''Dick Barton at Bay'' is a 1950 British second feature ('B')

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a film genre, genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many Jame ...

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 Don Stannard. It was written by Ambrose Grayson and was intended to be the second of three films that

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

made about the British agent Dick Barton, although it was the last one to be released, following '' Dick Barton: Special Agent'' (1948) and '' Dick Barton Strikes Back'' (1949). The film started production on March 4, 1948 (intended to be the 2nd film in a Dick Barton trilogy), but it was only trade shown on Sept. 2, 1950, and theatrically released on Oct. 2, 1950. The film's original working title was ''Dick Barton and the Ray of Death''.

Plot

Captain Richard 'Dick' Barton and his sidekick 'Snowey' White are quickly assigned to recover a kidnapped scientist and de-activate a death ray created by the evil foreign agent Volkoff, who wants to use it to bring down British planes.

Cast

* Don Stannard as Dick Barton *

Tamara Desni Tamara Desni (22 October 19137 February 2008) was a German-born British actress. She appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s. Biography Desni was born in Berlin as Tamara Brodsky,

as Anna * George Ford as Snowey White * Meinhart Maur as Serge Volkoff * Joyce Linden as Mary Mitchell *

Percy Walsh Percy Walsh (24 April 1888 in Luton, Bedfordshire – 19 January 1952 in London) was a British stage and film actor. His stage work included appearing in the London premieres of R.C.Sherriff's '' Journey's End'' (1928) and Agatha Christie's ''And ...

as Professor Mitchell *

Campbell Singer Campbell Singer (born Jacob Kobel Singer; 16 March 1909 – 16 February 1976) was a British character actor who featured in a number of stage, film and television roles during his long career. He was also a playwright and dramatist. Life He was ...

as Sir George Cavendish *

John Arnatt John Edwin Arnatt (9 May 1917 – 21 December 1999) was a British actor, best known for his role in ''Doctor Who'' where he played Time Lord Cardinal Borusa in the 1978 serial ''The Invasion of Time'' (1978). Early life and education John Ar ...

as Jackson * Richard George as Inspector Slade * Beatrice Kane as Betsy Horrock *

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British-American actor best known for his breakthrough role as secret agent John Steed in the television series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1961–1969). Starting out ...

as Phillips (Credited as Patrick McNee) * George Crawford as Boris * Paddy Ryan as Fingers * Fred Owens as gangster (credited as Fred Owen) * Yoshihide Yanai as Chang * Ted Butterfield as Tommy *

Arthur Howard Arthur Howard (born Arthur John Steiner; 18 January 1910 – 18 June 1995) was an English stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Camberwell, London, Howard was the younger son of Lilian (née Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" ...

as extra *

Eliot Makeham Harold Elliott Makeham (22 December 1882 – 8 February 1956) was an English film and television actor. Career Makeham was born in London, England. Between 1931 and 1956, Makeham appeared, primarily in character roles, in 115 films and in 11 t ...

as police sergeant * Jim O'Brady as henchman * Ross Parker as stall holder * Ben Williams as Submarine Captain Korczanski

Production

A fourth Dick Barton film was scheduled, to be called ''Dick Barton in Darkest Africa'', but Don Stannard was killed in an untimely car crash driving back from the wrap party on July 9, 1949, and Hammer elected not to continue the series.

Critical reception

Sky Cinema Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...

'' wrote: "In their rush to get Barton on to the screen, the makers, despite using the original radio serials as a basis, neglected to give the films the proper budget, resulting in Dick's adventures having an air of tatty, thick-ear melodrama which was never present for the millions of wireless devotees glued to their sets every night at 6.45pm." In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "mediocre", writing: "Strictly for younger schoolboys." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' noted "a simple action-adventure film that moves at an entertaining pace."

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

called it "a far better thriller than its predecessor".

References

External links

* {{Godfrey Grayson 1950 films 1950s spy films British spy films Films directed by Godfrey Grayson Films based on radio series British sequel films Hammer Film Productions films British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films Films scored by Frank Spencer