy Plomley ( ; 20 January 1914 – 28 May 1985) was an English radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist. He is best remembered for creating the BBC Radio series ''Desert Island Discs'', which he hosted from its inception in ...

, and was based on the 1948

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio serial of the same title by Edward J. Mason. It was made by

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

Plot

Celia, an unemployed actress, is reluctantly persuaded by Private Detective Larry to once again help him with a case. She has a flair for undertaking character rôles but mainly agrees so she can buy a fashionable hat with the fee Larry offers to pay her. Celia poses as a cockney housekeeper for a week in a large house where a man named Lester is suspected of marrying Aunt Nora, a much older woman, for her money and plans to kill her with poison. Lester falls victim himself to the death trap he sets for the old lady. When Celia goes to the hat store, she finds that Aunt Nora has already gone there and purchased the very hat that Celia was planning to buy!

Cast

as Celia *

as Larry Peters * John Bailey as Lester Martin *

Elsie Wagstaff Elsie Wagstaff (1 July 1899 – 16 July 1985) was an English actress. Educated at the Guildhall School of Music, her stage work began in the chorus in 1919, and one of her first leading roles was as Sadie Thompson in an adaptation of Some ...

as Aunt Nora *

Ferdy Mayne Ferdy Mayne or Ferdie Mayne (born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel; 11 March 1916 – 30 January 1998) was a German-British stage and screen actor. Born in Mainz, he emigrated to the United Kingdom in the early 1930s to escape the Nazi regime. ...

as Antonio *

Lockwood West Harry Lockwood West (28 July 1905 – 28 March 1989) was a British actor. He was the father of actor Timothy West and the grandfather of actor Samuel West. Life and career West was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England in 1905, the son of Mild ...

as Dr. Cresswell * John Sharp as Mr. Haldane *

Joan Hickson Joan Bogle Hickson (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series '' Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number of ...

as Mrs. Haldane *

James Raglan James Raglan (6 January 1901 – 15 November 1961) was a British stage, film and television actor. In Australia Early in 1935 he was brought out to Australia with the Gabriel Toyne company by J. C. Williamson, playing ''Laburnum Grove'' and ...

as Inspector Parker *

Jasmine Dee Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wide ...

as Miss Arnold *

June Elvin June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of summe ...

as Ruby *

Charles Paton Charles Ernest Paton (31 July 1874 – 10 April 1970) was an English film actor. He joined the circus at 14, and had early stage and music hall experience. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1927 and 1952, including ''Freedom of the ...

as grocer *

Olive Walter The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of subtropical evergreen tree in the family Oleaceae. Originating in Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies in Africa ...

as woman in shop *

Grace Denbigh Russell Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninc ...

as woman in shop

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "Celia, a character from a B.B.C. serial, investigates the sinister affair of poor Aunt Nora in a comedy thriller made with modest means and adequacy." ''

Kine Weekly ''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971. Etymology The word Kinematograph was derived from the Greek ' Kinumai ', (to move, to be in motion, to ...

'' wrote: "Neat and tidy romantic comedy crime melodrama, woven around the popular BBC character. ... Comely and versatile Hy Hazell does a good job in the name part, the support is adequate, the dialogue smooth and the staging well up to standard." ''

Picturegoer ''Picturegoer'' was a fan magazine published in the United Kingdom between 1911 and 23 April 1960. Background The magazine was started in 1911 under the name ''The Pictures'' and in 1914 it merged with ''Picturegoer''. Following the merge it was ...

'' wrote: "Written around the popular B.B.C. character, this neatly made melodrama has a good story and the advantage of well-timed humour." In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Lively little thriller, quite tidily made." Chibnall and McFarlane in ''The British 'B' Film'' called it a "light comedy-drama" and noted "the effective way in which tovercame its economic restrictions."

References

External links

* {{Francis Searle 1949 films British comedy thriller films 1940s comedy thriller films Films directed by Francis Searle Films set in England Films based on radio series Hammer Film Productions films 1949 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films English-language comedy thriller films Films scored by Frank Spencer