Anthony Hinds Movies
- 1947
In this WW II crime drama, Johann Schmidt secretly frees a Dutch diamond cutter from a Nazi prison camp. He does it so he can uses the man's special talents for his own evil schemes. Before freeing him, wicked Schmidt killed the cutter's ex-partner and stole his raw diamonds. Now he threatens to kill the craftsman's daughter unless he cuts the stones. Fortunately, a persistent detective is on the case and brings Schmidt to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Detective Dyall is requested to solve the mystery of the incinerated heiress, a friend of his secretary Lang. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1949
Dick Barton (Don Stannard) investigates the northern village of High Glen, where every living thing has suddenly died without any apparent explanation. Autopsies reveal that the brains of the victims were all shrunken -- literally dehydrated -- but there is no known scientific process that would explain how this could happen. Barton must not only determine the cause, but also its connection, if any, to the mysterious Mr. Fouracada (Sebastian Cabot) and the murder of Crespin, a British agent who was returning from Prague with news of a plot against England. While Barton is investigating the first tragedy, another village is destroyed, making it imperative that he tie up the ends of the case before more people die -- and figure out what the connection of all of it may be to a traveling fair that was seen in the vicinity of both villages before they were wiped out. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Meet Simon Cherry was based on a popular BBC radio program of the 1940s titled Meet the Rev. Hugh Moxey plays the title role, a Father Brown-style clergyman who solves crimes when he isn't saving souls. This time around "Rev" Cherry must prove that an wealthy old recluse wasn't murdered, as it seems. Gale Pedrick, creator of the radio series, coscripted the film with director Godfrey Grayson.. Meet Simon Cherry was evidently not successful enough to result in a film series, nor did it have enough international salability to be distributed in the States--though the film's production company, Hammer Studios, would definitely be heard from in the future. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1949
In this spooky thriller set in Victorian England, during the time Jack-the-Ripper was running amok, an invalid widow and her daughter run a boarding house. One day a man claiming to be a physician appears and lets a room. Soon he has the women terrorized and imprisoned in their home because they believe him to be the Ripper. Later a reporter looks into and discovers the man is really an escaped lunatic. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
"PC 49" is a British constable, played by Hugh Latimer. This Hammer Studios programmer finds Our Hero hot on the trail of lorry (or truck) thieves. To beard the villains in their lair, PC 49 is forced to go undercover. The jig is up for him about ten minutes before the "The End" title, but PC 49 is the resourceful type, so never fear. The film was inspired by a popular British radio serial, created by Alan Stranks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
In this crime drama, a gold-digging wife makes life for her husband and stepdaughter a waking nightmare. When her husband finally figures out her scheme, he uses his expertise in yoga to fake his death and later returns disguised as a gardener to spy upon her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
In this comedy, a British earl retires after spending most of his life governing a tropical island and decides to return to England. While there he discovers that an island princess has also come to be close to his butler. The earl tries to send the woman back to her island home, but he fails and in the end the butler and the woman remain together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
In this low-budget crime drama, a woman, paralyzed after an auto accident, learns that her husband has been fooling around with her own sister. When the cheating sibling is found shot to death, the philandering husband is accused of the crime. But is he really the guilty party? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
A bored cabaret chanteuse decides to descend into the world of crime for some much needed excitement in this outing. Along the way she and her partner learn about a conspiracy to steal valuable art and sell it outside the country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
In search of great story to further his career, a journalist sets himself up to be suspected of killing his sister, but he is nearly executed for his trouble. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1951
In this British mystery a private eye must prove that a millionaire was murdered by his fiancee, a beautiful model who discovers that she was slated to inherit his fortune after he died. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Vernon Sewell, a mercurial filmmaker who preferred to lens his pictures on chunks of his own property, was the director of Black Widow. We don't know which of Sewell's real estate holdings served as the locale for this amnesia meller. We can, however, tell you that the film was inspired by the BBC radio serial "Return from Darkness." Returning from you-know-where is Robert Ayres, who learns that his wife (Christine Norden) is planning to bump him off with the help of her boyfriend (Anthony Forwood). Ayres continues feigning a loss of memory until he is able to get the drop on his would-be murderers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Teeny-tiny Hammer pictures built its reputation on second-feature melodramas before graduating to gore-encrusted horror epics. Cloudburst is a low-key thriller starring American actor Robert Preston, whose casting assured a certain degree of business in the States. Preston plays a code expert, resettled in England after the war and working at the British Foreign Office. One morning, Preston's wife is struck down and killed by a car driven by escaping criminals. Preston bypasses the efforts of Scotland Yard and pursues the criminals himself, using his codebreaking skills to track down the "big boys" in charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Preston, Elizabeth Sellars, (more)
