Cyril Raymond Movies

Accused is a British melodrama starring American actor (and confirmed Anglophile) Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Somewhat incongruously cast as an Apache dancer, Fairbanks and his dance partner/wife Dolores Del Rio headline a Paris musical. Fairbanks becomes the unwilling target for the attentions of performer Florence Desmond (the famed British impressionist, here playing a hateful adventuress). Desmond is later murdered with the dagger used by Fairbanks and his wife in their act, and Dolores is accused of the crime. A florid court trial unmasks the real killer. Zoe Akins, a prominent playwright of the 1920s whose once-celebrated works seem somewhat childish today, was one of the scenarists of Accused. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Transatlantic Tunnel is the English-language version of the 1932 French-German speculative drama The Tunnel. Set sometime in the future (complete with two-way televisions, art-deco airships and self-propelled automobiles), the film stars Richard Dix as McAllen, a visionary architect who devotes his life to the construction of a tunnel linking the United States with England. Despite devastating professional and personal setbacks, including the death of his own son in a tunnel cave-in, nothing dissuades Dix from completing the project. Guest stars Walter Huston and George Arliss are cast respectively as the American President and the British Prime Minister, roles that they'd played before on several occasions. Like William Cameron Menzie's Things to Come, the film is more impressive for its futuristic sets and state-of-the-art special effects than for its dramatic content. Originally released at 94 minutes, Transatlantic Tunnel is currently available only in its 70-minute reissue form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this domestic comedy, a married couple gets a divorce and goes their separate ways. Several years pass and they run into each other. It doesn't take long before their love rekindles and they decide to marry again. It's about that time they discover that their divorce was never finalized. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, two men, in love with the same woman go to a house party and trouble ensues. The woman, a widow, is also there. When one of the friends steals a rare gem from his rival's brother, the two begin to argue heatedly. The thief is murdered that night. It is his rival that devises the ingenious plan that exposes the real murderer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Often mistaken for a screen adaptation of the popular radio series, the British The Shadow was actually based on a play by Donald Stuart. A series of brutal murders have occurred in London, and the culprit is a vicious blackmailer known only as The Shadow. It is up to Scotland Yard to stop the killings and expose the identity of the elusive killer. The Yard receives unexpected (and at first unwelcome) assistance from twittish socialite Reggie Ogden (Henry Kendall), who fancies himself a dilettante detective. But Reggie is harboring a secret agenda, one which isn't revealed until the very last moment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

On the surface just another quota quickie, Condemned to Death turned out to be quite a gem for those lucky enough to see it back in 1932. Taking a respite from his duties as moviedom's Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Wontner plays an incorruptible judge who sentences a criminal genius to the gallows. The villain then proceeds to hypnotize Wontner into murdering the jurors responsible for his convictions! Unaware of his crimes, Wontner is confronted with the evidence by Scotland Yard inspector Cyril Raymond, who has the decency to permit the good gray judge to commit suicide rather than face public disgrace and humiliation. Condemned to Death was based on Jack o' Lantern, a play by George Goodchild. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British drama, a superstitious group of people, stranded in a lonely, isolated train station are frightened by the distant rumble and roar of what they think is a "ghost train." But the train is very real; it is only its contents that should frighten them as a detective reveals that it is loaded with Communist propaganda headed for England. Fortunately the forces of goods stop the Russian conspiracy right in its tracks. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide