''The Roof'' is a 1933 British

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by George A. Cooper and starring Leslie Perrins, Judy Gunn, Russell Thorndike and Michael Hogan. It was shot at

Twickenham Studios Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

in London as a

quota quickie The Cinematograph Films Act 1927 ( 17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 29) was an act of the UK Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received royal assent on 22 December 1927 and came into force on 1 April 1928. Description T ...

for release by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

.Chibnall p.275 The film's sets were designed by Twickenham's resident

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

James A. Carter James A. Carter (born 1902) was a British art director and occasional film producer. Carter was born in London in 1902. He studied at the Royal Academy of Art and the Royal Academy of Music, before beginning his career in the film industry at I ...

. It was based on the novel of the same title by

David Whitelaw David Whitelaw (1875–1970) English writer, editor and illustrator. Life and work David Whitelaw was born in Holloway, Islington, then still in Middlesex, to David Whitelaw and Hannah Baxter. Both of his parents died during his infancy a ...

Cast

* Leslie Perrins as Inspector Darrow * Judy Gunn as Carol Foster * Russell Thorndike as Clive Bristow * Michael Hogan as Samuel Morton *

Ivor Barnard Ivor Barnard (13 June 1887 – 30 June 1953) was an English stage, radio and film actor. He was an original member of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he was a notable Shylock and Caliban. He was the original Water Rat in the first Lo ...

as Arthur Stannard *

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 John Rutherford *

Barbara Everest Barbara Everest (19 June 1890 – 9 February 1968) was a British stage and film actress. She was born in Southfields, Surrey, and made her screen debut in the 1916 film ''The Man Without a Soul''. On stage she played Queen Anne in the 1935 his ...

as Mrs Foster *

George Zucco George Zucco (11 January 1886 – 27 May 1960) was a British character actor who appeared in plays and 96 films, mostly American-made, during a career spanning over two decades, from the 1920s to 1951. In his films, he often played a suave vill ...

as James Renton * Leo Britt – Tony Freyne * D. J. Williams as Fritz Klein * Hector Abbas as Otto Bebberg *

Cyril Smith Sir Cyril Richard Smith (28 June 1928 – 3 September 2010) was a British Liberal Party and Liberal Democrat politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochdale from 1972 to 1992. Smith was first active in local politics as ...

as McNair

References

Bibliography

* Chibnall, Steve. ''Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film''. British Film Institute, 2007. * Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

* 1933 films 1933 crime films 1930s English-language films Films directed by George A. Cooper Films shot at Twickenham Film Studios British black-and-white films British crime films 1930s British films RKO Pictures films Quota quickies Films based on British novels Films scored by William Trytel English-language crime films {{1930s-crime-film-stub