John Bentley Movies

This video is comprised of two episodes from the suspenseful anthology series, Pendulum. The first "The Price of Vanity," centers on an avaricious art dealer who is delighted when he stumbles across what seems to be a masterpiece. In "Death on the Boards," a ballerina vents her frustration about growing old on her younger rival. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Way Out was originally released in Great Britain as Dial 999. The eponymous telephone number is the emergency line to Scotland Yard, which in this film is represented by detective John Bentley. Hollywood's Gene Nelson plays a philandering husband who tries to hide the fact that he's killed a man. Nelson's wife Mona Freeman and brother-in-law Michael Goodliffe concoct an elaborate scheme to evade the authorities, but it all proves futile in the film's ironic climax. Assembled by Merton Park productions, the low-budget firm later responsible for Edgar Wallace mysteries, Dial 999 was spun off into a 39-week TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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