The Prisoner is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan, with possible contributions from George Markstein. McGoohan portrays Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village after resigning from his position. The allegorical plotlines of the series contain elements of science fiction, psychological drama, and spy fiction. It was produced by Everyman Films for distribution by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.
Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith was an English stage and screen actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved leading man star status in the film Brief Encounter (1945), followed by The Third Man (1949), portraying what BFI Screenonline called “a new kind of male lead in British films: steady, middle-class, reassuring…. but also capable of suggesting neurosis under the tweedy demeanour.”
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is a 1942 British black-and-white war film, mainly set in the German-occupied Netherlands. It was the fourth collaboration between the British writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and the first film they made under the banner of The Archers.
Eric Harold Portman was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in three films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s.
Alfred Edward Matthews, known as A. E. Matthews, was an English actor who played numerous character roles on the stage and in film for eight decades. Already middle-aged when films began production, he enjoyed increasing renown from World War II onwards as one of the British cinema's most famous crotchety, and sometimes rascally, old men.
The Butler's Dilemma is a 1943 black-and-white British comedy film, directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Richard Hearne in a dual role as Rodney Playfair and a Butler called Chapman, Ronald Shiner as Ernie, Ian Fleming, Francis L. Sullivan, Judy Kelly and Hermione Gingold. It was produced by Elisabeth Hiscott, Graham Cutts for Shaftesbury Films, and filmed at British National Studios.
Hyde Park Corner is a 1935 British comedy crime film, directed by Sinclair Hill and starring Gordon Harker, Binnie Hale and Eric Portman. Harker portrays a policeman investigating a crime in 1930s London, which proves to have its origins in the 1780s. The film takes its name from Hyde Park Corner in Central London where the events of the film occur. It was based on a play by Walter C. Hackett. The film was made at Welwyn Studios.
They Met in the Dark is a 1943 British comedy thriller film directed by Karel Lamač and starring James Mason, Joyce Howard and Edward Rigby. The screenplay concerns a cashiered Royal Naval officer and a young woman who join forces to solve a murder and hunt down a German spy ring. The film features a single song sung by Phyllis Stanley, "Toddle Along". The film is very loosely based on the 1941 novel The Vanishing Corpse by Anthony Gilbert.
Ronald Ward was a British actor who, alongside his stage work, appeared in more than twenty British films between 1931 and 1956. He was born in Eastbourne in 1901 as Ronald William Ward, and made his screen debut in the 1931 film Alibi. One of his biggest roles was in the popular Vera Lynn vehicle We'll Meet Again (1943), where he was effectively the male lead, co-starring with Lynn and Patricia Roc.
Cairo Road is a 1950 British crime film directed by David MacDonald and starring Eric Portman, Laurence Harvey, Maria Mauban, Harold Lang and John Gregson.
Ronald George Hinings Adams,, known professionally as Ronald Adam, was a British officer of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, an actor on stage and screen, and a successful theatre manager.
His Excellency is a 1952 British comedy drama film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Eric Portman, Cecil Parker, Helen Cherry and Susan Stephen. It follows a blunt Yorkshireman and former trade union leader, who is sent to take over as Governor of a British-ruled island in the Mediterranean. It was based on the 1950 play of the same name by Dorothy Christie and Campbell Christie. The play was also filmed for Australian television in 1958.
While the Sun Shines is a 1947 British comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Barbara White, Ronald Squire, Brenda Bruce, Bonar Colleano, and Michael Allan. It was based on Terence Rattigan's 1943 play of the same name.
Counterblast is a 1948 British thriller film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Robert Beatty, Mervyn Johns and Nova Pilbeam. It was made by British National Films at Elstree Studios.
Squadron Leader X is a 1943 British World War II spy drama directed by Lance Comfort and starring Eric Portman and Ann Dvorak. The screenplay was adapted by Miles Malleson and Wolfgang Wilhelm from a short story by Emeric Pressburger. Unfortunately, the BFI National Archive currently considered this film as "missing, believed lost".
Karel Štěpánek was a Czechoslovak actor who spent many years in Austria and generally played German roles onscreen. In 1940 he moved to the UK and spent much of the rest of his career acting there.
West of Suez is a 1957 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Keefe Brasselle, Kay Callard and Karel Stepanek. The screenplay was by Norman Hudis from a story by Hudis and Charles F. Vetter.
Murderers Club of Brooklyn is a 1967 German thriller film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring George Nader, Heinz Weiss, and Karel Stepanek. It was part of the Jerry Cotton series of films.
Child in the House is a 1956 British drama film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Phyllis Calvert, Eric Portman and Stanley Baker. It is based on the novel A Child in the House by Janet McNeill. A girl struggles to cope with her uncaring relatives.
For the 1952 Fritz Lang film of the same name see Clash by Night.
