Manning Whiley Movies
- 1952
In this crime comedy, the bumbling son of a recently deceased crime boss does his best to follow in his father's footsteps, but it is to no avail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
In this drama, set at the end of WW II, two Italian prostitutes ply their trade with American soldiers. When the war ends, they go back home to spend their money which is used by a local priest to create a home for illegitimate war children. Director Luigi Zampa shot this film at the same time as an Italian version with different actors, including Gina Lollobridgida in the lead role. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Medina
- 1948
The Plot to Kill Roosevelt was released in the US under the less inflammatory title Conspiracy in Teheran. The fact-based storyline takes place during the Teheran Conference in the waning days of WW2. As Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin try to agree on the world's course after the end of the war, British news correspondent Pemberton Grant (Derek Farr) gets wind of a plot to assassinate the American president. The villains are representatives of an international armaments cartel, who can't afford to have peace declared. Racing against time, Grant endeavors to prevent the assassins from dynamiting Roosevelt's car. Even though the audience knows the outcome, there's thrills aplenty in The Plot to Kill Roosevelt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Farr, Marta Labarr, (more)
- 1947
An evil guardian plots the murder of his young heiress niece in this Victorian melodrama, also known as Uncle Silas. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Bond, Frederick Burtwell, (more)
- 1947
Originally released in 1945 as Shop at Sly Corner, Code of Scotland Yard is an effective British imitation of the Hollywood film noir genre. Oscar Homolka plays a seemingly benign antique dealer who maintains a comfortable lifestyle by fencing stolen goods. Homolka's daughter (Muriel Pavlow), an aspiring musician, is the only person he genuinely cares about. Thus when the girl's future is threatened by a slimy blackmailer (Kenneth Griffith) who is unsatisfied with a mere cash settlement, Homolka is left with no choice but to get rid of the bounder. Oscar Homolka, a Viennese character actor who worked prolifically on both sides of the Atlantic, is the principal attraction in Code of Scotland Yard, which was based on popular London stage play by Edward Percy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oscar Homolka, Derek Farr, (more)
- 1945
Ann Todd stars as an amnesiac mental patient, Francesca Cunningham, who hopes that psychiatrist Dr. Larsen (Herbert Lom) will help her lift the veils of her memory. In a series of flashbacks counterpointed by a lush piano concerto background score, Francesca discovers that she has been a victim of the cruelties of others all her life. Only Nicholas (James Mason), an embittered, crippled musician, has ever shown her any compassion, training the girl to become a top concert pianist. Even he turned on Francesca when she becomes romantically involved with other men, but as the flashbacks end, Francesca arrives at a startling realization about Nicholas's true feelings for her. Filmed on a shoestring, The Seventh Veil rang in as the biggest British box-office success of 1946. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mason, Ann Todd, (more)
- 1945
When blind veteran Whiley realizes that the love of his life, Brook, is in love with Griffith, Whiley bows out gracefully in this musical. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1944
The title character in Meet Sexton Blake was created in 1893 as a way of cashing in on the immense popularity of Sherlock Holmes. This 1944 film opens with a bizarre and intriguing murder. Late one night along the London waterfront, a man is desperately tugging at the hand of another man -- a corpse, the audience soon discovers. There clearly is something very important about the dead man's hand, as the living man goes so far as to take out a saw and start removing it. Soon after achieving his prize, he falls from a bridge to his own death. The body is hauled aboard a passing ship, and when they search the body they discover the grisly severed hand. Blake is soon on the scene, using his keen powers of detection to determine that the hand belonged to a photographer from another country. Blake retires to his digs, but it's not long before a new client appears at his door. By coincidence, this man -- an arms manufacturer -- wants Blake to investigate the death of a friend, who just happens to have been a foreign photographer. Blake and his assistant Tinker delve into the case, which leads them to a mysterious villain named Slant Eyes and an espionage plot involving a new alloy for use in airplanes that is of enormous value to both sides in the war. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- 1943
In this weird crime drama the murder of a ventriloquist is solved by a midget who goes undercover as a dummy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1943
