''The Devil's Jest'' is a 1954 British second feature ('B') film directed by Alfred Goulding and starring Mara Tavernan, Ivan Craig and

Valentine Dyall Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...

. It was written by Vance Youdan (credited as Vance Uhden), and is a remake of '' Castle Sinister'' (1948).

Plot

In a remote castle during the Second World War, Irma, Lady Enderby recognises Major Seton, her ex-lover and father of her son. When he is exposed as a German spy, she attempts to protect him, and they flee together in a

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

Cast

* Mara Tavernan as Irma, Lady Enderby * Ivan Craig as Major Seton *

as Director of Military Intelligence * Derek Aylewood as Victor * Julian Sherrier as Tony * Lee Fox as Major Malcolm *

Hamilton Keene Hamilton George Keene (15 November 1896 – 4 October 1975) was a British stage actor, stage and film actor.Edwards p.188 He appeared in more than thirty British films, originally in more prominent roles during the early 1930s and later in smalle ...

as Colonel Mortimer * Edward Leslie as Captain Blynne

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: "The frail, pretentious and confused story ... is not helped by stolidly unimaginative direction, nor by extremely indifferent use of music and sound. The only interest of the film is that it was mostly shot in

Syon House Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow. The family's traditional central London residence had b ...

." ''

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: ""Turgid, espionage melodrama ... the interiors are truly magnificent, but unfortunately neither the script nor the cast reaches a comparable level. Stagey to say the least, it's only suitable for small halls. Very moderate quota." ''

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: "Even highly coloured espionage stories should bear some relation to reality when they deal with life in wartime Britain. This one doesn't. ... Acting is in the grand manner, particularly rfom Mara Tavernan as the aristocrat, but it's an amateurish, under-rehearsed production." Chibnall and McFarline wrote in ''The British ‘B’ Film'': "indifferently directed". '

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0205003, The Devil's Jest 1954 films British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films