Ian Hunter Movies

Arthur Conan Doyle's super sleuth Sherlock Holmes (Eille Norwood) and his assistant Dr. Watson become the hunted rather than the hunters in this thrilling mystery. The crooks give chase in an auto, trying to catch the duo as they speed down the Thames in a motorboat. Isobel Elsom, Fred Raynham, and Arthur M. Cullin co-star. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A novel by Douglas Walshe was the source of the British meller Girl of London. Genevieve Townsend plays Lil, the much abused stepdaughter of narcotics-ring head George Duncan (Harvey Braban). Lil is rescued from iniquity by Peter Horniman (Ian Hunter), the disowned son of a British politician (Edward Irwin). Together, Lil and Peter seek out a new life, despite the differences in their stations in life and their checkered pasts. Not exactly a textbook example of subtlety, Girl of London is given class and stature by the performances of its stars and the direction of Henry Edwards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the early stages of his directing career, Alfred Hitchcock made a number of hackneyed studio films which barely resemble the works he would go on to direct. The society drama Easy Virtue is one of the nine silent movies Hitchcock directed. The film opens with Larita Filton posing for her portrait in an artist's studio. The behavior of her boorish, philandering husband, Aubrey Filton, drives her into the artist's arms where her husband discovers her. In the melee that follows, the artist shoots the husband, wounding but not killing him. Aubrey sues for divorce and Larita falls from grace in the courtroom while journalists feed the public a salaciously inflated account. Ruined, Larita flees to the south of France and meets John Whittaker, a young, upstanding British man. They fall in love, marry, and the happy couple returns to England to mummy. Mother Whittaker, a Victorian in the modern age, strenuously opposes the union and upbraids John for bringing scandal upon the family name. Neither John nor his father has the strength to withstand Mother Whittaker's onslaught, and the film, and Larita, end miserably. Hitchcock does one of his wordless cameos in the film. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide

British filmmaker Maurice Elvey spent most of the late 1920s collaborating with directors brought in from the London stage. In The Physician, Elvey's associate was Gareth Gundrey, who'd directed the Henry Arthur Jones play on which the film was based. Temperance lecturer Walter Amphiel (Miles Mander) is not too thrilled to discover he has an illegitimate son. Even worse is the fact that Walter's fiancee Edana Hinde (Elga Bank) is a "closet" drunkard, imbibing everything with even a hint of alcohol. The humor is predicated on Hinde's intoxication and Walter's efforts to do right by his son -- in other words, there's hardly a laugh in the carload. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Yes, Tallulah Bankhead, she of the mighty-low voice and outrageous private life, did appear in silent films. The British His House in Order was lensed in 1928, at a time when Tallu was knocking 'em dead on the London stage. Ms. Bankhead plays a socialite who falls in love with handsome Ian Hunter. Our Heroine is caught in the middle when Hunter's wealthy father, David Hawthorne, raises Holy Ned upon finding that his son is illegitimate. His House in Order was adapted from a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mesnchen im Kaefig is the German-language version of the British melodrama Cape Forlorn (aka Love Storm). Based on a play by Frank Harvey, this is the story of William, a taciturn lighthouse keeper who marries dance-hall girl Eileen. Their already shaky relationship is further damaged when the husband hires a handsome young assistant named Gordon, who immediately inaugurates an affair with the wife. When Gordon is arrested for a killing committed by Eileen, she leaves her husband and returns to the dance-hall whence she came, there to patiently await her lover's release from jail. The stars of the British Cape Forlorn were Fay Compton (Eileen), Frank Harvey (William) and Ian Hunter (Gordon); in Menschen im Kaefig, these roles were essayed by Tala Birrell, Fritz Kortner and Heinrich George (also appearing in a lesser role was Conrad Veidt, the star of the 1919 silent classic Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a dance hall girl marries a lighthouse captain. She soon learns she hates the lonely, isolated life and begins a passionate affair with her hubby's assistant. More trouble ensues when a handsome fugitive is washed up after a storm. The woman and he also begin a torrid fling until he and the assistant have a showdown over her. She winds up killing the assistant, but the crook is accused of the crime and subsequently arrested by the police. Later she leaves her spouse and begins hanging out in rundown dance halls until her true love is released from prison. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this Sherlock Holmes mystery, the great detective and Dr. Watson help a young woman who has received a giant pearl from a mysterious man. The woman, to whom Watson is very attracted, is also searching for her father who has mysteriously disappeared. Holmes and the Dr. first go to the home of a flamboyant fellow in South London. This man too is being harassed by the mysterious stranger. This leads the sleuths to a one-legged criminal and his assistant, a dwarf. The story climaxes with a thrilling motor boat chase down the Thames. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This realistic British drama chronicles the lives of gypsies who live in barges on the Thames. The story begins when a beautiful young gypsy finds herself becoming attracted to a luxurious life after she is hired as a famous artist's mode. To ensure she can stay, the woman makes romantic overtures toward the painter. The man's fiancee is most displeased by this and romantic conflict ensues, culminating in the drowning of the hapless fiancee. ~ 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

Based upon the play Murder Party by Roland Pertwee and John Hastings Turner, Night of the Party uses one of the murder mystery genre's favorite conventions, that of a parlor game gone wrong. In this instance, the game is being held after a dinner party thrown by the ruthless publishing tycoon, Lord Studholme, in honor of the visiting Princess Amelia of Corsova. The guests at the dinner party are a wide range of business and personal associates, each of whom has a strong grudge against the host. When the lights are turned out for a game of Murder in the Dark, Lord Studholme is discovered dead. Arriving shortly thereafter, Scotland Yard's Sir John Holland begins an investigation, and Studholme's secretary, Guy Kennington, is arrested under suspicion of murder. Studholme, however, is not convinced of Kennington's guilt, believing that any of the guests -- including his own daughter, who was present at the party -- could have slain the host. However, it is not until Kennington's trial at the Old Bailey is well underway that he identity of the killer is finally and conclusively revealed. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, the co-owner of a rubber plantation finds himself in trouble after he rejects the advances of his partner's wife and she tries to poison him. Unfortunately, she poisons her husband instead, leaving the partner to take the rap. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide