Martin Walker Movies
- 1954
Peter Reynolds stars as the son of a respectable British family, who despite his position and privilege chooses to pursue a life of crime. Starting with petty thievery, the misguided young man intends to cap his career with a major casino heist. A policeman (Patric Barr), in love with the young man's sister (Rona Anderson), figures out the boys' intentions and sets about to prevent the robbery. When the chips are down, the malfeasant shows what a rat he truly is, thereby losing whatever family loyalty his sister might have felt towards him. The villain's ultimate demise is befitting his loathsome personality. Produced in England, Black 13 was released stateside by 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Reynolds, Rona Anderson, (more)
- 1948
A mother provides a lousy example for her daughter in this gritty, realistic drama. The mother is a mistress of manipulating the sympathies of others for her own gain. Rather than working, she solicits the sympathy of others. Like her mother, the daughter is equally manipulative and ends up with a rich husband. Her mother decides to go straight and get a real job, but it may be too late for the daughter who forges a check and gets caught. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ursula Jeans, Jean Simmons, (more)
- 1946
Previously costarred in The Trojan Brothers, David Farrar and Patricia Burke were reteamed in the British musical The Lisbon Story. Though the film ostensibly concerns the wartime exploits of a Gallic chanteuse (Burke) and a British spy (Farrar), the film's main selling angle was international popular operatic tenor Richard Tauber. Peripherally involved in the storyline, Tauber steals the show with his spirited musical renditions. The fact that the villains in the film are Nazis must have gratified Tauber, who would have faced extinction at the hands of the Gestapo had he remained in his native Germany. Sadly, The Lisbon Story proved to be Tauber's final screen appearance; he died two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Burke, David Farrar, (more)
- 1943
In this WWII thriller, an agent parachutes into Holland to retrieve an important document, posing as an American reporter. He meets a baroness sympathetic to the British, and they fall in love and are able to escape the Nazis. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
Filmed in the North Country of England, this is a film noir set in the 1930s as a family struggles with poverty and unemployment. Depressing and realistic, it portrays the lengths to which a family can go in order to survive., though there is some humor interlaced to keep the bleakness under control. The beautiful, sepia-tinted photography enhances the portrayals, which are excellent. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Kerr, Clifford Evans, (more)
- 1941
The pageantlike This England was designed by the Anglo-American film corporation to boost the morale of the war-besieged island nation. The story unfolds in the ancient British community of Claverly Village, which has already weathered serveral centuries of political upheavals, both foreign and domestic. A.R. Rawlinson and Bridge Boland's screenplay traces the history of the village from the Feudal Era to the Second World War, with Emlyn Williams (who also contributed additional dialogue), John Clements and Constance Cummings enacted the roles of several Claverly citizens throughout the years. Cummings is at her best in the "Spanish Armada" sequence, portraying a fetching gypsy not unlike her Latin American charmer in Harold Lloyd's Movie Crazy (1932). Perhaps because of its episodic construction, This England is one of those unfortunate films that never seems to turn up intact when shown today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emlyn Williams, John Clements, (more)
Originally released in England in 1938 as Murder in Soho, this moody melodrama was advertised in America as "The rapid-fire story of an underworld mobster with a social bee in his bonnet and a rod on his hip"(Whew!) The mobster in question is Steve Marco, played with appropriate sneering menace by Jack LaRue. Booted out of Chicago by the feds, Marco sets up a respectable nightclub in London as a front for his many criminal activities. When a murder is committed in the club and the body deposited in the street, Scotland Yard inspector Hammond (Martin Walker) suspects that Marco is responsible. With Hammond's unofficial blessing, nightclub hostess Ruby Lane (Sandra Storme), the dead man's widow, and inquiring reporter Roy Barnes (played by Bernard Lee, later to gain worldwide fame as "M" in the James Bond series) go undercover to get the goods on the social-climbing mobster. Though Murder in the Night could have gotten by on its own merits, the bravura performance of Jack LaRue truly "makes" the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack LaRue, Sandra Storme, (more)
- 1939
Filmed in 1935, the British Hell's Cargo finally received a US release in 1939, capitalizing on the recent outbreak of war in Europe. Most of the story takes place on a cargo ship, slowly inching its way through treacherous waters with a cargo consisting of a top-secret poison gas. When the ship's intoxicated doctor reveals the nature of the cargo to a good-time girl in a foreign port, chaos ensues, culminating in the death of the treacherous doctor at the hands of the ship's three commanding officers: Englishman Falcon (Kim Peacock), Frenchman Lestallieur (Walter Rilla), and Russian Tomasov (Robert Newton). The question: if a murder is committed in to maintain the Peace of the World, can it truly be considered murder? Hell's Cargo was based on a story by French writer/director Leo Joannon, whose later seafaring efforts included Laurel & Hardy's Atoll K (1951). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Rilia, Kim Peacock, (more)
- 1939
The Outsider was a remake of the 1931 British film of the same name; both films were based on a popular play by Dorothy Brandon. George Sanders, on leave from Hollywood service, plays an osteopath accused of being a fraud. His talents are put to the test when he treats the crippled daughter (Mary Maguire, who like Sanders was borrowed from 20th Century Fox) of a respected surgeon (Frederick Leister). On the verge of disgrace, Sanders manages to make the girl walk again. This film should not be confused with the 1949 British release The Outsider, which was originally titled The Guinea Pig. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Maguire, George Sanders, (more)
- 1938
The Drum is an opulent Technicolor "British India" epic, based on a story by A.E.W. Mason (of Four Feathers fame). Teenaged actor Sabu stars as a young East Indian prince educated in England. By rights, his loyalties should lie with his countrymen, but in typical "Sun Never Sets" fashion most of the other Indian characters are as evil and untrustworthy as Prince Guhl (Raymond Massey). Guhl plans a revolt against the British, intending to wipe out the Royal troops as the English officers enjoy the hospitality of Guhl's spacious palace. It's up to Sabu to warn the troops of Guhl's treachery by means of tapping out a message on the drum of the title. In the US, The Drum was released as Drums, on the theory (according to film historian Alan Barbour) that Americans must have more of everything. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sabu, Raymond Massey, (more)
- 1937
In this musical drama set during the reign of Charles I, an Irish priest is assigned to educate the prince. The prince becomes a king and one day the priest approaches and asks the king to release a political prisoner who belongs to the vicar's parish. The king, who promised to grant his former teacher one special request, complies and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Holloway, Hugh Miller, (more)
Sherlock Holmes and Watson travel to the home of their old friend Baskerville who wants Holmes to figure out who stole his prized race horse Silver Blaze and murdered the groom. The primary suspect is the young rider who loves the daughter of Baskerville, but he is innocent. Holmes finds the horse on a neighboring farm and deduces that his old enemy Moriarity is behind the mayhem. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Wontner, Ian Fleming, (more)
- 1936
Future Connecticut governor John Lodge stars in the British crime drama Sensation. Lodge plays a hotshot reporter who devotion to his job is messing up his private life. Despite warnings from his girl friend that she'll walk out if he follows up one more hot scoop, Lodge tries to flush out the murderer of a waitress. A packet of incriminating love letters is the "maguffin" in this one. Based on a play by Basil Dean and George Munro, Sensation packs an awful lot of story in its 54 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lodge, Diana Churchill, (more)
- 1935
Based on the book by Edgar Wallace and produced by London Film Productions, the adventure drama Sanders of the River is an Imperialist propaganda film about British Colonial rule in Africa. Leslie Banks plays Commissioner "Lord Sandy" Sanders, who maintains British rule over the N'Gombi district of Nigeria. The fugitive Bosambo (Paul Robeson) helps out Sanders by humiliating the evil Chief Mofolaba (Tony Wane). Sanders then recognizes Bosambo as chief of the Ochuri people and peace is maintained for five years. When Sanders leaves for London, word gets out that he is dead and white men come in to sell guns and liquor to the natives. Chief Mofolaba kills Sanders' replacement, Ferguson (Martin Walker), and captures Bosambo's wife Lilongo (Nina Mae McKinney). Father O'Leary (Allan Jeayes) gets Sanders to come back and stop Mofolaba, and eventually Bosambo is crowned king. Robeson and McKinney sing several songs in this film. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Robeson, Leslie Banks, (more)
