crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combi ...
directed by
Don Chaffey
Donald Chaffey (5 August 1917 – 13 November 1990) was a British film director, writer, Film producer, producer, and art director.
Chaffey's film career began as an art director in 1947, and his directorial debut was in 1953. He remained acti ...
and starring
Dennis Price
Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeev ...
,
Renée Asherson
Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was an English actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpool ...
and
Patrick Barr
Patrick David Barr (13 February 1908 – 29 August 1985) was an English actor. In his career spanning over half a century, he appeared in about 144 films and television series.
Biography
Born in Akola, British India in 1908, Barr was educate ...
.
Plot
Small-time crook Radley (Dennis Price) returns after a long absence to discover his wife Barbara (Renee Asherson) has remarried, believing him killed in
the Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
. Finding her happily married to wealthy publisher John Everton (Patrick Barr), Radley begins blackmailing Barbara for £500 to keep their previous marriage quiet. When Radley kills a jeweller in a robbery, he is blackmailed by his roommate, so in turn threatens to also blackmail John Everton for £500. When she arrives at Radley's flat to pay the final instalment, he provokes her into shooting him. After surrendering herself to the police, Barbara discovers that all is not as it seems, Radley is wanted for more than one murder; and the police begin to question whether Radley is really dead after all.
Cast
*
Dennis Price
Dennistoun Franklyn John Rose Price (23 June 1915 – 6 October 1973) was an English actor, best remembered for his role as Louis Mazzini in the film '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) and for his portrayal of the omnicompetent valet Jeev ...
as Martin Radley
*
Renée Asherson
Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was an English actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpool ...
as Barbara Everton
*
Patrick Barr
Patrick David Barr (13 February 1908 – 29 August 1985) was an English actor. In his career spanning over half a century, he appeared in about 144 films and television series.
Biography
Born in Akola, British India in 1908, Barr was educate ...
as John Everton
*
Duncan Lamont
Duncan William Ferguson Lamont (17 June 1918 – 19 December 1978) was a British actor.Brian McFarlane (Ed): ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'' (BFI/Methuen • London • 2000) p397''Picture Show Who's Who on the Screen'' (Amalgamated Pre ...
as Inspector Charles Wayne
*
Susan Shaw
Susan Shaw (29 August 192927 November 1978) was an English actress.
Biography
Shaw was born Patsy Sloots in West Norwood, London. She had wanted to become a dress designer and was working as a typist at the Ministry for Information when she di ...
as Evelyn Gower
*
Bonar Colleano
Bonar Sullivan (14 March 192417 August 1958), also known by the stage name Bonar Colleano, was an American stage and film actor based in the United Kingdom.
Biography Early life
Colleano was born Bonar Sullivan in New York City. He had childhood ...
as Harry Bond
*
Alfie Bass
Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...
as Ernie Gordon
*
Agnes Lauchlan
Agnes Lauchlan (10 February 1905 – 28 August 1993) was a British stage, film and television actress.
Agnes Mary Lauchlan, was born on 10 February 1905 in Putney, London, to Henry D. Lauchlan, a surgeon, and his Scottish-born wife Minnie. S ...
as Aunt Laura
* Brenda Hogan as Diana
* Barbara Grayley as Betty the maid
*
Mavis Villiers
Mavis Villiers (born Mavis Clare Cooney; 10 December 190923 February 1976) was an Australian-born British actress of stage, film and television. Her parents were John Cooney and Clara Smythe. Her brother, Cecil Cooney, was a camera operator an ...
as Gladys
*
William Franklyn
William Leo Franklyn (22 September 1925 – 31 October 2006) was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973. He also performed on stage, film, television and radio, ...
as Peter Thompson
*
Dandy Nichols
Dandy Nichols (born Daisy Sander; 21 May 1907 – 6 February 1986) was an English actress best known for her role as Else Garnett, the long-suffering wife of the character Alf Garnett who was a parody of a working class Tory, in the BBC sit ...
as Mrs. Budd
*
Erik Chitty
Erik Chitty (8 July 1907 in Dover, Kent – 22 July 1977 Brent, Middlesex), was an English stage, film and television actor.
Early life
Chitty was the son of a flour miller, Frederick Walter Chitty and his wife Ethel Elsie Assistance née Fra ...
as Ballistics Expert
* Howard Layton as Surgeon
* Neil Wilson as Doctor
* Alastair Hunter as Bookmaker
*
Bruce Beeby
Bruce Edward Beeby (21 October 1921 – 20 October 2013) was an Australian actor who worked primarily in British films and television. He was probably best known for portraying Stephen "Mitch" Mitchell in the 1950s BBC radio serials '' Journ ...