Toothy, ukelele-plucking British music hall favorite George Formby is at it again in Bell-Bottom George. From the title, you'd think that Formby has joined the Royal Navy. Well, sort of: when he's declared 4F (or the British equivalent of 4F), Formby poses as a Jack Tar to impress his girl friend Ann Firth. After a series of fitfully funny complications, Formby captures a nest of Nazi spies. Bell-Bottom George was a hit with both British military and civilian audiences; American videotape aficionados may have to run the picture twice to fully grasp all the colloquial humor and wartime slang. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1941
When the bagpipes play, death will follow in this spooky comedy set in a dank and creepy Scottish castle during WW II. It begins when a school teacher at a London boy's academy must evacuate his charges to the castle. There they hear the legend of the deadly pipes. Sure enough their mournful call is heard and one of the boys dies. They cry again and another dies. It is in when the pipes are blown a third time that the headmaster solves the mystery: it is not a phantom killing the lads, but a German sympathizer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1941
In this WW II propaganda film, a German doctor, highly praised by his Nazi employers, finds it increasingly difficult to support the oppressive, increasingly brutal movement. At first he does nothing as his friends are persecuted and his wife becomes increasingly enamored with the party's misguided philosophies. Eventually he enlists the aide of an engineer and creates a secret radio station where he broadcasts condemnations of Hitler and prays for a "better" Germany to arise out of the ashes of his ruined country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Brook, Diana Wynyard, (more)
- 1941
The Saint's Vacation was filmed in London by RKO Radio's British division. This time Hugh Sinclair is cast as Leslie Charteris' suave soldier of fortune Simon Templar, aka The Saint. Most of the story takes place in Switzerland (or a reasonable facsimile), with Templar interrupting his holiday to retrieve a missing secret code. The key to the mystery is a Swiss music box with a most unusual tune, diligently sought after by enemy agent Rudolph (Cecil Parker) and British secret service operative Valerie (Leueen McGrath). Aiding Templar in his investigation are intrepid gal reporter Mary Langdon (Sally Gray) and droll sidekick Monty Hayward (Arthur Macrae), while Inspector Teal (Gordon MacLeod) of Scotland Yard can only fuss and fume on the sidelines. Tossed off as a mere quota quickie, The Saint's Vacation nonetheless earned good bookings in England and the US. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Sinclair, Sally Gray, (more)
- 1941
The "Scarlet Pimpernel" legend is updated to WW2 in the breathless actioner Pimpernel Smith. Leslie Howard (who also directed) plays bespectacled and seemingly mild-mannered Professor Smith, who under cover of darkness transforms into a tireless defender of democracy. With the help of several loyal companions, Smith makes several forays into Nazi-occupied territories to rescue the oppressed victims of the Third Reich, using a phony archeological expedition to throw the villains off the track. The picture really roars into life during the cat-and-mouse exchanges between the Professor and his Gestapo antagonist Von Graum, phlegmatically enacted by the corpulent Francis L. Sullivan. In some markets, Pimpernel Smith was retitled Mister V. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Howard, Francis L. Sullivan, (more)
- 1940
In this suspense film, a tormented young man plots his revenge against his abuser. He decides that he will murder the fellow student. First he will drug the cruel lad. Then he will dump the body in a trunk and drive into the countryside where he will dump it in a deep hole. Things go as planned until the victim wakes up. The disturbed student is subsequently captured. He confesses. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manning Whiley, Barbara Everest, (more)
- 1940
Filmed in England, Flying Squad was the final effort of veteran silent-film director Herbert (Peter Pan) Brenon. The script was based on a popular play by suspense specialist Edgar Wallace, adapted by the late Wallace's son. Carol Goodner stars as the sister of a young man who was murdered by drug smugglers. Carol joins the gang, hoping to bring the criminals to justice. She learns that her brother was knocked off by a crooked cop, who is in deep with the gang and can't escape their clutches. Someone falls in love with someone else in The Flying Squad, and we'll wager you can guess who it is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1940
In this wartime comedy, a garage owner, and his pal, a ventriloquist enlist and head for France where they are soon captured by the Nazis. Fortunately, the ventriloquist throws his voice, and they manage to escape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The popular British troupe The Crazy Gang do their zany thing in this fast-paced comedy adventure. The story begins as the Gang balloon themselves over enemy lines. There they become friends with a crazy old prisoner who has the plans for a tunnel-boring tank tattooed upon his back. To get him out, they dress him up as Hitler. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
Cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfeather's woebegone WW1 British soldier Old Bill was revived for WW2 in Old Bill and Son. When his son Young Bill (John Mills) signs up for military duty against the Nazis, Old Bill (Morland Graham) tries to re-enlist as well. Turned down for the obvious reasons, Old Bill has trouble convincing anyone that he's of any use in the present conflict. The plot is, surprisingly, never resolved, suggesting that the producers couldn't come up with a logical ending and just gave up after 96 minutes. On the plus side, the film features the comic talents of Renee Houston, Nicholas Phipps and Gus McNaughton, who like stars John Mills and Morland Graham are heaps better than their material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morland Graham, John Mills, (more)
- 1940
In this patriotic drama, the courage of a German pastor is presented as he makes a public stand against Nazi philosophies and actions. Unfortunately, the outspoken fellow is sent to a concentration camp where he is beaten and tortured. Still he manages to escape and give one final sermon to his congregation before he is gunned down. The story is based on an actual event. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wilfred Lawson, Nova Pilbeam, (more)
- 1940
In this WW II comedy, three British sailors get roaring drunk in a South American port, accidentally mistake a German battleship for their own and stagger aboard. Boozy mayhem ensues until the tipsy trio manages to capture the ship and its entire crew on behalf of the Royal Navy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
Director Walter Forde, a past master at blending mystery, melodrama and comedy (vide The Ghost Train and Bulldog Jack), is at his best with Saloon Bar. Most of the action takes place during one busy evening in an English pub, with a rich variety of believable comic characters weaving in and out of the scene. A murder is committed, and everyone falls under suspicion. Hero and heroine Gordon Harker and Elizabeth Allen solve the mystery with becoming modesty (compare this to the wisecracking protagonists in similar American films). Saloon Bar was based on a long-running stage play by Frank Harvey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gordon Harker, Elizabeth Allan, (more)
The Danish freighter Helvig approaches English waters in early 1940 and, in keeping with the needs of British security, it is boarded by customs and naval officials in search of contraband cargo. Her skipper, Captain Anderson (Conrad Veidt), is compelled to ascede to British demands, but dreads the delay, pointing out that the medical supplies in his cargo are vital. Anderssen is a dedicated seaman, all business, even where Mrs. Sorenson (Valerie Hobson), a headstrong passenger, is concerned. Then, on their first night in port, Mrs. Sorenson and a Mr. Pidgeon (Esmond Knight) disappear from the ship with Anderson's landing papers, the captain is in hot pursuit. Forced to join the woman in what seems a mad chase across London by night, he plunges into an Alice-in-Wonderland world of the blacked out city, following a set of clues through the maze of darkened streets and uncover a Nazi spy ring operating out of a basement in Soho. Each also discovers that there's a lot to admire and even possibly to love in the other -- the challenge is for Hobson, who is something other than the divorcee and mother she pretends to be, to stay alive long enough for Captain Anderson to effect a rescue and prevent the German spies from turning the British counter-intelligence effort against the Allies. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, (more)
- 1939
The eponymous Four Just Men of this film are British World War I comrades, who reunite in peacetime to bring disaster to their country's enemies. The quartet is not above murder and sabotage to achieve their ends, but their patriotism is never in question. The goal of the heroes is to thwart a megalomaniac who plans to destroy the Suez Canal, then devastate the British empire in order to create his own world dictatorship. Francis L. Sullivan, Hugh Sinclair, Griffith Jones and Frank Lawton play the Four Just Men, though Lawton's early death reduces the ranks to three. The villainy is in the hands of Basil Sydney, who is every bit as ruthless and resourceful as the heroes. Four Just Men is based on a series of adventure novels by British "writing machine" Edgar Wallace--which also formed the basis of a 1959 TV series of the same name, starring Dan Dailey, Richard Conte, Jack Hawkins and Vittorio De Sica. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Sinclair, Griffith Jones, (more)
