''Warn That Man'' is a 1943 British comedy thriller film directed by

Lawrence Huntington Lawrence Huntington (9 March 1900 – 1968) was a UK, British film director, screenwriter and film producer, producer. Huntington was born in London on 9 March 1900, he directed more than thirty films following his debut feature ''After Many Year ...

and starring

Gordon Harker William Gordon Harker (7 August 1885 – 2 March 1967) was an English stage and film actor. Harker was one of the sons of Sarah Elizabeth Harker, née Hall, (1856–1927), and Joseph Harker (1855–1927), a much admired set painter for the ...

Raymond Lovell Raymond Lovell (13 April 1900 – 1 October 1953) was a Canadian actor who performed in British films. He mainly played supporting roles, often somewhat pompous characters. Lovell initially trained as a physician at Cambridge University, but g ...

and

Finlay Currie William Finlay Currie (20 January 1878 – 9 May 1968) was a Scottish actor of stage, screen, and television.McFarlane, Brian (28 February 2014). ''The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition''. Oxford University Press. pp. 175-176; He rec ...

. It was written by Huntington and

Vernon Sylvaine Vernon Sylvaine (1896–1957) was a British playwright and screenwriter. He is known for writing several popular stage farces. He began working in film in 1937 when his stage hit ''Aren't Men Beasts! (play), Aren't Men Beasts!'' was turned into a ...

based on the latter's 1941 play ''

Warn That Man! ''Warn That Man!'' is a 1941 comedy thriller play by the British writer Vernon Sylvaine. A comedy-thriller, its plot concerns an attempt to kidnap wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill from an English country house. Having debuted at the N ...

'' which had run for ten months on the West End stage, with Harker reprising his original role. The film was made at

Welwyn Studios Welwyn Studios was a British film studio located at Broadwater Road, Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire. The facility operated between 1928 and 1950. The studios were first constructed by British Instructional Films, and converted to make so ...

, with sets designed by the

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 ...

Charles Gilbert. The plot is similar to the later film '' The Eagle Has Landed'' (1976) which also concerns a plot to kidnap

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

from rural England.

Plot

At a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a German actor, who looks uncannily like a British peer, takes his place as part of a German attempt to kidnap the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, when he visits the estate. Unfortunately for their plans, the niece of the peer arrives unannounced, along with her RAF pilot fiancé, and two of his new friends, who had rescued him at sea when he was shot down.

Cast

as George Hawkins *

as Hausemann / Lord Buckley *

as Captain Andrew Fletcher *

Philip Friend Philip Wyndham Friend (20 February 1915 in Horsham, Sussex – 1 September 1987 in Chiddingfold, Surrey) was a British film and television actor. Career Britain Friend went to Bradfield College where he became interested in acting. He began a ...

as John Cooper *

Jean Kent Jean Kent, born Joan Mildred Field (29 June 1921 − 30 November 2013), was an English film and television actress. Biography Kent was born Joan Mildred Field (sometimes incorrectly cited as Summerfield) in Brixton, London in 1921, the only c ...

as Frances Lane * Frederick Cooper as Charles / Frampton *

Carl Jaffe Carl Jaffe (21 March 1902 – 12 April 1974) was a German actor. Jaffe trained on the stage in his native Hamburg, Kassel and Wiesbaden before moving to Berlin, where his career began to develop. In 1933 Jaffe changed his stage name to Fran ...

as Schultz *

John Salew John Rylett Salew (28 February 1902 (some sources state 1 January 1897)14 September 1961) was an English stage film and TV actor. Salew made the transition from stage to films in 1939, and according to Allmovie, "the manpower shortage during W ...

as Wilson * Veronica Rose as Miss Conway *

Anthony Hawtrey Anthony John Hawtrey (22 January 1909 – 18 October 1954) was an English actor and theatre director. He began his acting career in 1930 and had begun directing by 1939. As director of the Embassy Theatre in London, several of his productions t ...

as Brent * Anthony Holles as waiter * Patrick Aherne as Mellows * Frank Bagnall as Lehmann *

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 German radio operator * Friedrich Richter as Wolheim * Leonard Sharp as Miles

Critical 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 ...

'' called the film "exciting and most entertaining", adding: "Raymond Lovell, in the dual role of Lord Buckley and the German actor impersonating him, does a difficult job excellently, as do all the other members of the cast. The photography throughout the film is clever, and especially so in those parts where Raymond Lovell appears on the screen as the real and bogus Lord Buckley at the same time." '' Picture Show'' wrote: "If you can swallow the possiblity of the impersonation of the whole household of an English country house by Nazi spies you'll enjoy this hectic melodrama of a plot to kidnap the Prime Minister. ... Plenty of excitement, with cockney comedy by Gordon Harker."

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "On the stage this must have been an effective comedy-thriller, but the film is stymied by stiff handling." In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Thriller thrills but can't overcome its unlikeliness."

References

External links

* {{Lawrence Huntington 1943 films 1940s comedy thriller films Films directed by Lawrence Huntington Films shot at Welwyn Studios Films set in England Films set in London British films based on plays British black-and-white films British comedy thriller films 1943 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films Films scored by Charles Williams (composer) English-language comedy thriller films