- 1951
In this melodrama, a man is permanently crippled in a horseback riding accident and then learns that he will soon die. He spends his last few days taking care of his family and trying to get his wife to find another man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1951
In this drama, bank robbers are exiled to an island off the English coast. They are caught in raging seas and would have died had not the two lighthouse keepers come to their aid. The crooks then try to persuade the keepers into letting them escape. It almost works. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Released in Britain as Whispering Smith Hits London, this economically produced whodunit stars Richard Carlson as famed pulp-novel amateur sleuth Whispering Smith. While vacationing in London, Smith becomes intrigued by a suicide case. He suspects that there's more to this than meets the eye, and of course he's right: the so-called suicide was really a murder -- and also the tip of the iceberg in a massive cover-up conspiracy. Greta Gynt co-stars as the Woman in the Case, who may not be All She Seems. For reasons unknown, the British prints of Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard credit the screenplay to John Gilling, while the American prints bestow sole screenwriting credit upon Steve (I Wake Up Screaming) Fisher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Carlson, Greta Gynt, (more)
- 1952
Brilliant plastic surgeon Philip Ritter (Paul Henreid) loses the love of his life, concert pianist Alice Brent (Lizabeth Scott), to her manager, David (Andre Morell). As a balm to his wounded pride, Dr. Ritter Henreid makes over a hideously scarred female criminal into the spitting image of the woman who jilted him (the girl is played by Mary McKenzie "before," and, of course, by Lizabeth Scott "after"). Alas, he cannot make over her personality as well, and soon she's run off with her own crooked crowd. A not-bad precursor to Hitchcock's Vertigo, A Stolen Face was produced by Britain's Hammer Films, and distributed in the U.S. by Lippert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Henreid, Lizabeth Scott, (more)
- 1952
In this murder mystery, a woman's brother is killed in a freaky accident, or so she believes. Fortunately for her, an American journalist is more suspicious and so begins roaming the London streets in search of the killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
The angel of the title is Jane Baxter, the wife of country physician Patrick Barr. Everybody in the small British village where she lives thinks the world of Baxter; thus, when she is murdered, the authorities are out for blood. Dr. Barr seems above suspicion, at least until he begins behaving eccentrically. As time passes, most everyone learns that Baxter wasn't quite as angelic as she seemed-and that quite a few people might have wanted her dead. This 64-minute programmer was based on This is Mary's Chair, a play by Frank King. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
The Last Page was the original British title for the 1952 murder meller Man Bait. Hollywood's George Brent plays a married bookstore owner who is blackmailed by scheming Diana Dors. The subsequent chain reaction of events leads to the death of Brent's invalid wife. It gets worse when Dors is killed by her partner-in-crime Peter Reynolds, and Brent is accused of the crime. The bookseller's faithful secretary Marguerite Chapman comes to the rescue. As with many British programmers of the 1950s which starred American actors, The Last Page was distributed in the U.S. by Lippert Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Brent, Marguerite Chapman, (more)
- 1952
In this crime drama, an avaricious, successful gambler is not content with fabulous wealth and aspires to become a member of the British nobility after he falls in love with one of the country's more prominent blue-blooded women. Unfortunately, to have her, he must mend his ways. He then dumps his girl friend, a nightclub singer who becomes murderously jealous. He must also deal with the mobsters who try to take over his clubs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Wings of Danger was originally released in England as Dead on Course. This early Hammer Studios effort stars Zachary Scott as an airline pilot named Van. When Van's pal Nick Talbot (Robert Beatty) is strong-armed into aiding a gang of smugglers, it's time to take decisive action. Adventure-film veteran John Gilling adapted the screenplay from a novel by Elleston Trevor. Distributed in Great Britain by Exclusive Films, Ltd., Wings of Danger was released in the U.S. by Lippert Pictures. According to some sources, the U.S. version was trimmed by a couple of minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zachary Scott, Robert Beatty, (more)
- 1953
Who better than the estimable Barbara Payton to play the Bad Blonde in this Lippert release? Actually, the film was originally made in England by Hammer Productions, then released in Great Britain as The Flanagan Boy and This Woman is Trouble, but neither one of these titles had the box-office "sock" of Lippert's cognomen. The story finds the duplicitous Lorna Vecchi (Payton) wrapping boxer Johnny Flanagan (Tony Wright) around her little finger. It seems that Lorna is married to Johnny's manager, Giuseppe (Frederick Valk). But when her husband proves to be a nuisance, the "bad blonde" blackmails Johnny into murdering the man. Astonishingly, until the very, very end it looks like Lorna's going to get away with it! Bad Blonde was based on a novel by Max Catto. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Payton, Frederick [Fritz] Valk, (more)