- 1935
In this drama, a naval hero finds himself framed by his CO's son for the theft of classified documents. He not only proves his innocence, he also manages to save his girl from the Chinese pirates who kidnapped her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Anything Might Happen is a British quota quickie with a highfalutin pedigree. This minor gangster melodrama was based on a novel by one Lady Evelyn Balfour. You'll find no Lords or Ladies in this one, however: instead, the story involves the efforts by gangster John Garrick to reform. Garrick's particular cross to bear is a look-alike criminal (also played by Garrick) who is going around committing crimes which are then blamed on the ex-crook. Leading lady Judy Kelly helps the Good Garrick squash the Bad Garrick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Mimi is based on Murger's La Vie de Boheme, with operatic snatches from Puccini's La Boheme occasionally thrown in. The very healthy-looking Gertrude Lawrence seems an odd casting choice for the consumptive Mimi, whose tragic romance with starving artist Rodolfe (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) in Paris' Latin Quarter provides the film's dramatic thrust. Director Paul Stein has spared nothing to make the film as historically accurate as possible; unfortunately, Stein has also robbed the story of much of its vitality in the process. Fans of Gertrude Lawrence couldn't have been happy that her singing was confined to only one tune, and a forgettable one at that. Originally released at 98 minutes, Mimi is currently available only in its 62-minute American release version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gertrude Lawrence, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., (more)
- 1935
In this British comedy, the rotten relatives of a vanished millionaire begin brainwashing a young amnesiac into believing he is the long-lost heir to his fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1934
One doesn't expect much from British programmers of the 1930s, so it comes as a relief that River Wolves has a great deal of entertainment value. Michael Hogan plays a sea captain who aspires to become a novelist. Hogan decides to soak up "local flavor" in a small waterfront community. He and fellow writer John Mills (in one of his earliest movie appearances) find themselves rivals for the affections of innkeeper's daughter Helga Moray. Both Hogan and Moray come to the rescue when Mills is threatened by crooks. River Wolves was based on the Edward Dignon - Geoffrey Swaffer stage play The Lion and the Lamb. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1932
In this British farce, set during a big Christmas party, someone breaks into a save and steals a valuable necklace. This causes the host, a sneaky nephew who is not supposed to hold a party in his aunt's home to have conniption fits as he frantically tries to find the purloined gems. Later it turns out the jewels were cheap imitations. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1931
No relation to the 1929 American actioner of the same name, the British Flying Fool features Henry Kendall as airborne amateur sleuth Vincent Floyd. When an undercover Pinkerton man is offed by a gang of homicidal jewel thieves, Floyd swings into action. A bit quicker on the uptake than most quota quickies, the film is distinguished by the climactic chase, in which Kendall commanders a transport plane then pursues the villains' car through a dangerous mountain pass. Distinguished British leading ladies Benita Hume and Ursula Jeans are cast respectively as the "mystery woman" heroine and a sultry female thief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ursula Jeans, Benita Hume, (more)
- 1922
This English-made production was the first time Clarence Dane's stage play was brought to the screen. It doesn't sound like much from the plot description -- insanity runs in the family of Hilary Fairfield (Malcolm Keen), and when he becomes afflicted he is locked away in an asylum. After ten years, his wife Margaret (Fay Compton), accepts that he's incurable and prepares to wed Gray Meredith (Henry Victor). But Fairfield escapes from the asylum, and would have been released as cured if he had waited another week. He walks in on Margaret and Meredith, and high drama ensues. The upshot of it all is that Margaret is allowed to go off with Meredith, while Fairfield's daughter Sydney (Constance Binney, the one American in the cast) stays with her father to take care of him. The trade paper Motion Picture News felt that the story was "too meagre [sic] for a six-reel production and padding is evident throughout." While the 1932 talkie remake was no great shakes (in spite of a great cast), Katherine Hepburn shone as Sydney in her film debut. The play, which did not age well, was picturized one more time in 1940. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fay Compton, Constance Binney, (more)
