John Bentley Movies
Handsome, British stage actor John Bentley entered London's film industry in 1946, where he was immediately put to work grinding out inexpensive detective melodramas. He was seen as radio hero Paul Temple in an entertaining Boy's-Own-Adventure film series, then starred as John Creasey's gentleman sleuth "The Toff" in a brace of second features. Occasionally, Bentley ventured into "A"-picture territory, notably the 1956 Errol Flynn vehicle Istanbul (1956). In 1957, John Bentley starred as Inspector John Derek in the Kenya-filmed TV detective series African Patrol. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1947
In this drama, a popular singer tires of the fast lane and decides to leave fame and fortune in favor of marriage. After the marriage, she and her groom settle in rural Ireland. Unfortunately their marital bliss, at least the husband's, is interrupted by a wicked lassie who blackmails him and threatens to tell his wife of their old affair is he doesn't pay. In desperation, he decides to kill the troublesome girl, but something goes terribly wrong. Fortunately, things for the singer turn out all right in the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1948
In this mystery, a married team of private investigators look into the background of a nerve doctor whose patients have been mysteriously dying. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Ladylike Diana Napier is unexpectedly coarse as the female gang boss in Bait. Napier only behaves herself around her lover John Bentley-at least until he spurns her. In retaliation, she frames Bentley for her brother's murder. A knuckle-tough British programmer, Bait is well acted by all concerned. Frank Richardson directed this cinema adaptation of his own stage play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
A battle of the sexes begins to rage in an isolated private school in this charming British comedy. Just outside of London during World War II, Axis bombing forces the evacuation of a private all-girls school, St. Swithins. Thanks to a bureaucratic mix-up, the girls of St. Swithins and their Headmistress Muriel Whitchurch (Margaret Rutherford) are to be billeted at the nearby Nutborne Boys School. While the students learn to make do with the crowded conditions, Nutborne headmaster Wetherby Pond (Alistair Sim) is less than pleased with the situation, especially after he and Whitchurch begin butting heads over which of them is truly in charge. The Happiest Days Of Your Life was based on a popular stage comedy by playwright John Dighton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Margaret Rutherford, (more)
- 1950
A mystery novel by Delano Ames was the launching pad for the British meller She Shall Have Murder. "She" is Rosamund John, a mystery writer wannabe who works in a law office. Rosamund ends up with plenty of story material when a client turns up dead. Trouble is, she may not live to tell the tale. Derrick DeMarney and Felix Aylmer are among the usual suspects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Dermot Walsh and John Bentley play siblings Cliff and Jim Brandon. A successful writing team specializing in murder mysteries, Cliff and Jim are almost as emotionally disturbed as some of the characters they've created. While doing research on their latest novel, one of the brothers commits murder, simply to experience the thrill. He then conspires to frame his secretary Joan (Rona Anderson) for the crime. His reason this time is personal: both brothers are in love with Joan, but she prefers one over the other. The saner of the two brothers races against time to save Joan from the gallows and to bring the genuine culprit to justice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dermot Walsh, Rona Anderson, (more)
- 1951
In this entry in the series, amateur sleuth and aspiring novelist Temple and his wife look for a kidnapped scientist whose formula for a new atomic weapon has been stolen by the enemy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
In this mystery, a woman desiring to locate her missing employer engages the services of "The Toff," a suave amateur detective. Mayhem ensues until the detective reveals that the boss wanted to disappear so he could hide from the man behind an insurance fraud who wants to kill him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
In this murder mystery, an aspiring novelist and amateur detective begins looking into the case of a famous unsolved murder and eventually ends up in a mansion filled with serpents. He then enlists the aid of his wife, solves the murder, and gets kudos for his newest book. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
This British crime drama is set in a supposedly haunted London theater and centers upon a producer who rents the building from its female owner to put on a show. She does so on the condition that no one unlock the dressing room where her husband was murdered years before. Later, the woman's son is murdered on stage. The police find clues that lead them to the mysterious locked room. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
In this thriller a young couple is engaged by Scotland Yard to capture the mysterious Marquis, a murderer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
