Checkmate (1935 film)

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Checkmate
Checkmate film Opening titles (1935).jpg
Directed by George Pearson
Screenplay by Basil Mason
Produced by Anthony Havelock-Allan
Starring Maurice Evans
Felix Aylmer
Evelyn Foster
Production
company
Release date
  • 24 February 1936 (1936-02-24)
Running time
67 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Checkmate is a 1935 British crime film directed by George Pearson and starring Maurice Evans, Felix Aylmer and Evelyn Foster. [1] [2] It was written by Basil Mason based on a novel by Amy Kennedy Gould.

Contents

Plot

Phillip Allen is Scotland Yard detective, hunting down a gang of jewel thieves in London. After they are captured, he marries the gang leader's daughter.

Cast

Production

The film was made at Boreham Wood Studios.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The story is convincing and moves but it is clumsily developed. Comedy and romance are adequately handled. Characterisation and acting are good; Maurice Evans makes the most of his part. The dialogue is uneven." [3]

Kine Weekly wrote: "An unpretentious essay in crime, this picture misses the boat because of unimaginative treatment. The story is not at all bad, it can honestly lay claim to invention, nor is the acting: but poor direction, resulting in frequent ridiculous emphasis of the obvious, seriously damages dramatic effect. Unsolicited laughs put the picture low down in the supporting feature category. A quota booking for the unsophisticated." [4]

References

  1. "Checkmate". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  2. "Checkmate (1936)". bfi.org.uk. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  3. "Checkmate" . The Monthly Film Bulletin . Vol. 2, no. 13. 1 January 1935. p. 144. ProQuest   1305801552.
  4. "Checkmate" . Kine Weekly . Vol. 224, no. 1485. 3 October 1935. p. 31. ProQuest   2339668280.