Finlay Currie Movies

The Criminal at Large in this quota quickie murders his victims in the dark of night. There seems to be a pattern to the killer's activities, but darned if Chief Inspector Tanner (Norman McKinnel) can figure it out. It looks as though dilettante sleuth Lord Lebanon (Emlyn Williams) will have to come to Scotland Yard's rescue, as the killer stalks his prey in a musty old castle. Criminal at Large was based on Edgar Wallace's stage play The Frightened Lady (which was also the film's alternate title). Wallace also worked on the screenplay -- one of his final assignments before his untimely death in 1933. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rome Express is a fast-moving British imitation of Hollywood's Grand Hotel formula. The film concentrates on the various passengers of a European express train. On this particular run, the train is a veritable hotbed of intrigue, with crooks and blackmail victims seemingly in every coach. Among the naughty and nice characters are continental favorites Conrad Veidt, Cedric Hardwicke and Finlay Currie, as well as American silent film star Esther Ralston. Rome Express enabled director Walter Forde to graduate from inexpensive regional comedies to prestige British productions. The film was also an obvious inspiration for such later intrigue-on-the-rails epics as The Lady Vanishes (38) and Night Train (39). Rome Express was remade in 1948 as Sleeping Car to Trieste. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy, a ghost hunter believing he accidentally shot his boss, stuffs the body into a steamer trunk and races to the river where he will dispose of the body. Unfortunately before he can, the trunk gets mixed up with an exact duplicate. The one containing the body is taken by a woman who takes him into the supposedly haunted house where she stays. Meanwhile, deep within the trunk, the boss is waking up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hollywood movie-making is satirized in this comedy. The trouble begins when an American filmmaker decides to us a British army barracks and soldiers to add a realistic touch to his newest Foreign Legion film. The trouble is, the director is neither very good, nor well informed about military life, something that the brigadier general that helps the filmmaker is quick to point out. But this does not stop the director from trying to get the whole British army into the act. The real kicker is that the American film crew does not have permission to use the soldiers or the facilities. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Its title inspired by Albert Chevalier's world-famous music-hall ballad, My Old Dutch is a treacly tale of mother love. Marrying against her wealthy father's wishes, young Betty Balfour is left a widow when her husband is killed in WW I. Doing her best to raise her baby by herself, Balfour is challenged by her own father, who wishes to gain custody of the child and raise him in a "proper atmosphere." All sorts of misfortunes are heaped upon the hapless heroine before the tear-stained climax. The screenplay for My Old Dutch was put together by two "second generation" screenwriters, Leslie Arliss (son of George) and Bryan Wallace (son of Edgar). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

To save her country from revolutionaries, a princess decides to accept the marriage proposal of a neighboring king she has never met. The king then assigns a naval commander to escort the princess to his kingdom, but unfortunately, the escort is captured in a revolt and the only way he and the princess can escape is to get married. They go through many trials before reaching the kingdom where they are told to have their marriage annulled. But as this film is a romance, the couple, who are by now, truly in love, refuse and must then escape from the angry king. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Improper Duchess is never as naughty as its title, or else it wouldn't have made it to the screen in 1936. Yvonne Arnaud heads the cast as the Duchess of Tann, who comes to Washington D.C. on matters of state. In her efforts to secure a much-needed loan for her country, our heroine must first do battle with a cartel of crooked oil executives. Romance enters the picture in the form of the King of Poldavia (Hugh Wakefield). The satirical nature of the story eventually gives way to farce, which in turn concedes to slapstick. Improper Duchess was adapted from a play by James B. Fagan, which also starred Yvonne Arnaud. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young woman, desiring to be wealthy, attempts to smuggle French jewels into America. When her boat docks, she is immediately caught by a US customs agent who convinces her to return the jewels to France. If she does that, he will not arrest her. Unfortunately, before she can get back she is accosted by three different groups of criminals who are all after the gems. One of the groups is headed by Pola, a Chicago gangster. He gets murdered. The film climaxes with a prolonged shoot-out aboard the ship. Justice prevails. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The popular Ivor Novello musical play Glamorous Night was given a conservative film treatment in 1937--minus much of the Novello score that had made it famous. Opera singer Mary Ellis plays an opera singer (why not?) who falls in with a band of roguish but likeable gypsies. Mary manages to convince her Bohemian cohorts to rescue the King from the machinations of his ambitious prime minister. As "cast insurance" to make certain that Glamorous Night would get American bookings, Hollywood character actors Otto Kruger and Victor Jory are given leading roles. The US distributors also sliced the film down from 81 to 65 minutes, through the simple expedient of removing several songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A key film in the career of director Michael Powell, The Edge of the World was his first original idea to be realized onscreen, and its success attracted the attention of producer Alexander Korda. Korda's bankrolling of Powell's next several films catapulted the filmmaker into the first rank of British directors. Powell was attracted to the idea of building a dramatic story around the evacuation of St. Kilda, an island north of Scotland, whose aging population could not sustain life there. Forbidden from filming on St. Kilda, Powell and his crew journeyed farther north to Foula, an island whose sheer cliffs play an important role in the story. Two young men, Robbie Manson (Eric Berry) and James Gray (Niall MacGinnis), disagree on their island's economic future. James loves Robbie's twin sister Ruth (Belle Chrystal). The rivalry between the two men and their strong-willed fathers threatens to tear apart the island community, but an unexpected pregnancy and a rescue in dangerous seas serve to unite the islanders in common purpose. Powell took full advantage of the magnificent locations to tell this simple but affecting story of survival and adaptation to changing times. A restored version of the film, available on video, also includes the documentary Return to the Edge of the World. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

In this British murder mystery, a novelist finds the killer of a librarian. He also finds the family treasure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An American producer takes his daughter and heads for England to see a variety of London shows in this musical. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Also known as The Avengers, the British The Day Will Dawn is set in Norway at the outbreak of WW2. British foreign correspondent Lockwood (Ralph Richardson), forced out of Norway by the Nazi invasion, returns to the occupied Scandanavian country at the request of the War Office. Lockwood's assignment is to guide the RAF to a heavily camouflaged German U-boat base for sabotage purposes. With the help of patriotic Norwegian seaman Alstad (Finlay Currie), Lockwood completes his mission, only to be arrested as a spy and sentenced to be shot. The final portions of the film detail our hero's attempt to escape back to England with Alstad's daughter Kari (Deborah Kerr), with whom he has fallen in love. The intricately crafted screenplay is attributed to three of Britain's finest scriveners, Terence Rattigan, Anatole de Grunewald and Patrick Kirwen-and one suspects that there were even more talented hands involved in this thrill-packed wartime adevnture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide