Jane Carr Movies
- 1954
Steve Fisher, best known for I Wake Up Screaming, wrote the story and screenplay for the British melodrama Terror Street. Dan Duryea plays Bill Rogers, an American jet pilot, who comes to England to find out why he hasn't heard from his wife lately. Upon his arrival, he learns that his wife has been murdered, and that he's the prime suspect. With only 36 hours at his disposal, Rogers takes it upon himself to track down the actual killer. Such familiar British-movie faces as Erich Pohlmann and Kenneth Griffith share screen time with relative newcomers like Elsy Albin and Ann Gudrun. Running 83 minutes, Terror Street was originally released in England in an 80-minute version titled 36 Hours. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Duryea, Ann Gudrun, (more)
- 1954
Though filmed ten years after The Saint Meets the Tiger, the British The Saint's Girl Friday is generally regarded as the final entry in RKO's "Saint" series of 1938-43. Louis Hayward, who first played Leslie Charteris' soldier-of-fortune Simon Templar in the 1938 film The Saint in New York, returns to the role after a 16-year absence. This time, Templar comes to London at the invitation of an old female acquaintance. When he arrives, he discovers that the woman is dead, the possible victim of a vicious gambling syndicate. Together with chronic gambler Carol Denby (Naomi Chance), who is being blackmailed into acting as a come-on for the crooks, Templar takes on chief heavy Max Lennar (Sidney Taffler), all the while keeping one step ahead of Scotland Yard inspector Teal (Charles Victor). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Hayward, Naomi Chance, (more)
- 1949
In this comedy, two soldiers find themselves dishonorably discharged after they accidently allow a Nazi prisoner to escape. Later they open up a detective agency. They are constantly plagued by the Nazi who follows them on every case. In the climax, the trio plays a crazy cricket match using a ball with a diamond hidden within it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1943
The British Alibi is based on the warhorse story by Marcel Archard, previously filmed in France in 1931. Raymond Lovell steps into the old Erich Von Stroheim role as Professor Winkler, a phony mystic playing to capacity crowds in Paris. Confronting a man who'd previously exposed him as a fraud in the US, Winkler kills the man. He then establishes an alibi by paying nightclub hostess Helene (Margaret Lockwood) to tell the police that she was in his company at the time of the murder. The upshot of this is that Helene herself is accused of the crime. Hoping to get to the truth of the matter, Inspector Calas (Hugh Sinclair) asks his deputy Andre Laurent (James Mason) to pretend to be in love with Helene. The plot thickens when Laurent genuinely falls for the distressed damsel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Hugh Sinclair, (more)
- 1942
In this British espionage comedy, an opportunistic South American woman will do anything to get her hands on a copy of the Mona Lisa. When she hears the Nazis have it, she offers to do some spying in Lisbon in exchange for the painting. Suddenly, many different 'Mona Lisas' begin to surface. After a British agent finds the real one, the woman decides to join the Allies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1942
Set during WW II, this drama follows the travails of a cargo ship captain as he launches a desperate search of his vessel for a possible saboteur. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1941
This wartime drama is set during WW II and centers on 6 survivors of a torpedo attack adrift in a lifeboat. One of them is a Nazi spy who is carrying classified information stolen from the Allies. The survivors are joined by a British counter-spy who reveals the Nazi's true identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this musical, a young fellow aspires to a career as a radio star. Along the way, the falls in love with a scientist's daughter. He then adds several talented friends to his act and at last finds success. Unfortunately, on the night of their big radio performance, fire erupts and he ends up saving the scientist's daughter, ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this musical, an enigmatic masked woman catches the roving eye of a wily playboy gambler at a masquerade ball. If he knew that she was using her wiles as bait and was planning to reform him of his gambling womanizing ways after catching him, he may have head for different waters. Fortunately for her, he doesn't figure this out until she has reeled him in and effectively ended his days of frying other fish. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Bartlett, June Knight, (more)
- 1937
A transatlantic race is featured in this exciting drama. One of the captains involved almost loses after he saves an actress from her sinking yacht. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
Perhaps as an answer to the 1936 Jane Withers vehicle Little Miss Nobody, this 1937 British quota quickie is titled Little Miss Somebody. Irrepressible child-star Binkie Stuart plays an orphaned girl, forced to live with wicked George Carney. All the old grouch is interested in is Stuart's inheritance, so he treats the kid as atrociously as possible. But Stuart manages to return to her beloved foster family by film's end. As treacly as it sounds, Little Miss Somebody was produced, directed and written by Penrod Tennyson, whose name just might be more entertaining than the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1936
In this British comedy, a millionaire deals with his wild son by cutting him off the family dole. To regain his father's trust, respect, and fortune, the errant son masquerades as a composer. Unfortunately, his father's rival presents an obstacle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1936
Adapted from a stage play by Maurice Braddell, It's You I Want is a vehicle for veteran scene-stealer Sir Seymour Hicks. The star is cast as Victor Delaney, a middle-aged roue who decides to take a break from girl-chasing. This proves impossible when Delaney's bachelor flat becomes a veritable pit-stop for cheating husbands, vengeful wives and dizzy mistresses. Time after time, Delaney is caught in innocent but compromising situations, paying off in loud and long laughter from the audience. Director Ralph Ince does little to "cinematize" his material; it's essentially the original stage play on the original set with most of the original cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Seymour Hicks, Marie Lohr, (more)
- 1936
In this comedy, a helpful friend offers to care for the apartment of a honeymooning couple. As soon as they leave, he brings his mistress to the place to spice it up. Meanwhile, in Paris, the honeymooners experience trouble after the husband accidently kisses a jealous man's wife. They quickly flee from France fighting all the way home. The couple is quite surprised by what they find at the apartment. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1935
An uncharacteristically light-hearted Edgar Wallace yarn was the basis of this mild British comedy-drama. Gordon Harker stars as The Lad, a cheeky ex-convict who is mistaken for a private detective. Paid a huge sum of money not to dig up dirt on the Fandon family, our hero is all for taking the money and running. But upon being reunited with old flame Pauline (Jane Carr), now the Fandon's maid, he decides to leave the money behind and turn over a new leaf. A cute surprise ending allows The Lad to come out on top without resorting to dishonesty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gordon Harker, Betty Stockfeld, (more)
- 1935
The Ace of Spades is a lively little British crime meller. Detective Nick Trent (Michael Hogan) sets out to investigate the death of a politician. The accused is a young bucko named Tony (Richard Cooper)-but where's the motive? Digging deeper, Trent discovers that the manipulative sister (Jane Carr) of Tony's fiancee (Dorothy Boyd) was the real brains behind the murder--even though she never sullied her hands with the victim's blood. The Ace of Spades was based on a novel by John Crawford Fraser. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1935
In this comedy, a young husband tires of living off of his mother-in-law's money and decides to allow a film crew to use his mansion in exchange for a small fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1935
In this comedy, a sleazy group of gringo grifters try to con a naive farmer into investing his inheritance in their movie. They succeed and half-way through filming, abscond with the farmer's loot. The enterprising farmer finishes the film himself after turning it into a comedy. The film becomes a smashing success. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The fourth of Arthur Wonter's quintet of Sherlock Holmes films, Triumph of Sherlock Holmes was a fairly faithful adaptation of Conan Doyle's The Valley of Fear. This time, Holmes (Wontner) and Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming -- not the James Bond author!) investigate a mysterious murder at Birlstone Castle. The killings seem to be tied in with a secret American society of coal-miners called the Scowlers. The architect of all this skullduggery is that "Napoleon of Crime," Professor Moriarty (the magnificent Lyn Harding), who has conspired with an American gangster (Ben Welden) to assassinate the Pinkerton agent responsible for breaking the back of the Scowlers. There's very little in the way of mystery in Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, but it scores on its full quotient of thrills and chills. Originally 84 minutes, the film was cut to 75 for its American release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Wontner, Ian Fleming, (more)
- 1934
In this haunted comedy, a psycho scientist takes his ward's money and uses it to pay for his inventions. When a playwright wants to marry the ward, the scientist decides to frighten him away. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1934
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
- Starring:
- Charlotte Greenwood, James Gleason, (more)
- 1934
In this romance, a working-class musician falls in love with a beautiful socialite. He is so smitten that he abandons his current lover to be with the rich girl. His little sister comforts the jilted girl and advises that she forget all about the louse. By the story's end the chastened young man returns and the humble lovers reconcile. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