In this detective story, based on a novel by John Creasey, a smooth-talking detective helps a young woman solve her uncle's murder. When the Robin Hood-like thief accused of the crime is proved innocent, everyone breathes a sight of relief. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
The dangers faced by the men who built the first Mombassa-to-Uganda railroad are chronicled in this adventure. The story centers on the supervisor who must cope with a variety of travails including ferocious lions, an a missionary doctor who insists on going. Eventually, he and his hard-working crew overcome all obstacles and the project is finished. Along the way, he and the doctor fall in love, and in the end, marry. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
The Anglo-American melodrama The Big Frame was released in Britain as Count the Hours. Mark Stevens stars as a Texas-born test pilot who heads to England to marry his wartime sweetheart Jean Kent. At a reunion party with his air force chums, Stevens gets into a boozy brawl with one of the celebrants. When the man turns up dead, Stevens is Suspect Number One. While scurrying about London to clear himself, Our Hero unearths a smuggling ring. The moral of The Big Frame seems to be "auld acquaintances should be forgot." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Stevens, Jean Kent, (more)
- 1953
When Lippert Pictures first released the British River Beat in 1954, the ad campaign made a big deal over the fact that its star, Phyllis Kirk, had previously appeared as Vincent Price's potential victim in House of Wax. This time around, Phyllis is a damsel in distress once more. The actress plays a radio operator working on an American freighter, which tools along the Thames throughout the picture. Unbeknownst to Phyllis, she is the unwitting dupe of a diamond-smuggling racket. Police inspector John Bentley intends to arrest the girl, but he falls in love with her instead. Bentley figures that by allowing Phyllis to continue as a patsy for the criminals, she'll eventually lead him to Mister Big--and, of course, he's right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Kirk, John Bentley, (more)
- 1954
The Scarlet Spear was produced by George Breakston and stars John Bentley, the same creative team who later collaborated on the Kenya-filmed TV series African Patrol. Bentley plays African district officer Jim Morrison, while Martha Hyer is cast as girl reporter Christine Together, they try to persuade African chief Morasi from using a poisoned spear to dispatch a rival chief. In doing so, Morrison and Christine run afoul of centuries-old tribal tradition. Much of the film is devoted to the "rites of passage" ceremonies which Morasi must undergo to prove his worthiness to lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Bentley, Martha Hyer, (more)
- 1954
A newspaper journalist and his irritating assistant team up with the cops to solve a perplexing murder in this comical thriller. Each of the victims was a war veteran. Each one was killed on a July 10th. Soon the amateur sleuths discover that the victims had other common threads and these clues lead to the killer's capture. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1954
A lady photographer clicks a few revealing pix at the home of a wealthy woman. When the home's occupant commits suicide, the photographer is accused of prompting this tragedy. Inspector John Bentley suspects there's more to the case than is readily apparent. It turns out that the dead woman was actually murdered by a local bookie, who rearranged the evidence to suggest suicide. Filmed in London, Double Exposure was produced by Robert Baker and Monty Berman, the same team later responsible for the TV series The Saint. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Some good performances and a fun chase scene, but there is little else to commend this movie. It's a pretty hackneyed plot wherein the editor of a magazine falls in love with the boss' daughter but the relationship is complicated by the boss' wife, who is also putting the moves on the hapless editor. Then, to make things even worse, he's accused of embezzlement. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1955
In this light-hearted crime drama, a rivalrous pair of reporters team up to solve the murder of a prominent artist's wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1955
In this crime drama, a sneaky race-car driver wants to kill his wife the heiress. Unfortunately her attorney, who is in love with her, discovers the plan. The driver poisons the lawyer and then tells him all about his elaborate plan to kill them both. But the lawyer is not really poisoned and later shows up aboard the driver's yacht to have a brutal fight that culminates in tragedy for one of the two combatants. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Hollywood's Danziger brothers dashed off the British The Count of Twelve in approximately two weeks. With only 51 minutes' worth of running time, the storytelling has to be quick and to the point, and it is. The film is divided into two separate but tenuously connected plotlines. In the first, a man tries to avoid being murdered at the stroke of midnight, only to expire from a heart attack. In the second, a doctor's intended adulterous affair comes to an ironic-and tragic-sudden conclusion. One suspects that Count of Twelve was the pilot for a never-produced TV anthology series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
